Why is the "k" in "knight" silent? - A Guide to Words Beginning with Kn & Gn

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Knock, knock.

Who’s there?

Silent K.

What are you even doing here?

That’s a good question.

Silent K shows up at the start of quite a few English words – from knot to knife, knees, knuckles, and even… a knob.

It also has a quiet friend – Silent G – which appears at the start of words like gnat, gnaw, and gnarly.

But why are they even there? They don’t change how we say those words.

Well, the answer lies in history.

All these words come from Old English, which was spoken about a thousand years ago. Back then, the K and G were actually pronounced. So, knot sounded more like k-not, and gnaw was g-naw.

When Middle English author Geoffrey Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales in the 14th century, he was probably pronouncing knight as k-nickt.

So why are those Ks and Gs silent now?

At some point between Chaucer’s time and today, we just stopped saying them. Call it laziness if you like – they just became too much hassle. You k-now?

But you know who didn’t find it too hard? The speakers of England’s long-lost cousin – German.

In German:

Knee is Knie

Knot is Knoten

Gnome is Gnom

In this article, I’ve focused on gn- at the start of words. But the G is also silent when -gn appears at the end – like in design, reign, and sign.

That’s a whole different story.

Follow my account, and I’ll bring you an article explaining that – along with plenty of other interesting insights into the quirks of English.

🏷️ And thanks