Why do many words have silent letters when even without them the word would sound the same, like ‘island’ and many others.

Question

I tried asking my English teacher back in school but even she did not have an answer.

In: 157

Answer 1

People have already answers the specific of island. The key thing to remember is modern English is the evolution of several thousand years of development. With heavy influences in words adopted from other cultures, various Germanic languages, Roman, Saxon, Welsh, French and cultures across the world that the British people encountered.

Plus changes in how words are pronounced or spelled over time .