The ''m'' in ''attempt''

Is the ''m'' in ''attempt'' silent?

No.

However, I've been saying "attempt" over and over, trying to determine whether I'm pronouncing the "p." I think it would sound just the same if it were spelled "attemt."

By the ''m'', I mean the ''p''.






Is the ''p'' in ''attempt'' silent?

The 'p' is silent.

I don't know if the P is totally silent...I think it's just very very slight.

Sometimes it's silent, sometimes it isn't, depending on which way helps to better articulate the word.

I don't believe that any of the letters in the word are silent.

Jim, isn't the word pronounced ''attemt''?

Jim, so are you saying that ''attempt'' and ''dreamt'' don't rhyme for you? They rhyme for me.

I never thought of it, but they rhyme for me too! The "p" is definitely silent unless I am somehow trying to emphasize the word, and then I pronounce the "p". But it regular speech.. yes they rhyme for me.

No, that's not what I'm saying. All I'm saying is that /p/ is the sound you get when you open your lips without your vocal chords moving but with breath moving out of your mouth. For /m/ you have to have your lips closed. For /t/ you have to have your lips open, your vocal chords still and breath movement of breath. Therefore, between the /m/ and the /t/ there should appear a [p] thus /mt/ is realised as [mpt].

I agree with Jim, 'attempt' is pronounced with a 'p', as is 'dreamt', that's why they rhyme.

Hmmm... things to ponder...

''Therefore, between the /m/ and the /t/ there should appear a [p] thus /mt/ is realised as [mpt].''

So, thus it would be more accurate to transcribe the pronunciation of ''dreamt'' as /drempt/ than it would be to transcribe it as /dremt/, right?