Where is GH silent?

Silent GH: There are two rules for silent GH. Rule 1: GH is not pronounced when it comes after a vowel. Rule 2: GH is sometimes pronounced like F.
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Where is GH pronounced?

Firstly, when 'gh' is at the beginning of a word, or at the beginning of a stressed syllable, it is always pronounced /g/. Examples of this are ghost, ghastly, ghetto and spaghetti.
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Where does the silent gh come from?

When you see a GH spelling in English and it's silent or not pronounced like G, you're dealing with Middle English. That's the language for which English spelling was developed. pronounced [x] (rather like German CH or Russian Х or Hebrew ח) after vowels.
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Is GH silent in light?

Video Summary. There are 3 main ways to pronounce GH: GH = silent e.g. LIGHT. GH = /f/ e.g. ENOUGH.
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When did English stop pronouncing GH?

in certain dialects of Middle English the velar fricative [x] (like ch in loch), written gh, either disappeared (as in night, bought) or became [f] (as in rough); in standard English the old pronunciation of gh continued until about 1600, but was then replaced by the present pronunciation.
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gh / silent / rules of reading / part one



Why is GH silent in words?

Why does English have so many silent letters and rule exceptions? Most reasons for silent letters in English relate to the origins of the word. For example, the word “knight” has two silent sounds-K and GH. This word originated from the German word for servant, “knecht” in which each letter is pronounced.
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What did GH sound like?

English has a funny relation to its "gh" digraph. It inherits it from the Germanic languages, where it's pronounced as a rasp in the back of the throat (the "voiceless velar fricative"). In modern German it's spelled with a "ch" as in "Bach".
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How is GH pronounced in Irish?

In Irish, ⟨gh⟩ represents /ɣ/ (the voiced velar fricative) and /j/ (the voiced palatal approximant). Word-initially it represents the lenition of ⟨g⟩, for example mo ghiall [mˠə ˈjiəl̪ˠ] 'my jaw' (compare giall [ˈɟiəl̪ˠ] 'jaw').
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Is H silent in ghost?

H is always silent in HONOUR, HOUR, HONEST, HEIR, VEHICLE & VEHEMENT. You don't say it after 'g' in GHOST, GHASTLY, AGHAST, GHERKIN & GHETTO, or after 'r' in RHINOCEROS, RHUBARB, RHYME and RHYTHM.
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Where does the GH spelling come from?

In the 1300s, the 'gh' letter combination was used to represent the way the 'ch' in 'loch' is pronounced by the Scots or in 'Bach' by the Germans. In that era, words like 'right' and 'night' were pronounced with this guttural sound.
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How do you pronounce gh in Scottish Gaelic?

Let's take a look at the Gaelic sound made by the letters gh.
  1. If gh is used alongside a broad vowel (a, o, or u) it is pronounced like a soft 'g' made at the back of the throat. ...
  2. If gh is used alongside a slender vowel (e or i), it is pronounced like the letter 'y'.
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Is GH a word?

No, gh is not in the scrabble dictionary.
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Why does Ugh make an F sound?

Again it all comes down to the history and origins of the words. -gh- came about because of French influence after they invaded us in 1066. But then the gh became silent or became an "f" sound. But some of the -ugh- words with the "f" sound were originally pronounced with an 'f' in some northern dialects of that time.
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What are some GH words?

Words That Contain GH
  • agha.
  • argh.
  • augh.
  • ghat.
  • ghee.
  • ghis.
  • high.
  • nigh.
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Why do we spell ghost with ah?

Conversation. The 'h' in 'ghost' is a historical hiccup. William Caxton, having first practised his trade in Flanders, brought Flemish typesetters back to England to help set up his printing press - they lobbed an 'h' into English 'gost' because their own native word was 'gheest'.
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