Why does the word
ghost contain a silent
h? "The h is not sounded, as it was only added under the impression that such a mysterious word needed the mysterious breathing of an
h to produce its effect. The same applied to the spelling
aghast, originally written
agast; but it does not apply to
ghoul, a grave robber, in which the
gh is derived from an Arabic guttural" (Paul D. Hugon,
The Modern Word Finer, 1927, p. 142).
Pictured is a silent
H from
Calico Ghost Town, California (thanks
Leo Reynolds).
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