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in reply to Re^2: My favorite silent English letter is:
in thread My favorite silent English letter is:

For me there is also an invisible "f" in "lieutenant" as the standard British pronunciation is like "leftenant"
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Re^4: My favorite silent English letter is:
by tye (Sage) on Mar 02, 2012 at 14:14 UTC

    What proper Englishman would want to be promoted to be a "loo tenant"?

    - tye        

      But why choose a replacement pronunciation that sounds very much like being a "lift tenant"? Surely better, but not great.

      - tye        

        I am not sure you can ask "why" when it comes to features of natural languages. Unlike Klingon or Sindarin, they aren't designed; they evolved. The reasons for the path the evolution took (if there were any) are lost in the mists of time.