2914: Solder: L or Not Dec 13, 2024

Solder is pronounced differently, regionally. In general, Americans pronounce it without the L,  /sɑd.əɹ/ while those in the UK say /sɒl.dɚ/, with the L. This is a classic case of letters being added in to align with Latin but not with how people were actually pronouncing it as English spelling was being standardized in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. In Old French records, before it influenced English, it appears as both ‘soldure’ and ‘soudre’ (among a few others) but it was a time in which the L was being phased out; now the word is ‘souder’. Re-Latinizing the word to connect it back to its origins of ‘solidare’ (hence ‘solid’). Despite the spelling being altered to reflect the etymology in the 15th century, and further losing the U from ‘soulder’ to ‘solder’ in the 17th century, it only lost its traditional pronunciation in Britain in the last century or two.