Stop pronouncing the p in ‘cupboard’

Yes. There is a consonant that should not be pronounced in ‘cupboard’. Is it p, b or d? If it were ‘b’, the word would sound like CUP-OARD. Too bad. If it were ‘d’, it would sound like CUP-BOAR. Also terribly bad. What if it is ‘p’? Then it sounds as CU-BOARD. Of course, that is the correct thing to say because the ‘p’ in ‘cupboard’ is a silent one.

Ironically, in ‘cup’, the letter is not silent. So, don’t say CU when you mean CUP. In ‘cupboard’, however, ‘p’ should eternally remain dumb. It should come out as CU-BOARD.

Between ‘receipt’ and ‘reseat’

The principle of silent sounds also makes the relationship between ‘receipt’ and ‘reseat’ very interesting. As we had noted in some past lessons, although their spellings are different, they are pronounced the same way. Exactly the same way! The reason is that, in ‘receipt’, we also have a silent P:

Receipt: RI-SIIPT (Wrong)

Receipt: RI-SIIT (Correct)

Reseat: RI-SIIT (Correct)

Note the long vowel sound in the second syllable of each of the words.

Raspberry

Consider this fruit too. In its spelling, ‘p’ is a must. But in pronunciation, the letter is a goner — even if not an Arsenal! Well, the club’s fans should know that I mean no harm… In other words, ‘p’ should be silent. You say RAS-BERRY, not RASP-BERRY.

Yet, there is another dramatic issue in the pronunciation of ‘raspberry’: the ‘s’ in it should be articulated as Z, not S. The reason for this is that the ‘s’ is preceded by a vowel sound. So, it will experience what normally happens to words like was, is, this, has and rise when they are being pronounced:

Raspberry: RASBERRY (Wrong)

Raspberry: RAZBERRY (Correct)

Is: IS (Wrong)

Is: IZ (Correct)

Was: WAS (Wrong)

Was: WAZ (Correct)

Has: HAS (Wrong)

Has: HAZ (Correct)

Points to note on the silent p

When p is followed immediately by n, s, or t at the start of a word, it is usually silent: pneumonia, psychology, psyche.

In words like raspberry or cupboard, the p is silent because it is sandwiched between other consonants.

Many words with a silent ‘p’ are borrowed from Greek (psychology) or French (coup) where the ‘p’ was originally spoken or indicates a specific linguistic origin.

Some other words where ‘p’ is silent

Corps (As in the National Youth Service Corps): KORR, not KORPS

Coup: They staged a KUU, not KUUP.

Pseudonym: SEUDONYM, not PSEUDONYM

Psalm: SALM, not PSALM

PSYCHIATRIST: SYCHIATRIST, not PSYCHIATRIST

Psychic: SYCHIC, not PSYCHIC

Psychotherapy: SYCHOTHERAPY, not PSYCHOTHERAPY.