The Silent GH in Night Was Once a Real Sound
Night is the period of darkness between sunset and sunrise. Its silent gh once represented a throaty consonant.
Night is the period of darkness between sunset and sunrise. The silent *gh* records a lost sound: in Middle English it was pronounced as a throaty consonant like the ch in Scottish *loch*, so *night* rhymed with nothing in modern English. The sound faded from the fifteenth century, and only the spelling kept it. Scots still preserves the pronunciation in *nicht*, and German *Nacht* shows the same consonant.
- The dark hours. *Late at night.*
- An evening event. *A quiz night.*
- Nightly — every night. *A nightly patrol.*
- Nocturnal — active at night. *Nocturnal animals.*
- Old English — *niht*, night. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | night | A cold night. |
| Plural | nights | Three nights. |
| Adjective | nightly | Nightly news. |
| Adjective | nocturnal | Nocturnal. |
| German | Nacht | Night. |
- They travelled through the night.Time.
- Scots still says nicht.The old sound.
- German Nacht keeps the consonant.Cognate.
Other silent gh words
- Light, might, right, sight — all once had the throaty sound
- Thought, brought, bought — the same, with a different vowel
- Laugh and cough — the gh became an f sound instead
- Through and though — the gh vanished entirely
- Scots preserves many of these as nicht, licht and richt
Old English *niht*, from a Germanic root shared with German *Nacht*, related to Latin *nox* and Greek *nyx*.
Was the gh in night ever pronounced?
Yes, as a throaty consonant like the ch in loch. It faded from about the fifteenth century, leaving only the spelling.
Why does laugh have an f sound?
The same old consonant developed differently in some words, hardening to f rather than falling silent.