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What languages have silent letters?

Many languages have silent letters, but the extent to which they occur and the specific letters that are silent vary greatly. Here are some examples:

English:

* Silent "e" at the end of words: "make," "hope," "bike"

* Silent "b" before "m" or "p": "comb," "thumb," "debt"

* Silent "gh" in many words: "night," "laugh," "through"

* Silent "k" in "know" and "knife"

* Silent "h" in "honor" and "hour"

* Silent "w" in "write" and "wrong"

French:

* Silent "e" at the end of words: "le," "la," "une"

* Silent "h" at the beginning of words: "le hotel," "l'homme"

* Silent "s" at the end of words: "les," "vous"

* Silent "t" in "petit" and "fort"

Spanish:

* Silent "h" at the beginning of words: "hora," "hielo"

* Silent "u" in "guerra" and "guitarra"

Italian:

* Silent "h" at the beginning of words: "hotel," "hotello"

* Silent "e" at the end of words: "amore," "pane"

* Silent "g" in "gn" combinations: "agnolo," "bagno"

German:

* Silent "h" at the beginning of words: "Haus," "Hand"

* Silent "e" at the end of words: "Liebe," "Schule"

* Silent "w" in "Schwester" and "Schwein"

Other languages:

* Portuguese: Silent "h" in "hora," "honra"

* Russian: Silent "ь" (soft sign) at the end of words

* Arabic: Silent "ء" (hamza) at the beginning of words

This is just a brief overview. Many other languages have silent letters, and there are many nuances and exceptions within each language. The presence of silent letters can be a result of historical changes in pronunciation, grammatical rules, or simply the influence of other languages.

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