Editing English orthography (section)

=== Marking sound changes in other letters ===
{{See also|Silent e|Double letter}}

Some letters in English provide information about the pronunciation of other letters in the word. Rollings (2004) uses the term "markers" for such letters. Letters may mark different types of information.

For instance, {{vr|e}} in ''once'' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|w|ʌ|n|s}} indicates that the preceding {{vr|c}} is pronounced {{IPAslink|s}}, rather than the more common value of {{vr|c}} in word-final position as the sound {{IPAslink|k}}, such as in ''attic'' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|æ|t|ɪ|k}}.

{{vr|e}} also often marks an altered pronunciation of a preceding vowel. In the pair ''mat'' and ''mate'', the {{vr|a}} of ''mat'' has the value {{IPAslink|æ}}, whereas the {{vr|a}} of ''mate'' is marked by the {{vr|e}} as having the value {{IPA|/eɪ/}}. In this context, the {{vr|e}} is not pronounced, and is referred to as a "[[silent e]]".

A single letter may even fill multiple pronunciation-marking roles simultaneously. For example, in the word ''ace'', {{vr|e}} marks not only the change of {{vr|a}} from {{IPAslink|æ}} to {{IPA|/eɪ/}}, but also of {{vr|c}} from {{IPAslink|k}} to {{IPAslink|s}}. In the word ''vague'', {{vr|e}} marks the long {{vr|a}} sound, but {{vr|u}} keeps the {{vr|g}} hard rather than soft.

[[Digraph (orthography)#Homogeneous_digraph|Doubled consonants]] usually indicate that the preceding vowel is pronounced short. For example, the doubled {{vr|t}} in ''batted'' indicates that the {{vr|a}} is pronounced {{IPAslink|æ}}, while the single {{vr|t}} of ''bated'' gives {{IPA|/eɪ/}}. Doubled consonants only indicate any lengthening or [[gemination]] of the consonant sound itself when they come from different morphemes, as with the {{vr|nn}} in ''unnamed'' (''un''+''named'').