As it turns out, Wednesday actually has Germanic linguistic origins. It is derived from the Old English word, Wōdnesdæg, which honors the Germanic god Wodan.
Because it's based on the name of a deity from Germanic/Norse mythology, Odin , also spelled Woden. In other words, Wednesday is an altered writing for Woden's day.
There is a silent "d" in the word "Wednesday" .
The corresponding Roman month Februarius came from the Latin word februum meaning purification from the purification ritual Februa held on February 15 of the old lunar Roman calendar. The English Feoverel became February in imitation of the Latin Februarius.
8 Wednesday
This word looks like it should take far longer to say than it does. The middle three letters look like they should be a separate syllable, but the truth is, they sort of get “swallowed”. They're there because the day is named after the Norse god Odin aka Woden – Woden's Day.
What is the origin of the silent 'b' at the end of English words such as lamb, comb, crumb and bomb? WE OWE the silent 'b' to the fact that centuries ago our ancestors pronounced a b-sound: climb was Old English climban, and bomb comes from Italian bomba. The b-sound was lost by about 1300.
So, for a few notes there, guys, even though though “January” is usually “properly” said with an extra syllable, Australian's often just say, “Jan-u-ree”. “Jan-u-ree”. “Jan-u-ree”. And it's the same with “February”.
The 'p', usually a popping sound made at the front of the mouth, is silenced when it precedes an 's'. Most of these words with silent 'p's are to do with the mind or the medicine of the mind: Psychology, psychiatry, psyche, psychological, psychotic or pseudo.
The letter ⟨k⟩ is normally silent (i.e. it does not reflect any sound) when it precedes an ⟨n⟩ at the beginning of a word, as in “knife”, and sometimes by extension in other positions.
In the word 'sandwich', if you looked that up in the dictionary, you WOULD see the D sound. But it's actually never pronounced that way. So Wednesday, Handsome: the dictionary says no D.
While "Feb-RU-ary" is still considered the standard pronunciation, most dictionaries recognize the pronunciation of February without the first "r" ("Feb-U-ary") as an acceptable variant.
As Wōdnesdæg moved from Old English to Middle English, its spelling changed. It became "Wednesdei" and the "d" remained, even as the word morphed into "Wednesday." Wednesday is just one example of words — like February and ptarmigan — where letters appear in a word's spelling but not in its pronunciation.
Most Americans don't pronounce the d in Wednesday. But just because you can't hear it doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
Tips for pronouncing and listening to Aussie Slang
It is common for Australian's to pronounce the –er at the end of a word as –a. For example, you may have heard Australians pronounce the word dinner as dinna. Keep this in mind when listening to Australians, especially the locals that have strong accents.
B. Most silent b's come at the ends of words and just after m: bomb, climb, comb, crumb, dumb, lamb, limb, numb, plumb, thumb, tomb.
The rule is simple: if a word ends in the letters mb, the b is silent. Lets look at some examples. I already told you the word climb. Some others are thumb, comb, crumb, lamb, limb, bomb, and dumb.
Silent p. 'p' is not pronounced in words beginning PN, PS or the less common PT which generally have arrived in English from Greek via Latin, so PNEUMONIA, PSYCHOLOGY, and PTOMAIN have no /p/. Also look out for modern French imported word COUP, which is pronounced identically to COO, the sound pigeons make.
If an “L” is found towards the end of the word, before the letters “f,” “v”, “k” and “m,” but after the letter “a,” then it's usually silent (behalf, calve, walk, almond). In many of these instances, the silent L lengthens the previous vowel sound, which gives the slight impression of the “L” /l/ sound.