Other silent letters exist because their mother language allows certain letter and sound combinations, even though they don’t align with English phonology. For example, in “crumb” the b remains silent, but it makes itself heard in “crumble.”
Memorizing how to pronounce these words can be confusing, however, when their related words have the same spelling, but a different pronunciation where the silent letter is no longer silent. Understanding related words may help you understand words with silent letters.
The result is a number of confusing words, such as “debt,” “ receipt,” and “design.” Spoken English stopped pronouncing certain p’s, b’s, g’s, and other letters, while the written language refused to change its spelling. Many scholars also cite the Great Vowel Shift for many of English’s silent letters.
