Friday Puzzler -- letter action at a distance
Alex Y
Often when a letter is added to one word to make another, that letter changes the pronunciation of another letter in the new word. The most common example is adding an "e" to change the pronunciation of an earlier vowel from short to long: tap to tape, rub to rube, met to mete, etc.
What distances from the added letter can you think of examples for? (As Churchill is purported to have said, "there are some rules of grammar up with which I will not put".)The above are all distance 2. Distance 0 would be no change (e.g., rap to rapt).
The added letter does not have to be at either end of the word, it might be added inside the original word.
If the change is in the sound of a letter combination (e.g. "th" as in with or as in then), we'll call the distance the farthest letter in the combination.
If you suspect that your answer is based on a regional pronunciation, or one that you know is pronounced differently by Brits, Yankees, Aussies, South Africans, etc., identify that regional pronunciation.
I'll start it with an easy three:
0: par to part
1: mat to meat (the a goes silent) or red to read (present tense)
2: con to cone
So what can you come up with for 3, 4, 5, or longer?