What is the origin of the silent 'b' at the end of English words such as lamb, comb, crumb and bomb?
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Russian letter Л [ l ] - Pronunciation, sound, worksheetsSecret Symbol of the Lincoln Memorial (U.S. National Park Service)Silent L—Explanation and ExamplesThe silent L- WE OWE the silent 'b' to the fact that centuries ago our ancestors pronounced a b-sound: climb was Old English climban, and bomb comes from Italian bomba. The b-sound was lost by about 1300. It leaves traces to the present day, however, in pairs such as climb-clamber, crumb-crumble. Thumb appears to be a rogue case, because here the 'b' is not etymological; there may have been influence from thimble. There are about 20 words in ending in 'mb'. In some of the rarer ones, such as lamb or coulomb, people sometimes pronounce a b-sound. Phonetically, 'b' is classified as a voiced plosive, as are 'd' and 'g'. Sound changes applying to one tend to apply to the other two as well. This is so with 'g' for those among us who pronounce no g-sound after the nasal at the end of sing and hang, but not for those midlanders and northerners who make singer rhyme with finger. But 'd' remains in the standard pronunciation of mind, stand, round (perhaps because we need the 'nd' sequence of sounds to keep the past tense distinct from the present in fined, tanned, crowned). Even so, we readily omit the 'd' in speech in phrases like mind the doors, stand back, round the corner.
J C Wells, Professor of Phonetics, University of London.
