Silent Letters Puzzle

[petrw1]

Originally Posted by grandpascorpion

Most English speakers do (along with hay, pay, etc.)

We were taught in school that when "Y" is a consonant it is pronounced as in "Yellow" ... and when it is used as a vowel it is pronounced as in "crY". In "saY" I understood it is considered silent...the only vowel sound is the long "a" sound....the same "a" sound as in the words "tAke" or "trAde" for example...which are not spelled taYke or traYde.

P.S. Correct me if I'm wrong but to us Canadians it sound like you add an extra Y to New York ... as in New YoYk.

[grandpascorpion]

Yeah (note my silent A :) ), I see your point again.

[AntonVrba]

the 'ough' are ugh listen or listen

dough dO listen
tough t&f listen
sough sau listen
trough trof listen
through thru listen
lough läk listen

[xilman]

Originally Posted by AntonVrba

the 'ough' are ugh listen or listen

dough dO listen
tough t&f listen
sough sau listen
trough trof listen
through thru listen
lough läk listen

Hiccough, pronounced "hiccup".

Actually, all these words originally had the same syllable, the vowel similar to that which it still has in "cough" and "rough" and a consonent of an aspirated g which has largely died out in English. The consonant still survives in Dutch as that language's pronunciation of "g".

Other "gh" words in English had the same consonant, remnants of which can still be heard in some English dialects. An example is the Scottish form of "night", sometimes spelled "nicht" retains the aspiration but the "g" has hardened to be closer to "k". Similarly, the Irish "lough" is really the same word as the Scottish "loch", with the Irish version a softer aspirated consonant.


Paul

[petrw1]

I sent a puzzle like this around work a few years ago. I had the first 6 groups below. I got one more surprise answer: It was from Doug H. ... pronounced UG-H

Today I found this at wikipaedia:

10 ways to pronounce "ough"
I started each set with a common word that (IMHO) rhymes with the "ough" words.

HOT: nought ought thought bought
CUFF: rough tough enough slough (to put something off)
OFF: cough trough
SLEW: through slough (a small body of water)
HOW: bough plough
SHOW: thorough borough
OH: though dough (to me this group sounds the same as the group above pronounciations guides suggest they are different - subtly I guess)
UP: hiccough
ROCK: hough
LOCH: lough (I can't represent this one well - you need to pronounce the CH like a throat clearing sound ... no offense intended)

[MS63]

Originally Posted by petrw1

I sent a puzzle like this around work a few years ago. I had the first 6 groups below. I got one more surprise answer: It was from Doug H. ... pronounced UG-H

Today I found this at wikipaedia:

10 ways to pronounce "ough"
I started each set with a common word that (IMHO) rhymes with the "ough" words.

HOT: nought ought thought bought
CUFF: rough tough enough slough (to put something off)
OFF: cough trough
SLEW: through slough (a small body of water)
HOW: bough plough
SHOW: thorough borough
OH: though dough (to me this group sounds the same as the group above pronounciations guides suggest they are different - subtly I guess)
UP: hiccough
ROCK: hough
LOCH: lough (I can't represent this one well - you need to pronounce the CH like a throat clearing sound ... no offense intended)

These are North American pronunciations.

Here in England we say:
"nought ought thought bought": the "ought" in each is pronounced as in sORT. (Perhaps these are the same as your examples and you pronounce "HOT" as "HORT"?)
"thorough borough": the "or" in each is pronounced like the U in cUp and the "ough" pronounced like the A in cAp, giving "thurra" and "burra".



MS63

[Antecedtlysmith]

One essential and regularly overlooked reason for having silent letters in the spelling of English words is because spelling in English is intended to do significantly more than let you know how to pronounce a word. For a certain something, it can likewise enlighten you concerning the history of the word, its starting points and its evolution.

anagram puzzles

[Harrywill]

If you have 10 apples in a basket You have to share all these apples with your 10 friends, that all your friends get an apple. How can you give an apple to everyone that an apple is left in the basket and everyone can get one apple too. goes. How to tell?

[petrw1]

Originally Posted by Harrywill

If you have 10 apples in a basket You have to share all these apples with your 10 friends, that all your friends get an apple. How can you give an apple to everyone that an apple is left in the basket and everyone can get one apple too. goes. How to tell?

The last friend gets the basked with his apple in it

[retina]

Originally Posted by Harrywill

If you have 10 apples in a basket You have to share all these apples with your 10 friends, that all your friends get an apple. How can you give an apple to everyone that an apple is left in the basket and everyone can get one apple too. goes. How to tell?

The first two sentences are irrelevant and are just for distraction right? Since "everyone" != "your 10 friends". So the real answer here will be: You go out and buy/steal/grow seven billion apples, then give everyone an apple, and the last apple is yours, and you put it in the basket.

What do I win?

[firejuggler]

As a non native english speaker, I'm always afraid of being mis-understood when I talk... Silent letter? yeah we know this in french. Don't ask me in english.