As Wōdnesdæg moved from Old English to Middle English, its spelling changed.It became "Wednesdei" and the "d" remained, even as the word morphed into "Wednesday." Wednesday is just one example of words — like February and ptarmigan — where letters appear in a word's spelling but not in its pronunciation.
it's mostly Americans who don't pronounce the d in Wednesday; to most British people it's more of 'Wends-day' than anything else. Wednesday has Germanic linguistic origins. It is derived from the Old English word, Wōdnesdæg, which honours the Germanic god Wodan.
Why is there a D on Wednesday? Presumably you are referring to the first 'd' and not the second one. The answer is that the day was named for Woden (also spelt Wodin), another name for Odin Allfather, the chief Norse god. Through the process of elision, the name 'Woden's day' became, over time, 'Wednesday'.
The letter D is silent in some words that pair it up with the letter G, as in bridge, ridge, edge, ledge, and hedge. It also doesn't have much to say in some pronunciations of the words handsome and handkerchief. Lastly, the first D in the word Wednesday seems to have taken the day off.
Silent D: The letter D is silent when it comes just before the letters N and G. Examples: Wednesday, pledge, grudge, cadge. The letter D is also not pronounced in the following common words: handsome, handkerchief, sandwich.
The letter P is often silent when it comes at the start of words which start with PN, PS and PT. For example, psychology. The letters PH are often pronounced as an F. For example, paragraph.
The Silent Letter in Bird is 'I' and in Judge is 'D' and 'E'. In Bird, we don't hear the 'i' sound and the 'I' sound is replaced with an 'a' sound. Similarly, in 'Judge', the letter 'd' and 'e' is not pronounced, and the only letters pronounced are the 'J' and the 'G'.
The English word Wednesday is derived from Old English and means “Wodan's day.” The Germanic god Wodan is also known as Odin, the Norse allfather of the gods. In most languages with Latin origins, the day is named after the god and planet Mercury.
Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams, a teenager who possesses psychic powers. She is sent to Nevermore Academy for causing mischief at several other schools. Among her other skills, Wednesday is a skilled cellist and speaks fluent Latin, Italian, and German.
