This wheel is missing a tyre, or, in Portuguese, “pneu.”
Usually, in English, a word such as “Pneu” would understandably have a silent “p,” but not so in Portuguese.
The Portuguese pronunciation of this word is:
Pee-noo, which means “tyre.”
I first saw the word on signboards and notices in Brazil, and I assumed that the p would be silent, but that was until I heard a Portuguese-speaking man ask me where I had bought the “pneu” of my motorcycle.
Here’s a little knowledge base:
Roda = wheel
Pneu = Tyre
Pneu is pronounced: Pee-noo
I guess the patterns of silent letters in English just are not the same in Portuguese. Well, obviously.
Since the letter “P” is already pronounced “pee,” can we therefore assume that the word has no “unnecessary letters?” No silent letter either!
