- A
- pref: ate or aubergine
- letter: aitch(H), are(R), aye(I)
- homophone: air(err, heir and Eyre), ait/ate(eight,8-ball), awed(odd), aisle(I'll and isle), aught(ought), auld(old)
- variants: aesthetic/esthetic
- silent initial letter: aesthete
- analogue: chemical symbol for Silver (Ag) or Gold (Au)
- name: Aaron(Erin), Ava(Ewa)
- [misc.]: any(N.E.),
au courant
, aubergine, aura, auto(Otto) - [note]: aural and oral, although similar, are pronounced differently
- C
- pref: cue
- letter: cue(Q)
- silent initial letter: ctenophora or cnidaria
- homophone:
catarrh(Qatar),
cede(seed), ceiling(sealing), cell(sell), cellar(seller), censor(sensor),
cent(sent/scent), cereal(serial),
chaos(KAOS), chic(sheik), choir(quire), chute(shoot),
cite(sight/site),
city(sitee),
cling on
(Klingon), coal(kohl), coy(koi), crew(krewe), cue(Kew/queue), curt(Kurt), curd(Kurd), or cymbal(symbol) - double letter phoneme: chai, charisma, chasm, chorus
- variants: caffetan/cafetan/coftan/kaftan, catsup/ketchup, curb/kerb, cashmere/Kashmir?, czar/tsar
- analogue: (One) hundred in Roman numerals
- name: Caleigh, Carol(Karol), Catherine(Katherine), C. D.[as in C. D. Howe](seedy), Chagas disease, Cher(share), Cheryl(Sheryl), Chris(Kris), Cisco Systems [computer networks company](Sysco [food services corporation]), or Cyd [as in the late Cyd Charisse](Sid)
- [misc.]: canine, ceilidh, celery, chimera, chi (χ and Χ, see also X), cigar or cucumber
- E
- pref: ewe or eye
- letter: eh(A), eks(X), ewe(U), eye(I)
- homophone: eye(aye), earn(urn), eight(ait/ate), em (unit), ewe(you, yew), err(air, heir, Eyre), eves(Yves), ewer(your/you're), ex (unit) or eyelet(islet)
- variants: esthetic/aesthetic, either(with an initial long-E or long-I)
- analogue:
250 in medieval Roman numerals
[source (Alan Connor
in
the Gaurdian
)], former spouse (ex-) - name: Ellen, Erin(Aaron), Euler (as in Leonhard Euler), Eileen (when pronounced with an initial long-E), Eugene, Ewa(Ava) [link to pronunciation note (at www.pronouncenames.com)], Eyre (literary character and novel by Charlotte Brontë)
- [misc.]:
eau-de-Cologne,
effluent, eider, elbow, elegiac, elevator, embrace, emend,
Emmy(M.E.)[as in Emmy
Award], envy(N.V.),
escalator, eucalyptus (and
eukaryote and Eureka
etc.),
excel(X.L.),
excess(X.S.), explain,
extra-large(XL), exquisite,
euthanasia(
youth in Asia
), (or earl?) - [note]: Euston (the station) and Houston (the municipality), although similar, are pronounced differently
- G
- pref: gneiss
- silent initial letter: gnarl, gnat, gnaw(nah), or gnu(knew/new/nu)
- homophone: gneiss(nice), gibe(jibe), genes(jeans), gest(jest), gym(jim) or gnu(new/nu/knew)
- variants: gaol/jail, gel/jell
- name: Gennifer [as in Gennifer Flowers] (Jennifer), Geoffrey(Jeffrey), Geri(Jerry)[as in Geri Halliwell], Gerry(Jerry)[as in Gerry Adams], Gilles(Jill) [link to sound file with pronunciation (at about.com)], Gzowski [as in the late CBC radio and TV show host Peter Gzowski]
- [misc.]: gym(Jim)
- H
- pref: heir
- silent first letter: honour, heir or hoard
- homophone: heir(air/err/Eyre?), hoard/horde(whored), hole(whole) or hour(our & are)
- analogue: aspiration(in phonetics), Eta (capital Greek letter η is the same grapheme as H in the Roman alphabet) or chemical symbol for Mercury (Hg)
- name: Heloise, Hugo
- [note]: Euston (the station) and Houston (the municipality), although similar, are pronounced differently
- I
- pref: isle
- homophone: isle/I'll(aisle) or islet(eyelet)
- analogue:
One in Roman numerals and on some old
typewriters,
The perpendicular pronoun
from The Skeleton in the Cupboard (an episode of the TV programme Yes Minister by Anthony Jay and Jonathan Lynn) orme
- name: Iago, Ida (when pronounced with an initial long-E)
- J
- pref: jai alai or juan
- homophone: jeans(genes), jim(gym), jibe(gibe) or jest(gest)
- [misc.]: jai alai, jojoba, junta
- variants:
jail/gaol,
jell/gel [I didn't think
jell
was a word but Emily Nussbaum used it in The New Yorker (2013-09-11, p. 85)] - name: Jeffrey(Geoffrey), Jennifer(Gennifer), Jerry(Geri/Gerry), Jian[as in musician and former CBC radio host Jian Ghomeshi], Jill(Gilles), Jim(gym), Jimenez [link to pronunciation note (at www.pronouncenames.com)], Johannes [as in Johannes Brahms], Juan(wan)
- K
- pref: Kew or potassium
- silent initial letter: knight, knife, knit(nit), know or knot
- homophone: KAOS(chaos)[see Wikipedia's disambiguation page for many meanings of KAOS], kernel(colonel), knave(nave), knead(need), knew(gnu/new/nu), knight(night), knob(nob), knock(nock), knot(not, naught, or nought), know(no), kohl(coal), koi(coy) or krewe(crew)
- analogue: chemical symbol for Potassium (K)
- variants: kaftan/caffetan/cafetan/coftan, kerb/curb, Kashmir/cashmere?, ketchup/catsup
- name:
Kew(cue/queue/Q)[as in Kew Gardens],
Klingon(
cling on
), kneel(Neal/Neil/Niel), knoll(Nöel), Karol(Carol) [as in the late Karol Castillo], and Kris(Chris), Kurd(curd), Kurt(curt)
- M
- pref: mnemonic
- silent initial letter: mnemonic
- analogue: (One) thousand in Roman numerals
- [misc.]: M.E.(Emmy)[as in Emmy Award]
- [note]:
M.T.
andempty
, although similar, are pronounced differently
- N
- pref: nave or Sodium
- silent initial letter: ngultrum [source (Ben Teitelbaum's The Devil's Alphabet website)]
- homophone: nave(knave), new/nu (gnu/knew), night(knight), nit(knit), no(know), nob(knob), nock(knock), nose(knows), or not/naught/nought (knot)
- analogue: Chemical symbol for Sodium (Na)
- name: Neil/Niel(kneel) [see Dilbert cartoon for 1989-08-01], Noël[as in Noël Coward](knoll)
- [misc.]: N.E.(any), N.V./NV(envy) [NV is the USPS abbreviation for Nevada]
- O
- pref: ours or zero
- homophone: one(won), odd(awed), ought(aught), or ours?(hours)
- letter: our & are(R)
- analogue: hug (abbreviation), zero
- name: Oedipus, Ouija, Otto(auto)
- [misc.]: oenophile? onion?
- [note]: aural and oral, although similar, are pronounced differently
- P
- pref: pneumonia or urine [if you must]
- homophone: phase(faze), pharaoh(faro), phew(few), phlox(flocks), Phish(fish)[the musical troupe] psalter(salter), Greek letter Ψ(sigh)
- silent initial letter: pneumonia [source (the great Lily Tomlin, of course)], pneumatic, psalm, psalter, psyche or pterodactyl
- double letter phoneme: phone or pharoah
- analogue: chemical symbol for Lead (Pb), Rho (capital Greek letter ρ is the same grapheme as P in the Roman alphabet), urine(a puerile pun, sorry)
- name: Phil(fill), Psmith (literary character from P. G. Wodehouse), Ptolemy
- [misc.]:
p.h.a.t. (abbreviation for
pretty hot and tempting
)(fat), physics, physique
- Q
- pref: quay
- letter: queue(Q)
- homophone: quay(key), queue(cue/Kew), quire(choir) or qat(cat)
- analogue: character played by John de Lancie on Star Trek: The Next Generation, etc. or character played by Desmond Llewelyn in many James Bond movies
- name: Qatar(catarrh)
- S
- pref: see or serial
- letter: sea/see(C) or seize(plural of C)
- homophone: salter(psalter), scent/sent(cent), sealing(ceiling), seed(cede), seedy(C. D.[as in C. D. Howe]), sell(cell), seller(cellar), sensor(censor), serial(cereal), sheik(chic), sight/site(cite), sitee(city), sigh(Greek letter psi), or symbol(cymbal)
- analogue: chemical symbol for Tin (Sn) or Antinomy (Sb)
- name: Sheryl[as in Sheryl Crow](Cheryl), Sid [as in the late Sid Caesar or the late Sid Vicious] (Cyd), Sysco [food services corporation] (Cisco Systems [computer networks company])
- T
- pref: tsunami or tsar
- silent initial letter: tsunami or tsar
- double letter phoneme: tsar
- variants: tsar/czar
- name: Taoism[see Derek Lin's prounciation note at taoism.net]
- U
- pref: urn or Uighur
- homophone: urn(earn),
urine(you're in), use(
youse
) - [misc.]: Uighur, uke?
- W
- pref: why or Tungsten
- letter: why(Y)
- analogue: chemical symbol for Tungsten (W) (aka Wolfram)
- homophone: wan(Juan), whole(hole), whored(hoard/horde), won(one), wrap(rap), wring(ring), writs(Ritz), wrought(rot), wry(rye), wrung(rung) or wrest(rest)
- silent initial letter: whole, whored, wrangle, wrap, wreak, wreck, wrest, wring, writs, wrought, wrung or wry?
- name: Weber[as in Max Weber], wren(Rennes), Wyoming
- X
- pref: xenophobia
- homophone: X.L.(excel), X.S.(excess)
- analogue:
XL
(extra-large[abbreviation]),
Ten in Roman numerals,
kiss (abbreviation) also
50 proof
, strike etc. [see The Free Dictionary'sWhat does X stand for ?
for many meanings of the abbreviationX
] Greek letter Chi (see also C) - [misc.]: xenophobia, or xylophone
- Y
- pref: Ypsilanti or you
- letter: you(U)
- homophone:yew/you(ewe), your/you're(ewer) or
youse
(use) - analogue: Upsilon (capital Greek letter υ is the same grapheme as Y in the Roman alphabet)
- name: Yves(eves), Yvette or Yvonne
- [misc.]: Ypsilanti, Yttrium, or Ytterbium