lamb!!!!!

[karincon]

Any intellectual people out there know where the "B" came from and why it was placed at the end???????

[Quizmonster]

The 'b' is present in the Old English word 'lamb', as it is in Old High German, Old Norse and Teutonic 'lamboz'. There were various other old spellings such as lam, lamp, lemp and lambe, but virtually all of them, as you can see, had a b/p sound attached. What can I say, therefore? The relevant sound just is there.

[karincon]

Thankyou quizmonster.. Brownie points for me....Cheers

[pamnez]

Probably the same reason that jamb is pronounced jawm>

[Quizmonster]

'Jamb', generally nowadays meaning a doorpost, comes most directly from French 'jambe' = leg, though that is itself connected with the Latin word 'gamba', also meaning a hoof or leg. In both these cases, the 'b' would have been pronounced, although in English it is silent - like the 'b' in thumb, lamb, tomb etc - today.