English spelling appears inconsistent in ~ first. From silent letters to double letters, the orthopedics of English appears downright wacky to native and foreign speaker of the language. However, delving into the background of native reveals the the spelling of English makes much more sense than first impressions imply. Because that example, why walk February have an r between the b and u in the 2nd syllable? While part English speaker pronounce words as through an , many say v a sound in an analogy the the together of January. I m sorry is the correct pronunciation?

February is the 2nd month that the year in the Julian and also Gregorian calendars. The Old English word because that the month to be Solmonað. After the Norman Conquest, the Old French Feverier was obtained into the English language and subsequently came to be Feoverel. The matching Roman month Februarius came from the Latin indigenous februum an interpretation purification from the purification ritual Februa organized on February 15 of the old lunar roman inn calendar. The English Feoverel ended up being February in imitation of the Latin Februarius.

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Both the Oxford English Dictionary and Merriam Webster perform through a sound together the most common pronunciation the February however note that through an is an additional accepted form. The an ext common feb-yoo-err-ee occurs since of dissimilation. Dissimilation is a phonological process in which comparable sounds in a word end up being less similar. During the fifteenth century, Feoverel ended up being the standardized and also classically-spelled February. In ~ the same time, the good Vowel change resulted in a significant series of transforms in the together of English. Collection breaking readjusted the sound in February in to the diphthong . The middle English pronunciation of the month became an aer . The close proximity of two sounds and the diphthong commonly results in the deletion of the early stage sound and also the common pronunciation. A decimal of English speakers delete , leading to the form.

To do matters much more complicated, during Middle English, the a in the third syllable to be pronounced <æ> together in cat. The near-low former unrounded <æ> is pronounced in the opposite area the the mouth native high back rounded . To make the transition easier, plenty of English speakers insert a between the 2 vowels causing fe-brew-war-ee. The 3rd syllable i do not care a schwa <ə> because that speakers, developing a fe-brew-wary pronunciation. The awkward repetition of sounds results in the deletion that the very first sound. Numerous speakers then delete the sound in between the and also <ə>, and February i do not care .

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Despite complaints from uppity prescriptivists of order pronunciation, English speakers have been pronounce the 2nd month that the year together because that at the very least the last 150 years. As with many “silent” letters in English orthography, the spelling mute r in February is loud through history. The typical pronunciation of February as come packed through a rich etymological, orthographic, and phonological history.

References

Assimilation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assimilation_(phonology) Dissimilation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissimilation February: https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=February&submit.x=59&submit.y=22 February: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/February February: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February February: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/February an excellent Vowel Shift: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Vowel_Shift What’s the exactly Pronunciation of February?: http://mentalfloss.com/article/54846/whats-correct-pronunciation-february Why perform We express February there is no the “R”?: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/why-do-we-pronounce-february-without-the-r-10024195.html