Why is 'know' pronounced as 'no'?
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I know the 'k' is silent, but then why not pronounced as 'now' instead of 'no'?
P.S. I realize it's a stupid question, just felt curious about this.
pronunciation
asked 1 hour ago
Vivek Sinha
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I know the 'k' is silent, but then why not pronounced as 'now' instead of 'no'?
P.S. I realize it's a stupid question, just felt curious about this.
pronunciation
asked 1 hour ago
Vivek Sinha
1
New contributor
Vivek Sinha is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Consider low, show, flow, stow, grow, throw. The digraph ow has two common pronunciations, and there's really no way of telling which one any particular English word has (and in fact, in bow, mow, sow, it's ambiguous because the same spelling is used for two different words with different pronunciations).
– Peter Shor
1 hour ago
1
Duplicate of english.stackexchange.com/questions/6588/…
– Ddddan
1 hour ago
Possible duplicate of Why does "ow" have two different sounds
– TimLymington
1 hour ago
add a comment |
up vote
-1
down vote
favorite
up vote
-1
down vote
favorite
I know the 'k' is silent, but then why not pronounced as 'now' instead of 'no'?
P.S. I realize it's a stupid question, just felt curious about this.
pronunciation
asked 1 hour ago
Vivek Sinha
1
New contributor
Vivek Sinha is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
I know the 'k' is silent, but then why not pronounced as 'now' instead of 'no'?
P.S. I realize it's a stupid question, just felt curious about this.
pronunciation
pronunciation
asked 1 hour ago
Vivek Sinha
1
New contributor
Vivek Sinha is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 1 hour ago
Vivek Sinha
1
New contributor
Vivek Sinha is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 1 hour ago
Vivek Sinha
1
New contributor
Vivek Sinha is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 1 hour ago
Vivek Sinha
1
asked 1 hour ago
Vivek Sinha
1
1
New contributor
Vivek Sinha is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
Vivek Sinha is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Vivek Sinha is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Consider low, show, flow, stow, grow, throw. The digraph ow has two common pronunciations, and there's really no way of telling which one any particular English word has (and in fact, in bow, mow, sow, it's ambiguous because the same spelling is used for two different words with different pronunciations).
– Peter Shor
1 hour ago
1
Duplicate of english.stackexchange.com/questions/6588/…
– Ddddan
1 hour ago
Possible duplicate of Why does "ow" have two different sounds
– TimLymington
1 hour ago
add a comment |
Consider low, show, flow, stow, grow, throw. The digraph ow has two common pronunciations, and there's really no way of telling which one any particular English word has (and in fact, in bow, mow, sow, it's ambiguous because the same spelling is used for two different words with different pronunciations).
– Peter Shor
1 hour ago
1
Duplicate of english.stackexchange.com/questions/6588/…
– Ddddan
1 hour ago
Possible duplicate of Why does "ow" have two different sounds
– TimLymington
1 hour ago
Consider low, show, flow, stow, grow, throw. The digraph ow has two common pronunciations, and there's really no way of telling which one any particular English word has (and in fact, in bow, mow, sow, it's ambiguous because the same spelling is used for two different words with different pronunciations).
– Peter Shor
1 hour ago
Consider low, show, flow, stow, grow, throw. The digraph ow has two common pronunciations, and there's really no way of telling which one any particular English word has (and in fact, in bow, mow, sow, it's ambiguous because the same spelling is used for two different words with different pronunciations).
– Peter Shor
1 hour ago
1
1
Duplicate of english.stackexchange.com/questions/6588/…
– Ddddan
1 hour ago
Duplicate of english.stackexchange.com/questions/6588/…
– Ddddan
1 hour ago
Possible duplicate of Why does "ow" have two different sounds
– TimLymington
1 hour ago
Possible duplicate of Why does "ow" have two different sounds
– TimLymington
1 hour ago
add a comment |
1 Answer
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Sometime during 17th and 18th century, initial k and g sounds in consonant clusters that were originally pronounced, were systematically reduced, like in know, knight, and gnaw. There's no real reason as to why it is pronounced as 'no' instead of 'now' except for that that is what the word is, and it is analogous to other words like low, show, flow, stow, etc. as pointed out in one of the comments.
answered 2 mins ago
eenbeetje
954
add a comment |
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
0
down vote
Sometime during 17th and 18th century, initial k and g sounds in consonant clusters that were originally pronounced, were systematically reduced, like in know, knight, and gnaw. There's no real reason as to why it is pronounced as 'no' instead of 'now' except for that that is what the word is, and it is analogous to other words like low, show, flow, stow, etc. as pointed out in one of the comments.
answered 2 mins ago
eenbeetje
954
add a comment |
up vote
0
down vote
Sometime during 17th and 18th century, initial k and g sounds in consonant clusters that were originally pronounced, were systematically reduced, like in know, knight, and gnaw. There's no real reason as to why it is pronounced as 'no' instead of 'now' except for that that is what the word is, and it is analogous to other words like low, show, flow, stow, etc. as pointed out in one of the comments.
answered 2 mins ago
eenbeetje
954
add a comment |
up vote
0
down vote
up vote
0
down vote
Sometime during 17th and 18th century, initial k and g sounds in consonant clusters that were originally pronounced, were systematically reduced, like in know, knight, and gnaw. There's no real reason as to why it is pronounced as 'no' instead of 'now' except for that that is what the word is, and it is analogous to other words like low, show, flow, stow, etc. as pointed out in one of the comments.
answered 2 mins ago
eenbeetje
954
Sometime during 17th and 18th century, initial k and g sounds in consonant clusters that were originally pronounced, were systematically reduced, like in know, knight, and gnaw. There's no real reason as to why it is pronounced as 'no' instead of 'now' except for that that is what the word is, and it is analogous to other words like low, show, flow, stow, etc. as pointed out in one of the comments.
answered 2 mins ago
eenbeetje
954
answered 2 mins ago
eenbeetje
954
answered 2 mins ago
eenbeetje
954
answered 2 mins ago
eenbeetje
954
954
add a comment |
add a comment |
Vivek Sinha is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Vivek Sinha is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Vivek Sinha is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Vivek Sinha is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
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Consider low, show, flow, stow, grow, throw. The digraph ow has two common pronunciations, and there's really no way of telling which one any particular English word has (and in fact, in bow, mow, sow, it's ambiguous because the same spelling is used for two different words with different pronunciations).
– Peter Shor
1 hour ago
1
Duplicate of english.stackexchange.com/questions/6588/…
– Ddddan
1 hour ago
Possible duplicate of Why does "ow" have two different sounds
– TimLymington
1 hour ago