How many words have silent letters?

Answer 1

Relatively some words have silent letters, for example:

Silent A- Adverbs ending with "ally"

Some words with "ea". "Ea" usually sounds like double E or "ee" which makes a long E sound, but some words have a silent A, only the "e" is pronounced.

Ex. accidentally, actually, musically, historically, basically, mentally, bear, wear, head, bread, threat, weather, feather, Heather, leather, instead, heard, etc.

Silent B- Words with "mb" ending, only the "m" is pronounced.

Words with "bt" ending, only the "t" is pronounced.

Ex. bomb, comb, tomb, womb, crumb, thumb, climb, limb, lamb, jamb, plumb, plumber, numb, debt, doubt, etc.

Remark: Subtract, obtain, Cambridge, Cambrian, etc. contains the "mb" and "bt" but the "b" is still pronounced because it's not at the end of the word.

Silent C- Some words with "sc", especially at the beginning. When the "c" is followed by an E, I or Y, then the "c" would soften and make an "s" sounds. However, in the soft "c" case, if the "s" follows that "c", then the "c" would become silent as it might sound quite repetitive and the "s" is more generally prominent for this sound, so only the "s" is pronounced.

Words with "cq" together, only the "q" is pronounced.

Words with "cn" beginning, only the "n" is pronounced.

There are some exceptions though.

Ex. scissor, science, scene, scenery, scenario, scenic, scent, crescent, ascend, fascinate, muscle, descend, acquire, acquit, acquaintance, cnidarian, Antarctic, arctic, etc.

Silent D- Some words with D isn't pronounced.

Words with "dge" ending, the D isn't pronounced. Technically, it's like a soft "g" ending which sounds like a j However, if the "g" is only there like page, cage, rage, etc., then previous vowel will elongate due to the "e". The silent D in the "dge" ending is like a defender D which prevents the "e" from elongating the previous vowel, so it remains short.

Words with "adj" beginning, the D isn't pronounced. Technically, the J can't be the consonant blend, which is the first letter in the blend, so the following letter of the J is usually a consonant. If there's only the J, then there's only one intervening consonant, which the first letter might elongate. Doubling the J might work but English words can't have double J. The silent D in the "adj" beginning is like a defender D which prevents the J-following vowel from elongating the previous consonants.

Ex. sandwich, Wednesday, handsome, handkerchief, edge, hedge, ledge, pledge, ridge, bridge, badge, badger, sledge, smudge, dredge, adjacent, adjective, adjust, etc.

Answer 2

It is estimated that around 60% of English words have silent letters. These silent letters often reflect the historical development of the language and can make English pronunciation challenging for learners.