Pronounced with an initial alveolar nasal

The <k> in the words knife and knight is silent. It is there because the words originally came from Old English words that did have a k sound. The k sound was dropped over time, but the spelling of the words remained the same. The Old English words for knife and knight were cnif and cniht, respectively. The <k> was pronounced in these words, as it is in other Germanic languages like German and Dutch. However, over time, the k sound was dropped in English. This is thought to have happened because the k sound was difficult to pronounce after the n sound. The spelling of the words knife and knight remained the same, even though the k sound was dropped. This is because spelling in English was not standardized until the 1500s. By that time, the k sound had already been dropped in these words, but the spelling had not changed. So, why do we still spell knife and knight with a <k>, even though the k sound is silent? It's simply because that's how the words have been spelled for centuries. It's a legacy of the Old English words from which they came. Here are some other examples of words in English that have a silent k:

• know (from Old English cnāwan)
• knee (from Old English cnēo)
• knock (from Old English cnoccan)

These words all originally had a k sound, but the k sound was dropped over time. However, the spelling of the words remained the same.

Sample Solution