island. The in ptarmigan was apparently suggested by Greek words such as pteron ('wing'). Since accent and pronunciation differ, letters may be silent for some speakers, but not others. In non-rhotic accents, is silent in such words as hard, feathered; in h-dropping accents, is silent. A speaker may or may not pronounce in often, the first in Antarctic, in sandwich, etc. Differences between British English and American English Pronunciation In the US, the h in herb is silent (an herb), but in the UK, it is pronounced (a herb). The same is true for the l in solder. In parts of the UK, the a in dictionary and secretary is silent, but in the US, it is pronounced. Spelling In US spellings, silent letters are sometimes omitted (e.g., acknowledgment / UK acknowledgement, ax / UK axe, catalog / UK catalogue, program / UK programme outside computer contexts), but not always (e.g., dialogue is the standard spelling in the US and the UK; dialog is regarded as a US variant; the spelling axe is also often used in the US). In most words, silent letters are written in both styles (e.g., debt, guard, house). Other Germanic languages Danish The Danish language has different letters that can be silent. The letter is silent in the conjunction af. The letter is silent in the conjunctions og and også. The letter is silent in most dialects if followed by , as in hvad (‘what’), hvem (‘who’), hvor (‘where’). The letter is silent at the end of words if preceded by , as in selv ('self'), halv ('half'). The letter is usually (but not necessarily) silent if preceded by a consonant, as in en mand (‘a man’), blind (‘blind’). Many words ending in are pronounced with a stød, but it is still considered a silent letter. Faroese The Faroese language has two silent letters. The letter is almost always silent. It is rendered in orthography for historical reasons (e.g. 'father' , cf. Old Norse ). In some cases, however, the letter is pronounced , as in 'the weather' . The letter (i.e. continuant of Old Norse ) is usually silent between vowels or when following a vowel before a pause (e.g. 'day' , cf. Old Norse ; 'I' , cf. Old Norse ). Use of the silent letter in Faroese is the same as for the letter edd - it is written for historical reasons