L. The word chalk comes from Latin 'calx', meaning limestone. The 'l' is silent now, but it actually used to be pronounced before some consonant clusters. Eventually the pronunciation of the 'l' was dropped, but the spelling was kept. Some other examples of this are are talk and walk.
2. Succumb
Answer: B
B. The word succumb comes from Latin, 'sub' (meaning under) and 'cubare' (meaning to lie down). There are many English words that follow the same rule of the b not being pronounced when it follows an 'm' at the of the word. Other examples include thumb, crumb, and lamb.
3. Know
Answer: K
K. The word traces back to the Proto-Indo-European root 'gneh' which was developed into the modern word know. The 'k' was pronounced at one time but due to the awkward combination of the 'k' and the 'n' sounds coming together, the 'k' sound was dropped. Other examples include knife, knave, and knee.
4. Answer
Answer: W
W. The word comes from the Old English 'andswaru' which combines 'and', meaning against, and 'swaru', meaning affirmation. Originally the 'w' was pronounced, but over time it became silent. Another word that follows this is sword.
5. Autumn
Answer: N
N. The word autumn comes from the Latin word 'autumnus', meaning the passing of the year. The 'n' used to be pronounced, but due to changes in phonetics, it is now silent. This is the same for other words ending in 'mn', such as column, condemn, and hymn.
6. Fascinate
Answer: C
C. Fascinate comes from Latin 'fascinum', meaning a spell or other sort of witchcraft. The letter 'c' is often silent when it follows 's', although not always. Some examples where it is silent are scissors, crescent, and disciple. Each of these comes from a Latin word in which the 'c' was pronounced.
7. Foreign
Answer: G
G. The word comes from Latin 'fores' meaning door. It came to English via Old French and in that language, the 'g' before the 'n' was not pronounced. English tends to keep the same spelling of loan words. Other words that are pronounced the same way are design and benign.
8. Charisma
Answer: H
H. The word charisma originally comes from Greek 'khakis', meaning favour or grace. In Ancient Greek, the letter 'X', (chi) was pronounced as an aspirated 'k' sound. English words from Greek will often use the 'ch' as a regular 'k' sound. Other words that follow the same pattern are chaos, chemical, and character.
9. Viscount
Answer: S
S. The word originated from Medieval Latin, 'vicecomes', and from there it entered Old French. In both the Old French and Medieval Latin forms, the 's' was pronounced. However, when the word entered English, the pronunciation changed, and the 's' became silent, although the spelling remained the same.
The prefix 'vice' shows a deputy or servant of the person whose rank follows, so a viscount is lower in rank than a count.
10. Apostle
Answer: T
T. The word apostle, comes from Greek 'apostolos', meaning one who is sent. The 't' was pronounced originally, but as the word came into English, the pronunciation changed as it was easier to articulate the word without the accompanying 't' sound. English kept the same spelling, though. Some other examples are nestle, glisten, and fasten.
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