If you're a lingusitic pro, give me a hand

pogo mudder

the word 'wrank' is not a real word. but it means that somethings disgusting (just incase you didn't know).
i was chatting to my friend on skype, and i used it. and she laughed at me, saying that it didn't need a silent w.
now i don't know why i think it should, but i just have a feeling that if it were a real word, it would be spelt with a silent w (wrestle wrinkle etc). and i was wondering if anyone knew the actual language rules for when a silent w does and does not apply?

thanks in advance

LoveIsUnity

The easiest way to answer word questions is a simple OED search, and it's something pretty much every linguist should be comfortable with. I'll look it up and tell you what I find.

Edit: The OED supports your definition with the spelling "rank" as an adjective dating back to around 1400 and having prominence through the present.

The only citation for "wrank" I could find was on the Urban Dictionary: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=wrank

It looks as if "wrank" isn't considered an accepted spelling, but it's at least used by someone else unless you created the Urban Dictionary page for it.

If you want the full OED citation for the word I can e-mail it to you.

Aioua

yeah.
It's a real word, spelled "rank"
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rank

Lemmy

It is a real word - it is spelled 'rank'. That's why your friend told you it doesn't need a w. I have no idea why you thought it did.

edit - damn it

pogo mudder

damn you're right, well at least my friend doesn't read pa,

so i suppose we just never found out the answer

Lucascraft

The real answer is that the English language is constantly evolving and changing, and if you want to put a W on there, go ahead and do it.

LoveIsUnity

Lucascraft wrote: »

The real answer is that the English language is constantly evolving and changing, and if you want to put a W on there, go ahead and do it.

While this is true, he will be unable to affect the language in any serious fashion unless a lot of people start using it with a "w" as well. Unless you're a writer for a highly successful television show or something. Then, you can probably affect language enough to make a lasting change.

ASimPerson

Lucascraft wrote: »

The real answer is that the English language is constantly evolving and changing, and if you want to put a W on there, go ahead and do it.

While this is true, "rank" has never been spelled with a 'w', and I'm struggling to think of an instance in the past 200 years where a word has gotten more complicated to spell (since, in general, where English orthography has changed it's been getting "easier" to spell).

Though I could very well be wrong, and have a sneaking suspicion I probably am.

LoveIsUnity

Plagiarist...

Nostregar

Generally, silent letters are leftovers from pronunciation changes. "Knight", for example, originally had the "k" pronounced as did other words with a silent k (knife, etc). Over time that was dropped as pronunciation simplified (blanking on what the specific type of change is called at the moment, will add it later when I remember). Same goes for the "gh" in night, fight, etc. Just how English is.

Anyway, my point is, adding a silent "w" is silly. It's not something that is really added if it isn't being pronounced since words that do have it are just leftovers anyway.

Edit: Deletion of an unstressed sound is called Elision, which is probably the reason behind the deletion of most of these sounds. The deletion of the "gh" in "night" and such is called Syncope because it happens mid-word. Deletion of word-initial sounds is called Aphaeresis, so, the K in knight, knife. I had forgotten about silent "e"s, but they are an example of the same thing - deletion of an unstressed word-final sound (called Apocope).

In short:
Elision - deletion of an unstressed sound
Aphaeresis - Elision of word-initial sounds
Syncope - Elision of mid-word sounds
Apocope - Elision of word-final sounds

Stressed sounds are almost never deleted for various reasons, so that's why Elision specifies that the sounds are unstressed.

That answer the question?

saggio

Lucascraft wrote: »

The real answer is that the English language is constantly evolving and changing, and if you want to put a W on there, go ahead and do it.

It would be meaningless without currency.