*How every English letter can be (annoyingly) silent*
English is maddening, and it's not sorry. English can be such
an intractable heel, especially when it comes to its spelling: for every rule
explaining how a letter is pronounced in a given situation it often seems like
there is a herd of exceptions mooing about how the rule doesn't apply. Letters
persist in words despite not playing any discernible role in the word's
pronunciation. It's maddening for those of us who are peeved by such things.
A
The a in bread (as well as in tread) does nothing. You might
as well spell it bred except that then it looks too much like the past tense of
breed. So don't do that.
B
Most silent b's come at the ends of words and just after m:
bomb, climb, comb, crumb, dumb, lamb, limb, numb, plumb, thumb, tomb. Just when
one starts to feel comfortable with the relative regularity of these, debt and
subtle show up like a couple of toughs.
C
C may as well cede all power to s in words like science and
scissors, but we'll also point out that it's not doing much of anything in
acquire, indict, or muscle.
D
D is shirking its auditory duties in handkerchief and mostly
doing the same in handsome. Its appearance in Wednesday can only be seen as
some kind of cruel joke.
E
The word sleeve has an excessive number of e's. We're saying
it right now. Sleve or sleev would work fine, but English does not like to
leave v's on the ends of words; it props them up with e's, as though they'd
fall over otherwise. That v habit explains, then, words like leave and give,
but there's no excusing the e in words like imagine.
F
While some people do in fact pronounce the second f in fifth,
the first pronunciation given in our dictionary is the one that omits it.
Overall, however, f is to be commended for its performance generally. We'd give
it an A, if we were on speaking terms with that letter.
G
G has no business being in sign nor phlegm, as far as the
modern reader is concerned. It obviously doesn't care. This callousness is also
evident in that slew of gn- words: gnarl, gnash, gnat, gnaw, gnostic, gnu. It can
be no surprise, then, that g also participates in the likes of such offenses as
high, though, and through.
H
The h's at the beginning of heir, honest, and honor have
nothing to say. Neither do the ones in rhyme and ghost. That h makes a
contribution of a sort in the second syllable of rhythm only goes so far in
repairing the letter's record.
I
I doesn't do a blessed thing in business, except to be
impersonated by the u in the first syllable. It also does no discernible good
in suit, which in a decent orthographic system would be spelled soot.
J
Some of you may be happy to know that we have at this point
only one English word in which the j is silent: marijuana.
K
The silent k in a slew of common words demonstrates a
callousness for beginner spellers especially: knee, knife, knight, knit, knob,
knock, knot, know, knuckle.
L
The most indecent of the silent l words is surely colonel.
The word sounds identical to kernel, which is an honorable, respectfully
spelled word. L is also silent in could, should, would, as well as in calf and
half, and in chalk, talk, walk, and for many people in calm, palm, and psalm.
M
One can get through much of life never encountering m in its
silent form. By the time a person is ready for a word like mnemonic they have
likely come to accept the vagaries of silent letters.
N
Like silent b's, silent n's tend to come at the ends of words
and after m: autumn, column, damn, hymn, limn, solemn. While this might suggest
to some that m is a little too accommodating, we would never anthropomorphize
letters in such a way.
O
There is the flagrant excess of letters in enough, rough, and
tough, where o is among several who have no place being there. Then there is
the formerly mentioned ruffian colonel, in which neither o behaves properly and
the second o doesn't even bother to try. But in addition to those we then also
have jeopardy, leopard, and people. We'll let you draw your own conclusions
about o.
P
P is silent before n in a selection of somewhat technical
terms, such as pneumonia and pneumatic. And it's silent before s in a different
selection of words such as psalm, psyche, and psychology. It boldly says
nothing in corps and coup and receipt. In some pronunciations of comptroller it
somehow convinces m to join with it in dissembling; the two there impersonate
n.
Q
Q tends to function wholly above board as an upstanding
member of the alphabet. Most of us are fortunate to encounter its dereliction
in lacquer only occasionally.
R
R exists in forecastle only to mock landlubbers. It exists in
February only to make us suffer.
S
S is a mostly-reliable letter. Its failings are limited
largely to aisle, apropos, debris, isle, and island. We cannot, however,
overlook its participation in the hot mess that is bourgeois.
T
T refuses to be audible in ballet, castle, listen, and
whistle. In asthma it conspires with h to shun its usual duties.
U
U may appear reasonable, but evidence to the contrary is not
difficult to find: build, catalogue, dialogue, colleague, guard, guess, laugh,
league, tongue. Note that the second and third of these words have attempted
eviction and are meeting with significant success: catalog and dialog are both
fully accepted variant spellings.
V
V is at this point the only letter that refuses to be unheard
in any established word of the language. And yet a dark cloud gathers on the
horizon: in late May 2017 a much-followed and likely sleep-addled Twitter user
tweeted out what was clearly a partially developed composition. The Internet
seized on the enigmatic final word and discussed it ad nauseam. Of the myriad pronunciations
suggested for this non-word, several of the strongest contenders had a silent
v.
W
W yields all power to the r that follows it in wrack, wraith,
wrangle, wrap, wreath, wren, wrench, wrestle, wrinkle, wrist, writ, write,
wrong, and wrought. As if that lot were not enough, w with no apparent logic
whatsoever sits idly silent in answer, sword, two, and who as well.
X
We will admit to some small appreciation of x's discretion in
its orthographic indiscretion. Its silence seems perhaps calculated in faux and
faux pas.
Y
We cannot blame y for its gratuitous presence in beyond. The
letter may, in fact, believe itself to be essential in the word. It cannot be
ignored, however, that the word would reasonably have its same pronunciation if
it were spelled "beond," "beeond," or "be-ond."
Z
There will surely be attempts to blame the French, and yet
the following have been fully established members of the English language for
centuries now: chez, laissez-faire, and rendezvous. We cannot look the other way,
Z.
So silently the Alphabet marchés from A to Z !!!
*Being* vs *Doing*
_"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands
in moments of comfort and convenience, but, where he stands in times of
challenge and controversy." ~Martin Luther King_
In any context or any given situation, *being,* is more
crucial than *doing.*
*Doing (Action/Execution),* is achieved only when there's
proper *Being (Motivation/Drive).*
Life happen by *being in the moment,* than *doing,* and most
*profound* things occur not by *doing* but just by *being.*
*Coaching, Mentoring, Leadership,* or even *Friendship,* is
all about *Being,* than *Doing.*
*Doing* is never going to be enough, if we aren't mindful of
*Being.*
The highest levels of creativity is due to *being* than
*doing.*
This seems to be so true in the present context.
The world around us is suddenly different, taking a huge
shift throwing us out-of-balance.
It is equally amazing how we are able to face everything with
confidence despite our day-to-day support dwindling and coming to a complete
halt.
We will be lying if we say we aren't scared, but, it is also
true that the confidence each of us has within is much greater than the
challenge.
That is what *human beings,* are and that's what they will
keep *doing,* - survive and fight till the last breath.
_After all, *how long can this storm ⚡🌧️⛈️ ⚡last!*_
_In the end it has to bring a 🌈 *rainbow.*_
Scripted exclusively for the members of this group
*R3 - Raman's Random Ramblings*
bh
Raman