Why do so many words in English begin with a silent “p” like psychiatrist or pterodactyl?
In: 1812
They’re Greek words. They are meant to be pronounced, but someone with a perverse sense of humor, successfully persuaded English speaking people they have to do mental gymnastics when pronouncing words derived or transliterated from Greek.
Similar tomfoolery with vowels, alphabet letters and hy- words. I blame Erasmus for those.
Only Monty Python got it right.
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