Most of the English words starting “gn” come down to us from Old English. In Old English, the initial “g” was pronounced. The “g” has become a silent letter over the centuries, but is kept because keeping the spelling as it is helps understanding of the word and avoids it becoming confused with other words.Click to see full answer. In this way, what words have a silent G? Study the word list: Silent g words gnome We hide a spare key under the garden gnome. gnat A gnat is a small biting insect. gnu The gnu is an African antelope. gnash Did you hear the dog gnash his teeth? gnarled The trunk of the old tree was gnarled. Similarly, why is the g in lasagna silent? “The G isn’t technically silent, as it changes the way the last syllable is pronounced. No, you don’t hear the typical G sound, but “GN” changes the end of the word,” he said on a forum on projectcovo.com. “If the G wasn’t there, we wouldn’t pronounce lasagna like we do. As it is, we pronounce it “la-zan-ya”. In this regard, is the G in strength silent? So, the “g” is not actually pronounced as a “g,” but it is not a “silent” letter either. It is actually pronounced in words such as “anger” and “linger”—but the same sort of thing does not happen in “strength” and “length” because of the “th” sound that follows immediately after.Is G silent in ING?The ‘g’ in -ing is never pronounced. What is pronounced is the velar nasal consonant represented in IPA as [ŋ]. In some dialects, this is replaced by the alveolar nasal consonant represented in IPA as [n]. The difference between [ŋg] and just [ŋ] can be heard in the difference between the words finger and singer.