orthography - Is there a reason why "gn" in "reigning" is pronounced /n/ while in "regnant" it is pronounced [gn]?


Both reigning and regnant are related to the same Latin noun, regnum.


Why is the ‹gn› spelling pronounced [n] in the first word but [gn] in the second?



Answer



My (uneducated) guess would be it has to do with the long vowel sound before the [gn]. It seems to create difficulty to pronounce the [g] sound after a long vowel sound.


Other examples are feign (long), indignity (short), benign (long).


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