They are pronounced the same. However speaking of military ranks and funny pronunciations, the word "lieutenant" is pronounced differently in the US ("loo-tenant") from the rest of the English-speaking world ("lef-tenant").

Yes, we do pronounce them in the same way. Over the process of time people often start pronouncing a word in a way that seems easier to them, so language changes. No, that pronunciation of colonel doesn't make phonetical sense. :) It was a good question.

Yes, we do pronounce them in the same way. Over the process of time people often start pronouncing a word in a way that seems easier to them, so language changes. No, the pronunciation of colonel doesn't make phonetic sense. :) It was a good question.

Yes. If it makes you feel better, we have problems with our own spelling system, haha.

They are! They have different 'roots' which often means different pronunciation rules. Colonel has a silent L and is from French, and kernel has a silent R [in British English] and is an Old English word. You will find homonyms through the English language!