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Silent H

Posted by R. Berg on October 20, 2002

In Reply to: Thames and Thyme posted by bob on October 20, 2002

: : : Why isn't the 'h' pronounced in these words? Just wondering because a Greek friend was prounouncing the 'h' today and it struck me as odd. Are there other words that do this?

: phthisic, for one. It's pronounced tiz-ik, which probably makes it the hardest word to sight-read in English.

Scheme, scherzo, schedule, chlorine, chorus, Christ, chiton, chiropractor. All or most of these have Greek roots that contain chi. That doesn't explain the silent H in th- words, though.

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