Flight attendants beware! Fasten is often mispronounced, because the spelling is deceptive. The t is not pronounced. In fact, all t‘s preceded by an s and followed by -en or -le at the end of the word or unit are silent:
-en
fasten (FAH-sun)
listen (LISS-un)
glisten (GLISS-un)
Christen (KRISS-un)
-le
bustle (BUSS-ul)
castle (KAH-sul)
hustle (HUSS-ul)
mistletoe (MISS-ul-toh)
nestle (NESS-ul)
rustle (RUSS-ul)
thistle (THISS-ul)
whistle (WISS-ul)
wrestle (RESS-us)
Words derived from any of the above behave in the same way, i.e., the t is also silent in whistling, bustling, hustler, rustler, etc.
The t is also silent in Christmas (KRISS-mus), in soften (SOFF-un) and (sometimes) in often (OFF-un).
©2013 Baxter Publishing, Hilversum, The Netherlands
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