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by lightfly on November 18th, 2006

lightfly

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Why do words have like knife, knowledge, know, kneel, and knot have a 'k' at the beginning?

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  • by Im Alec has abandoned this account on November 18th, 2006

    Im Alec has abandoned this account

    Because pronunciations change. The word "knife" is derived from the French "canif", in which the C is definitely pronounced. "Knight" and "knave" are from German "kneght" and "knabe" in which the K is definitely pronounced. "Know" and its family are derived from the Greek "gnosco", "I Know", in which the G is definitely pronounced. Each of these words has been absorbed into English, and then the initial hard C/G sound dropped because Englis speakers find them hard.

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  • by Carmella on November 18th, 2006

    Carmella

    To stop small children getting full marks on their spelling tests, and to make adults do a double take when they write those words, especially those of us who are dyslexic.

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