K AFTER K, BUT NOT A ONE IS SPOKEN

COVID19 lingers, but children begin to leave behind the virtual for the 3D classrooms in schools as they continue seeking knowledge. In the word “knowledge,’ the letter K is silent. Which reminds me of other words which begin with the letters “KN.”

Kn words can present problems in spelling with homonyms like the pairs “Knight/Night”, “Knot/Not” and “Know/No.” Is the K just there to confuse? Of course not, it was once pronounced and still may be in parts of Scotland.

I recently heard on the BBC, a Scot speak the first listed word above. It sounded rather like it were spelled “kanikt,” with the second “k” sound actually a G plus an H—Scot style. (see earlier blogs on GH words).

Are these words then Scottish and part of our Celtic heritage? No, they are leftovers from ancestors who spoke variants in the Germanic language family. The current German still has several, including “knockwurst” a food served and spoken by English natives—though, once again, they drop the initial K sound.

So why do the English ignore that first letter in these words? The reason, I believe, is that over time those born into the English language tended to ignore the “inconvenient” in their language. Try pronouncing the K in the word “knot,” for instance. That brief sound, almost as if you are trying to clear your throat, just is not worth the effort.* Right?

The other question is “why keep that initial K?” The easiest answer is that it is true to its word origin and helps to clarify meaning when written out. The other answer is that the English like their eccentricities and choose to be stubborn in their defense.

With that last thought I will ring the knell on this day’s exploration of the English language.

*There are many languages which regularly have the “clearing the throat” sound as they speak. In writing, this sound is sometimes rendered as a CH or H as in Hanukkah (also spelled with Chanukkah) or with the infamous K (sometimes KH).

#EnglishLanguage #ESL