Silent Letters

RULES FOR SILENT LETTERS
This list contains most of the common silent letters and combinations that cause difficulties for English learners. Here are the rules to help you understand when to use some silent letters, but remember there are usually some exceptions!

(Please note that this is not a comprehensive list of all the rules around silent letters, only some of the most common ones that you may come across):

Silent B
Rule 1: B is not pronounced after M at the end of a word.

Examples: limb, crumb, dumb, comb, bomb, thumb, climb, tomb

Rule 2: B is usually not pronounced before T at the end of a root word.**

Examples: debt, doubt, debtor, doubtful, subtle, subtleness

**A root word is the original word in its root form without any prefixes or suffixes attached e.g. doubt is the root word in doubtful, and the ‘ful’ is a suffix. Subtle is the root word, and ‘ness’ is a suffix.

 Silent C
Rule 1: C is not pronounced in the combination SC.

Examples: Muscle, scissors, ascent, miscellaneous, fascinate, scenario

Exceptions: Sclera, asclepiad, sclerosis, muscovado, sceptic

Rule 2: C is usually redundant before the letters K or Q.

Examples: Acquaintance, acknowledge, acquiesce, acquit

Silent D
Rule 1: D is not pronounced in the following common words:

Handkerchief, Wednesday, sandwich, handsome

Rule 2: D is also not pronounced in the combination DG.

Examples: Pledge, dodge, grudge, hedge

Silent E
Rule: E is not pronounced at the end of words, but instead elongates the sound of the vowel before it.

Examples: Hope, drive, gave, write, site, grave, bite, hide

Exceptions: Giraffe, brunette, cassette, gazelle (You may be able to spot a pattern in these words; they have similar combinations in the last syllable. This shows that the exceptions are generally words with unusual stress on the final syllable – but not always! One example would be the word ‘minute’ as in the time-measuring unit.)

Silent G
Rule: G is not often not pronounced when it comes before N.

Examples: Champagne, foreign, sign, feign, foreign, design, align, cognac

Exceptions: Magnet, igneous, cognitive, signature

Silent GH
Rule 1: GH is not pronounced when it comes after a vowel.

Examples: Thought, drought, through, thorough, borough, daughter, light, might, sigh, right, fight, weigh, weight

Exceptions: Doghouse, foghorn, bighead (As you can see, the exceptions are generally compound words i.e. words that have been formed by combining two complete words)

Rule 2: GH is sometimes pronounced like F.

Examples: rough, tough, laugh, enough, cough, clough, draught

Exceptions: Examples from rule 1!

Silent H
Rule 1: H is not pronounced when it comes after W (n.b. some speakers whisper the H before the W).

Examples: what, when, where, whether, why

Rule 2: H is not pronounced at the beginning of many words (remember to use the article “an” with unvoiced H).

Examples: hour, honest, honour, heir

Exceptions: hill, history, height, happy, hereditary (Plus most other words beginning with H that are NOT of French origin – and remember to use the article “a” with voiced H)

Rule 3: H is often not pronounced when it comes after C, G or R.

Examples: choir, chorus, ghastly, ghoul, aghast, echo, rhinocerous, rhythm

Silent K
Rule: K is not pronounced when it comes before N at the beginning of a word.

Examples: knife, knee, know, knock, knowledge, knead

Silent L
Rule: L is not pronounced after the vowels A, O and U.

Examples: calm, half, talk, walk, would, should, could, calf, salmon, yolk, chalk, folk, balm

Exceptions: Halo, bulk, sulk, hold, sold, fold, mould

Silent N
Rule: N is not pronounced when it comes after M at the end of a word.

Examples: Autumn, hymn, column, solemn

Silent P
Rule: P is not pronounced at the beginning of many words using the combinations PS, PT and PN.

Psychiatrist, pneumonia, pneumatic, psychotherapy, psychotic, psychologist, pseudonym, Pterodactyl

Silent PH
Rule: PH is sometimes pronounced like F.

Examples: telephone, paragraph, alphabet, epiphany, sophomore

Silent S
Rule: S is not pronounced before L in the following words:

Island, isle, aisle, islet

Silent T
Rule: T is not pronounced in these common words:

Castle, Christmas, fasten, listen, often, whistle, thistle, bustle, hasten, soften, rapport, gourmet, ballet

Silent U
Rule: U is not pronounced when it comes after G and before a vowel.

Examples: guess, guidance, guitar, guest, guild, guard

Silent W
Rule 1: W is not pronounced at the beginning of a word when it is before the letter R.

Examples: wrap, write, wrong, wring, wreck, wrestle, wrap, wrist

Rule 2: W is not pronounced in the following words:

Who, whose, whom, whole, whoever, answer, sword, two

Diphtongs

In phonetics, a diphthong is a vowel in which there is a noticeable sound change within the same syllable. (In contrast, a single or simple vowel is known as a monophthong.) Adjective: diphthongal.

The process of moving from one vowel sound to another is called gliding, and thus another name for diphthong is gliding vowel. Also known as a compound vowel, a complex vowel, and a moving vowel.

A sound change that turns a single vowel into a diphthong is called diphthongization.

Laurel J. Brinton points out that "a diphthong is not necessarily longer (does not take more time to articulate) than a monophthong, though diphthongs are frequently, and erroneously, called 'long vowels' in school" (The Structure of Modern English, 2000).

See Examples and Observations below. Also see:

Accent and Accent Prejudice
Digraph
Phoneme
Pronunciation
Regional Dialect
Speech
Etymology
From the Greek, "two sounds"

EXAMPLES AND OBSERVATIONS
"If you say the words hat and lip, you can hear that the vowel sound in each is singular in nature; that is, each contains only one kind of sound. But if you say the words out, bite, and toil, you will hear that the vowel sound of each, though restricted to one syllable, is composed of two different kinds of sound. These dual vowels are called diphthongs (literally, 'two voices' or 'two sounds'), as opposed to the singular vowels, which are monophthongs ('one voice' or 'one sound')."
(Thomas E. Murray, The Structure of English. Allyn and Bacon, 1995)
Recognizing Diphthongs
American elocutionist Edith Skinner provided this rule of thumb: "If it's absolutely still, it's a vowel; if it moves, it's a diphthong" (Speak With Distinction, 1990).
A Diphthong in New England and the South
"The vowel [a] is heard in eastern New England speech in ask, half, laugh, and path and in some varieties of Southern speech in bye, might, tired, and the like. It is intermediate between [ɑ] and [æ], and is usually the first element of a diphthong (that is, a two-vowel sequence pronounced as the core of a single syllable) as in right and rout."
(John Algeo and Thomas Pyles, The Origins and Development of the English Language, 5th ed. Thomson Wadsworth, 2005

New York Tawk
"'New York tawk features a diphthongal aw sound,' [Charles H.] Elster observes, 'that in heavy New Yorkese sounds almost disyllabic.' ( . . . [L]et me translate. A diphthong is the gliding sound of combining vowels, as in the oy in the head-smacking Yiddish oy veh. Disyllabic means 'having two syllables.') 'It's impossible for me to transliterate this elongated aw here, but ask a dyed-in-the-wool New Yorker to pronounce dog and coffee and you'll come close."
(William Safire, "Yagoddaprollemwiddat?" The New York Times Magazine, September 17, 2000
The Birmingham (England) Accent
"When you notice a regional accent, what you're chiefly noticing are the way people pronounce their long vowels (in words like see, saw, and sue) and diphthongs (in words like say, so, sow, soy, and sigh).
"English has quite a few of these, and the more an accent sounds them differently from the way you speak, the more difficulty you'll have in 'picking up' that accent.

"Some accents will be very close to your own, so you would have only a few features to learn. But Birmingham and Geordie are two that—compared with Received Pronunciation [RP]—have lots of really noticeable differences, such as these three:
- The diphthong in words like float has a much more open onset, so that it sounds more like RP 'flout.'
- The diphthong in words like nice begins with a back and rounded quality, so that it sounds like 'noice.'
- The diphthong in words like loud begins with a front and higher quality, so that it sounds more like 'le-ood.'"
(David Crystal and Ben Crystal, "Revealed: Why the Brummie Accent Is Loved Everywhere but Britain." Daily Mail, October 3, 2014)
Canadian Raising
"Canadian raising involves the diphthong spelled ou when followed by a voiceless consonant.  (A diphthong is a two-vowel combination functioning as a unit.) It’s used in words ending in t, like out, about, and pout, and in words ending with voiceless s, like house and mouse. (But not the verb to house, because that ends with a voiced z sound.) It’s called raising because the tongue is raised at the start of the diphthong. There’s no good way to show this with conventional spelling, but I’ll try: Instead of the usual 'ah-oo' of the diphthong, the tongue is raised, to begin with so it comes out as 'uh-oo.' It’s often spelled oo.

"This diphthong raising is widespread in Canada and has become known there, and in the United States as a marker of identity for Canadians."
(Allan Metcalf, "O Canada! in New Orleans." The Chronicle of Higher Education, February 25, 2015)
The Lighter Side of Diphthongs: Advice to Singers
"To ensure your vowel sounds are clear, keep your cheekbones high and smiling (this is good for pitch as well). Mimic the Joker's cheeks in Batman, which are lifted at the top, as this will keep your face energised. You should linger on vowels for as long as possible, and be careful not to aspirate (put an 'h') before vowels when you're singing them quickly. When singing diphthongs (two vowel sounds together), which will happen frequently if you're singing in English, stay on the first vowel and flip into the diphthong at the last possible moment. To practise this, sing the word 'praise,' staying on the first vowel and only lightening the vowel sound at the end."
(Mark Wildman et al., "Melody Making." The Guardian [UK], May 10, 2009)
Pronunciation: DIF-thong or (according to some dictionaries) DIP-thong. "As all good speakers know," says Charles Harrington Elster, "there is no dip in diphthong—at least not anymore" (The Big Book of Beastly Mispronunciations, 2005).

Narrative Activity

Today's activity : I need to interpret one of the song given by my teacher.

I choose "Hero By Mariah Carey" because it have a beautiful lyrics and if you listen with your soul it can encourage you to pursue your dream.

"Hero"

There's a hero
If you look inside your heart
You don't have to be afraid
Of what you are
There's an answer
If you reach into your soul
And the sorrow that you know
Will melt away

And then a hero comes along
With the strength to carry on
And you cast your fears aside
And you know you can survive
So when you feel like hope is gone
Look inside you and be strong
And you'll finally see the truth
That a hero lies in you

It's a long road
When you face the world alone
No one reaches out a hand
For you to hold
You can find love
If you search within yourself
And the emptiness you felt
Will disappear

And then a hero comes along
With the strength to carry on
And you cast your fears aside
And you know you can survive
So when you feel like hope is gone
Look inside you and be strong
And you'll finally see the truth
That a hero lies in you

Lord knows
Dreams are hard to follow
But don't let anyone
Tear them away
Hold on
There will be tomorrow
In time
You'll find the way

And then a hero comes along
With the strength to carry on
And you cast your fears aside
And you know you can survive
So when you feel like hope is gone
Look inside you and be strong
And you'll finally see the truth
That a hero lies in you
That a hero lies in you

That a hero lies in you


Lyrically, this song is regarded as one of Carey’s most inspirational ballads, with its protagonist declaring that even though we may feel discouraged or down at times, in reality we are “heroes” if we look inside ourselves and see our own inner strength; in time, it will help us “find the way”. It's also tells you to be strong and brave. When ever you come in a tough situation, just find the courage in you (the hero) to face it and get through it. Message of the Song: The emotions the song 'Hero' brings out are courage, perseverance, and bravery. It shows courage because you have to find the bravery in you to face you struggles. Also, it shows perseverance because you have to try hard to get through you problems even if no one tries to help you.😉😉😉😉

Public Speaking : Smoke Free Environment For Life

Air Pollution-Smoking And Environment

I’ve prepared short speech about our environment. You probably know something about air pollution but I’m going to tell you something more. We often hear phrase: ‘I’ll go out for a breath of fresh air’. But how many of us realize that this has become irrelevant in today’s world, because the quality of air in our cities is realy bad. The moment you step out of the house and are on the road you can actually see the air getting polluted: Smoking and the Environment: Smoking not only affects the smoker’s health, it also greatly influences the surrounding atmosphere. Smoke and cigarette butts affect the environment the most, resulting into air, water and land pollution. Even the production of cigarettes influences the environment a lot.

All smokers think that by smoking they are only damaging their health. They are ignorant about the fact that their smoking is indirectly affecting others health. And they are one of the direct contributors to the environmental pollution. There are few environmental issues, which every smoker should be aware of. Smoking affects your environment greatly. This article would be discussing the various effects of smoking on the environment.

How Smoking Causes Air Pollution? 

It is quite evident that smoking causes air pollution and to some extent also pollutes the ground. Approximately 4000 chemicals are present in cigarettes, which are breathed out and released in the atmosphere. Out of the total North American population 30% of them are smokers and the percentage of the smoking population in developing countries is much higher. This indicates that an enormous quantity of pollution is being released in the atmosphere every day.

How Smoking Causes Land and Water Pollution? 

Pollution caused due to smoking is not confined only to the air or body but to some extent it is also responsible in polluting the land and the water. Every day millions of cigarette butts are left on the ground. Maximum of the cigarette butts finally end up in lakes and rivers. By mistake fishes and other water animals eat these butts resulting in death of these water bodies. The remaining butts left on the ground will approximately take 25-26 years to decompose. The various additives and chemicals are leached into the soil, polluting the soil as well as plants. During dry seasons cigarette butts can even cause major fire, which is even harmful for the environment.

How Cigarette Production Affects Environment? 

Major impact on the environment is due the production of the cigarettes. The land, which is used for the cultivation of tobacco plants, could be better used for producing food for the third world countries. Moreover as the tobacco plant is highly susceptible to pests and disease so to maintain their proper growth and health various chemicals and pesticides are being sprayed. For the production and packaging of the cigarette requires a lot of trees. smoking and the environment. In an hour cigarette-manufacturing unit requires almost 4 miles of paper for rolling and packaging of the cigarettes. Just to produce 300 cigarettes one tree is being wasted. Energy and water is also being wasted for the production of the cigarettes as well as the chemical wastes from the manufacturing unit is also dumped into the soil. Hence it is clear the cigarettes are in total adding huge strain on the body and environment. With the use of more advance technology tobacco industry can help in decreasing the strain from the environment. But just to save billions of dollar profit/year the industry is not willing to go for the advanced technology. The best and the easiest way to control this environmental destruction, is to stop buying this harmful product. It is tough to quit smoking but directly (your health) and indirectly (environment) it will be beneficial for you only.

THE END. 

In many countries in the world, steps are being taken to stop the damage to our environment from air pollution. Scientific groups study the damaging effects on plant, animal and human life. Legislative bodies write laws to control emissions. Educators in schools and universities teach students, beginning at very young ages, about the effects of air pollution . But it does’ t help. In the world there are still lots of people who don’t care about our environment. We should encourage them to protect it. The world is our home so we should take care of  it. We should encourage our family not to smoking. It isn’t hard to do. If everyone do it, our environment will become more clear. Okay that all from me. I hope you guys can take a note about this matter. Thanks.

Festival Of Light

🎇The Thing's That We Can Learn From The Festival Of Light🎇

I believe people around the world will celebrate Diwali, the festival of lights. Although the holiday is mainly observed by Hindus, Jains and Sikhs, I believe that Muslims can also experience personal growth during Diwali by reflecting on its spiritual significance. Light is Diwali’s central symbol, and Muslims can therefore open new channels of interfaith dialogue by examining the importance of light within Islam.

In Islam light can be a mark of God’s presence. One of Allah’s 99 Beautiful Names is An-Nur, meaning “The Light,” and many prophets such as Musa (PBUH) and Muhammad (PBUH) reported seeing blinding lights while communicating with Allah. Light also symbolizes goodness; the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) reported that the angels, wholly good beings created by God for a multitude of purposes (including cataloging mankind’s deeds and asking Allah to bless the virtuous, among others) are made from light. Finally, light represents Allah’s gifts of divine guidance and human intellect to all people, not just Muslims. Indeed, the Quran specifically mentions that the Jewish and Christian scriptures were each “a light and guidance” unto the people (Quran 5:44-46), and that every community in world history received messengers who provided “clear [guiding] light” and “convincing proof” encouraging them to serve God and forbid evil (Quran 4:174 and 16:36).

Islam’s conceptions of light are by no means unique; many other religions have similar constructions of light representing God’s presence, goodness, or Divine revelation. So how is Diwali relevant to Muslim spiritual growth? The answer lies in one of the most enigmatic mentions of light in the Quran which involves a surprising parallel to Diwali practices.

Diwali comes from the Sanskrit word deepavali, which means “row of lamps,” and one of the festival’s signature events involves the lighting of many small lamps to signify the triumph of good (represented by light) over evil (represented by darkness). The mystical Quranic verse known as Ayat-an-Nur (the verse of light) explains the light of God through an extended metaphor about the lighting of a lamp. The verse can be translated as:

“Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The parable of His Light is a niche wherein is a lamp — the lamp is in a glass, the glass as it were a glittering star — lit from a blessed olive tree, neither eastern nor western, whose oil almost lights up, though fire should not touch it. Light upon light! Allah guides to His Light whomever He wishes. Allah draws parables for mankind, and Allah has knowledge of all things.” (Quran 24:35)

Quran scholars have debated the meaning of this verse since the time of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). The multitude of symbols — the window, the lamp, the glass, the star, the tree, the oil — allow for a plethora of interpretations of the extended metaphor. Interestingly, one of the only areas of consensus is that the lamp imagery is a reference to the practices of other faith traditions (Bowering 2001). Although the verse’s meaning is elusive, it describes a picture that is possible to visualize. If one has ever experienced Diwali, it’s even possible that the picture of a shining lamp in one’s mind’s eye based on this verse would look similar to the festival’s celebration!

In my opinion, this could mean that Allah enjoins Muslims to see God’s light in all things, including the possibility of gaining knowledge from other religions. The olive tree is usually a symbol of peace, and its description as “neither eastern nor western” implies that peace is a universal goal for all of mankind. Every time Muslims use God’s gift of reason to increase our own understanding of truth, we are casting out the darkness of ignorance in favor of the light of knowledge. Also, every time we use existing knowledge as a foundation for increased learning and contemplation, we can compound “light upon light.” We may already understand our own faith, but as long as we have hearts that contain “a lamp” — a burning passion for more knowledge — we should strive to gather knowledge from anywhere, including from other religious traditions.

For Muslims, Diwali can be a time to reflect on complex spiritual and theological questions. We should view the festival not only as a chance to learn more about Islam, but also as an opportunity to deepen our understanding of other faiths’ practices and religious imagery. The common symbolism of light is therefore an excellent platform for interfaith dialogue and deep philosophical discussion.

The darks of ignorance, bigotry, and religious intolerance may be present in our society, so it is our duty to counter these with the lights of truth, reason, and inter-religious understanding. The Quran also states, “Virtue and evil are not equal. If you repel evil deeds with virtuous ones, you will certainly find that your enemies will become your intimate friends.” (Quran 41:34). As we build positive relationships with one another through celebrations like Diwali, we can also continue to repel evil by making light upon light.

How are you celebrating Deepavali for this year? For me, this year I go to Berjaya Times Square to see this Festival of Light. Okay that's all from me. Happy Deepavali to all of you. I hope you guys can enjoy reading from my blog. See yaaa😘👋

Happy Deepavali 2017