Bdelloid, with it's silent b at the start, raises an odd little query. Is there a word with a silent a at the start? with a silent c? Etc., etc. -- how many of the 26 letters can we cover?

B is covered by blattoid, and knot and pneumonia are fairly easy. What about the 23 other letters?

B is silent in blattoid?

This is all I can think of at the moment. Can anybody else fill in the blanks?

a - aegis
b -
c -
d -
e -
f -
g - gnostic, gnetum
h - hour
i -
j -
k - knot
l -
m - mnemonic
n -
o - opossum, oedipal
p - pterodactyl, Pteridium
q -
r -
s -
t -
u -
v -
w -
x - xylem, xylophone
y -
z -

Tinman

The edit feature works, now.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: tinman,

tmesis, chthonic

quote:

Originally posted by tinman:
x - xylum, xylophone

Oops! That should be xylem. The edit feature doesn't seem to be working.

Tinman

c - czar

Any others?

Tinman

t - tsar
x - X-ray
b - bdelloid
w - write
u - ukulele (begins with a y sound)
y - ytterbium, Ypsilanti? (pronouned as a short i)

My understanding from Hic's original post is that the first letter must be silent, not merely pronounced different. In that case, tsar, x-ray, ukulele, ytterbium,and Ypsilanti would not count. Come to think of it, neither would a word that I posted earlier, xylem, since the xy is pronounced as a z. In opossum, that I also posted, the AHD says the the o is not always silent, but can be pronounced with a schwa sound. However, I included it because I don't recall ever hearing anyone pronounce it that way. It's always been "possum" to me. But, in case you don't want to count that one, I included a second "o" word, oedipal, that I think (hope) everyone will agree begins with a silent letter.

I've just thought of one for "a" - aisle.

Tinman

What an odd coincidence that neveu revived this thread. Just yesterday Kalleh and I, having forgotten this thread, were wondering which letters can be silent as initial letters.

Here's one with a silent d:
djinn: Islamic Mythology. any of a class of spirits, lower than the angels, capable of appearing in human and animal forms and influencing humankind for either good or evil.

(Also, if proper names of cities/countries are allowed, Djakarta and Djibouti.)

FWIW


know knew knife knight
psyche pterodactyl
wring wrong wright

from Websters

chthonic
ctenoid

yeast (some pronounce it without the initial y)

phtisic
phthalein

europium

and what about these?
uh huh (mm-hmm)
faugh (pppp)