pronunciation - Why does a silent "-e" at the end of a word lengthen vowels?


There's a common pattern in English spelling where "short" vowels are pronounced as "long" vowels with the addition of a silent "e" at the end of the word.


E.g.



  • bit → bite

  • mat → mate

  • pet → pete


Is there a historical reason for this? Does it relate to The Great Vowel Shift?


Reference: Wikipedia — Vowel Length#Traditional Long and Short Vowels in English Orthography



Answer



It's not causal at all. Spelling does not cause pronunciation. The reverse can occasionally occur, but not often, and certainly not regularly.


Some facts:




  • English spelling has very little to do with Modern English pronunciation. Don't expect it to.




  • Modern English doesn't have distinct long and short vowels.




  • Middle English had distinct long and short vowels.




  • The Great Vowel Shift occured between Middle and Modern English.




  • The Great Vowel Shift applied only to Middle English long vowels.




  • The Great Vowel Shift changed Middle English long vowels to other vowels in Modern English.




  • English spelling was fixed before the Great Vowel Shift, and before final E's went silent.




The result is that the pronunciation of an English word cannot be determined from its spelling.


Sorry about that, but if you invest in a copy of Kenyon and Knott, you can look it up.


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