why do we have a silent k in english
Silent k In Old English, ⟨k⟩ and ⟨g⟩ were not silent in these words. Cognates in other Germanic languages show that the ⟨k⟩ was probably a voiceless velar plosive in Proto-Germanic (compare German Knecht to knight, Knoten to knot, etc. where the initial ⟨k⟩ is not silent); likewise, ⟨g⟩ was probably a voiced velar plosive (compare German Gnom to gnome, Gneis to gneiss, etc. where the initial ⟨g⟩ is not silent).
Synthetic phonics Synthetic phonics (UK) or blended phonics (US), also known as inductive phonics,[1] is a method of teaching reading which first teaches the letter sounds and then builds up to blending these sounds together to achieve full pronunciation of whole words. This article relates to the English language only.