It’s not easy to determine when to break the rules and put “e” before “i,” but there are few clues to look out for. We’ve all heard this rule before: “I before E except after C.” Sure, this rule applies to many words-except for height, seize, their, vein, science, efficiency, and a bunch of others. The saying “ i before e except after c ” isn’t that reliable Consider these the French word “cologne” and the Greek word “psychology.” English doesn’t have a sound for consonant combinations like “gn” or “ps,” so the “g” and the “p” are respectively dropped from the phonology. 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.
