AAAmerican Accent US
Illustration: the history of the word half
halsilentf
A sound people stopped saying

Why is the L in half silent?

Half comes from Old English healf, with a pronounced L. Speakers later dropped the L before F, as in calf — the spelling kept the old sound.

Then · Old English

healf

said like HEALF

late Middle to early modern English↓

Now · American English

half/hæf/

said HAF

The story

Half is Old English healf, and in Middle English half or halfe. It meant "side" or "part" as well as one of two equal pieces, and the L was pronounced, as it still is in its German cousin halb.

Later, English speakers dropped the L in words spelled -alf and -alve: half, calf, halve, salve (in some accents). Unlike the L in walk, which turned into a vowel glide first, here the L was simply lost, and in many accents the vowel grew longer to fill the gap. British English ended up with a long "ah" (hahf); American English kept the short vowel of cat.

The spelling had long been fixed and kept the L. Learners whose first language spells phonetically often pronounce it, and that is one of the quickest giveaways of a non-native accent in a very common word.

How the word changed

  1. 1

    Old English

    healf

    "Side, part, half". The L is pronounced.

  2. 2

    Middle English

    half, halfe

    Still pronounced with L.

  3. 3

    Late Middle to early modern English

    half

    L lost before F; the spelling keeps it.

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Questions people ask

+Why is the L silent in half?

It was pronounced in Old and Middle English (healf), then dropped from speech before F, as in calf. The spelling had already been fixed.

+How do Americans pronounce half?

HAF, /hæf/, with the vowel of cat. The British pronunciation has a long "ah".

More words with a story

walkWAWK

Walk comes from Old English wealcan, and the L was once pronounced. Speech dropped it in the early modern period, along with the L of talk and chalk.

calmKAHM

Calm traditionally has a silent L, like palm and psalm. But many Americans say the L — a spelling pronunciation. Here is the history, and which to use.

folkFOHK

Folk is Old English folc, and the L was once pronounced. Like yolk, walk and talk, it lost its L before K — the spelling kept the old sound.

laughLAF

In laugh, the old throaty GH sound did not disappear — it turned into an F. Here is the history behind laugh, and why night went silent instead.

Part of

Why is the L in half silent?