You need not pronounce the W in ‘sword’

Although ‘sword’ is a common word, it is prone to mispronunciation. The reason is that a lot of people want to do ‘justice’ to every letter in it whenever uttering it. They, as a result, say S-W-OR-D.

This is wrong because the ‘w’ in the word is a silent letter which should not come out in the pronunciation. It is like the ‘w’ you have in knowledge, bowl and fowl. You know it is not articulated in any of them – the way it is prominent in week, award, reward etc. So, next time you need to pronounce ‘sword’, just say sOOd, not something like s-W-od.

Long vowel

There is another important element to observe in the articulation of ‘sword’: the long vowel which I will just put as OORR here. The ‘or’ in it should not be pronounced like a short one. This means it should be prolonged like any other long vowel. ‘Sword’ thus becomes like s-OO-d in pronunciation, not just sOd. In other words, the ‘or’ in it is like the one in sport, port, and short – as opposed to the  short counterpart in spot, pot and shot.

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Idiomatic sword

Beyond its literal meaning and uses, ‘sword’ features in some other fixed or idiomatic statements. These include the sword of Damocles, draw the sword, a double-edged sword, be put to the sword, the pen is mightier than the sword, kill by sword and die by sword as well as sheathe the sword. In all of these, the meanings might change, the pronunciation remains the same, with ‘w’ silent.

Other words with silent ‘w’

Apart from those highlighted above, there are other words in which ‘w’ is eternally silent. They include wrestling, wriggle, write, wreck, wreak, wrong, and awful. The case of ‘wrestling’ seems unique in the sense that it carries the burden of two silent letters. Can you guess the second after ‘w’? You should be able to if you are a ‘senior’ member of this class. It is the ‘t’. ‘Wrestling’ should not be pronounced as resTling, it is like resling because the ‘t’ is a silent element. The same applies to the ones in castle, listen, often, whistle, rapport. So, ‘rapport’ should not be pronounced as rapporT, but rappor, with the ‘or’ constituting a long vowel.

Lastly, never forget to differentiate between the meanings and uses of ‘wreck’ and ‘wreak’, especially in the idiom, ‘wreak havoc’. Not ‘wreck havoc’!