Consider these five words: island, grudge, pneumonia, wrestle, beyond. At first glance, you probably don’t think they have anything in common. (Besides the fact that some of them contain the most common letter in the English language.) But you might need to harken back to your grade-school grammar lessons to see the connection.
If you’re still stumped, say each word slowly. Did you notice a missing syllable or two? Turns out, all five words have one or more silent letters—and that’s just a small sample of them.
It’s no secret that the English language has heaps of crazy grammar rules, and the way we pronounce words is no exception. While there are 26 letters in the alphabet, they share at least 44 different pronunciations between them. The letter A, for example, has seven different English pronunciations alone. (At least you can safely ignore these common grammar rules.)
On top of that, almost every letter in the alphabet has a silent usage, too. Think about it: From the C in scissors to the U in build, the English language has a bad habit of omitting letters in certain words. Even unusual letters like Z and J are silent in words that we have adopted from foreign languages, such as marijuana (originally a Spanish word) and laissez-faire (French).
But as Merriam-Webster Dictionary points out, one unusual letter is never silent: the letter V. While it makes an appearance in words like quiver and vivid, you can rest assured it always behaves the exact same way.
That might change soon, though. Last year, President Donald Trump tweeted the word “covfefe,” which sparked heated debate regarding how, exactly, one should say this made-up term. Some suggested that it is pronounced with a silent V.
Want to weigh in? We won’t stop you. If grammar really grinds your gears, we have even more word nerd trivia for you: With 645 meanings, the most complicated word in English is only three letters long.
The post This Is the Only Letter in the English Language That Is Never Silent appeared first on Reader's Digest.
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