English Pronunciation Tip of the Day
Tip 7
Category:
Spelling-to-sound
Author: JAM
silent <l>
The letter < l> is quite often silent. This is true in lots of words where l is followed by <f>,< k>, or< m>. Here are some examples:
| lf | lk | lm | |||||
| calf | /kA:f/ | walk | /wO:k/ | calm | /kA:m/ | ||
| half | /hA:f/ | talk | /tO:k/ | psalm | /sA:m/ | ||
| folk | /f@Uk/ | ||||||
| yolk | /j@Uk/ |
Notice that <l> is only silent if the preceding vowel letter is <a> or <o>, except in some names (Hulme = /hju:m/). So the <l> is not silent in any of the following words:
bulk elf elk elm film milk sulk shelf
Notice also that the pronunciation of vowel spelled <a> is different before <f> and <m> from the pronunciation before <k>. /O:/ before <k> and /A:/ elsewhere. Occasionally, <a> before <lm> is pronounced /{/ as in salmon /s{m@n/.
Remember too that the <l> is silent in the words could, couldn't, should, shouldn't, would and wouldn't.