The L in “ salmon,” the name of a fish, is not pronounced. It has to do with the way the word evolved through different languages. However, there is a surname, Salmon, in which the L is pronounced.
The French, as was their wont, had swallowed up the Latin L in their pronunciation, so by the time we English borrowed the word, it was saumon, no L in the spelling and so no L in the pronunciation. It is saumon in French to this day.
The spelling was later changed to be consistent with the Latin word for the fish, “salmo.”. Unfortunately, even though the spelling was changed, the French-influenced pronunciation without an L remained. Hence, the L in the English word “salmon” is silent.
How do you pronounce “l” in salmon?
One does NOT pronounce the “l” in salmon, but one DOES pronounce it in the word “salmonella, ” despite the fact that the first two syllables of the latter are written the same as the former. One does generally pronounce the “l” in almond.
Salmon is always pronounced without the l. The correct pronunciation is [ ˈsæmən], listen here. Interestingly, the l is not silent in the word salmonella (listen here ), but that’s because these bacteria were named after Daniel Elmer Salmon.
How do you pronounce the L in Salmonella?
The L is also prnounced in the word “salmonella.” Salmonella is a disease, and the bacteria that cause it are named “Salmonella typhimurium” after the person who discovered them, David Elmer Salmon. Don’t be like my mother and leave the L silent in that one. I thought for years that you got it from eating salmon.
Why is the letter L not pronounced as L in some languages?
Historically, this < l > became vocalized (google l-vocalization). That’s why it is not pronounced in many words like half, salve, talk, calm, folk, salmon, etc. In some dialects, this < l > is resurrected in words like talk and palm, but not in salmon, half, and yolk.