Here at last is a complete encyclopedia of phonics

for teacher, student, and parent.

No other book compiles so much information in such a
usable form as this. “The ABC’s and All Their Tricks”
belongs on every teacher’s desk.
The book will make you an expert in minutes.
It answers any spelling or pronunciation question
that arises... (continued inside)
(continued
from front cover) . . .
in the classroom. Could you answer a student who asked
why scheme is spelled with ch while skill is spelled with
k?
With this book you could quickly answer by refer-
ring alphabetically to a ch page (96). There you will find
that words borrowed from the Greek language use the ch
spelling. There are only 146 such words.
Onak page (168), you find that 904 words use the k
spelling, as in ski//. That explains why your student was
taught the k spelling before the other. This kind of infor-
mation helps you too, to decide how much teaching time
to devote to a particular item.
The main section of this book is arranged alphabeti-
cally, so you can answer any question about phonics or
spelling by looking up the letter or letter combination in
its alphabetical order. Before each letter is a summary of
all its sounds and spellings.
For instance, on page 67 a summary of a tells about
its short, long, and broad sounds; its unstressed sound;
and the way it teams up with other letters to make special
sounds. Then following the summary, one page is devoted
to each of the sounds mentioned in the summary. On these
pages you find easy, intermediate, and advanced words
with the sound. You find exceptions, if any. You find spell-
ing rules that apply, and you find the number of English
words which use a in that way. With these pages at your
fingertips, you are an expert on a.
Before and after the main section, the author has
given information about syllables, history of English spell-
ing, and numerous other topics so that this book satisfies
all your classroom needs for phonics, spelling, and pro-
nunciation.
An especially valuable appendix tells what to do for
students who need remedial help in reading. Once you
learn to use this book, you will never want to be without
it.
The ABC’s and All Their Tricks
 The ABC’s
and
All Their Tricks

THE
Complete Reference Book
of
PHONICS and SPELLING

by
Margaret M. Bishop

MOTT
MEDIA
Fenton, Michgian
THE ABC’S AND ALL THEIR TRICKS

Copyright © 1986 by Mott Media

All rights in this book are reserved. No portion of this book may be
reproduced by any process such as mimeograph, photocopying, re-
cording, storage in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means
without written permission of the publisher. Brief quotations embod-
ied in critical articles or reviews are permitted. For information write
Mott Media, 1130 Fenway Circle, Fenton, Michigan 48430.

Manufactured in the United States of America.

Hardback:
ISBN-13: 978-0-88062-149-6
ISBN10: 0-88062-149-4

Paperback:
ISBN-13: 978-0-88062-140-3
ISBN10: 0-88062-140-0
 Acknowledgments

The word counts presented in this book are based on the print-
outs published in Phoneme-Grapheme Correspondences as Cues
to Spelling Improvement, by Hanna, Hanna, Rudorf and Hodges,
a 1966 publication of the United States Office of Education, Depart-
ment of Health, Education and Welfare. The work of this research
group is described in Appendix D.
For the way in which the material is presented and explained,
| am greatly indebted to the Fortune Society, an association of
ex-offenders in New York City. For nine years, | trained volunteer
tutors and also tutored students of my own in the Adult Basic
Education program which the Fortune Society maintains for its
illiterate members. Both the volunteer tutors and the students
taught me what | know about how to make the ins and outs of
the English writing system clear to adults who are not already
familiar with these matters.
Finally, | am very deeply indebted to my husband, whose
patience has permitted me the many hours of concentration
required to pull it all together.
Any errors, factual or conceptual, which appear in these pages
are, of course, entirely my own.

September, 1985
Margaret M. Bishop
 Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2024

https://archive.org/details/abcsalltheirtricO000marg
 Contents

Toribedleacher:.&..e eer te ane costes & eh ee 1

Letter Names and Letter Sounds ...................... 20
Two,otyles-on/Spelling 3a. i ee ee 22
Sp LE 6)TS se Sale oe ee Rec ne RO Re Sealant wee dere 24
Hoon vWwordssana Longer Words: c.00 0. oh ee ete ee 27
Vowel Sounds and Vowel Letters................0..... 29
SP
AEGTICHMCCUNGe ONO eo scot rie ay teeter She Ms ow dt O11
NOWE ET GOANSammars sks 6 al cacy cys ied ed ue ry A asDue oye & Wien sak Sh
SUSHI VOW CEOS cuca eae caeeey eae vas dents ee 44
Consonant Sounds and Consonant Letters .............. 47
Unvoiced, Voiced and Nasal Consonants ............... 48
ecUolelatalove) iatSer: [go NC hes ae,ee Meee ana ae eee ae eneon < 50
CONnSOMAN RR aMSh: tp tA. obys Seas kk ee ee 51
SOnsCRainia els wate. ede). iain Bt nbon tee 58
SCM OOMSON ele ce Attar Meee nyse ere tah ev alle caine oe 60
Homonyms-and Spelling Options .........:...5-.sa2.c6. 65
Alphabetical*Listingsef-Letters=. . 2.2...
.. 12. vee es 67 to 295
Appendices
Ar Dictionary Division of Syllables 7...
oc. ce Tet. 297
B: Syllables, Stress and Word Structure ............. 299
Ce Remedial MeaGinG ns... cies «ae bes Se evs we 333
Ds the Hanna Research Project. o. 2.2 cn4 1. oO os oom 341
 To The Teacher

We all know that there are many irregularities in English spell-

ing. Many of our most common words are not pronounced exactly
the way the letters of the words would suggest. For example, the
word said is really pronounced with a short E sound. But the let-
ter combination Al is normally used to show a long A sound.
Peculiar spellings of this kind appear in many other words as well.
Towards the middle of the last century, educators began to
believe that there were so many of these irregularities that they
were making problems for children learning to read. Educators
began to feel that direct training in the regular letter-sounds was
causing confusion in the children’s minds. So they developed
systems of reading instruction which emphasized visual memoriza-
tion of whole words. It was assumed that by learning to recognize
words at sight, the children would absorb enough knowledge of
the letter-sounds to become independent readers. Such systems
postponed until later grades any formal work on letter-sounds.
These systems began coming into widespread use in the public
and private schools during the 1930's. They continue to be very
widely used to this day.

The Regular Letter Sounds

Meanwhile, however, certain leading linguists began to express
alarm over the abandonment of early emphasis on letter-sounds.
Leonard Bloomfield, the father of modern American linguistics,
worked out a system for teaching the regular letter-sounds to
children directly, and having the children use these letter-sounds
to figure out the words. But the trend in the schools against this
idea was so strong that Dr. Bloomfield could not get his material
published during his lifetime. Indeed, his system did not become
available until several years after his death, when his protege
finally got it published in 1961.'

1. Let's Read: A Linguistic Approach, Clarence L. Barnhart, Inc., Bronxville,

New York.
2 / To The Teacher “

In the early ’60’s, three different research groups were work-

ing on the question of how much emphasis really should be put
on letter-sounds in teaching beginning reading. Two of these
groups were at Stanford University, and one at Harvard. The
results of the two Stanford studies were published in 1966 by the
United States Office of Education, Department of Health, Educa-
tion and Welfare.2 The results of the Harvard study were sum-
marized in Learning to Read: The Great Debate, by Jeanne S.
Chall, published by McGraw-Hill in 1967.
Dr. Chall’s study was devoted to an examination of all the
research projects which had compared the reading performance
of children learning by word-memorization methods to the perform-
ance of children learning by methods emphasizing regular letter-
sounds from the beginning. She found that children taught to use
letter-sounds from the beginning were more successful as readers
than the children taught mainly by whole-word memorization.
The Stanford studies help to explain how this comes about. One
of these studies was done by a group of linguists among whom
Dr. Richard L. Venezky was prominent. This study showed that
letter-sounds in English are not nearly so unreliable as earlier
scholars believed. It reveals, however, how important it is to help
children understand how certain letters are used to influence the
sounds of other letters in a word.
For example, the extra P in hopping is silent, but it is there to
show that the O is short, like the O in hop. Another example is
the E in hope, which has no sound of its own, but shows that the
O is long. Still another example is the influence of the letters E,
| and Y on the letter C. The letter C shows an S sound when
the next letter is E, ! or Y, as in cent, city and fancy. Whenever
C appears before any other letter, however, it shows a K sound,
as in cat, cot, cut, clap, crib, act or accent.
The other Stanford study was conducted by a group under the
leadership of Dr. Paul R. Hanna, He was a professor of Education,
interested in helpitig high school students with spelling problems.

2. Richard L. Venezky and Ruth H. Weir, A Study of Selected Spelling-to-Sound

Correspondence Patterns
Paul R. Hanna, Jean S. Hanna, Richard E. Hodges, and Edwin H. Rudorf, Jr.,
Phoeme-Grapheme Correspondences as Cues to Spelling Improvement.
 To The Teacher / 3

This group also showed the importance of interaction between the

different letters in a word. Although there are small differences
in detail between the two Stanford studies, they both came up with
the same set of rules for letter-sounds and how they are affected
by interactions between letters.
The conclusion to be drawn from these two studies is that letter-
sounds alone may well be confusing to children. But letter-sounds
combined with a few fairly simple rules about letter interactions
can eliminate most of this confusion. Phonics is the term which
describes this combined teaching of letter-sounds and basic spell-
ing rules at the very beginning of school.
Educators who still believe that it is best to start with whole-word
memorization distrust the phonics approach in spite of these
findings. They believe that there are too many exceptions to all
the letter-sounds and all the letter interaction rules that children
can learn. But one of the major findings of the Venezky and Hanna
studies was that there are not nearly so many exceptions as most
educators think there are.

Teaching With Phonics

Teachers who do use phonics from the beginning find that the
exceptions which occur in the common words that children need
for reading do not actually cause much confusion if the children
are secure in their knowledge of the regular letter-sounds. If you
teach the children to pronounce Al with a long A sound, and then
tell them frankly that said is a funny word because the Al in it is
funny, they can handle said perfectly well. Fortunately, most of
the irregular words contain only one feature showing an irregular
sound, while all the other letters in the word are behaving perfectly
normally.
But children who are left to derive the letter-sounds and phonic
rules for themselves are so confused by the letter-interactions, that
they form the idea that all the letter-sounds are very unreliable.
As a result, they have very little confidence in the letter-sounds
they do figure out. They therefore do not learn even these sounds
very thoroughly. Even when the school begins teaching something
about letter-sounds and letter interactions in the later grades, this
does not help the children very much, because it is not enough
to overcome their acquired distrust of the letters.
4 / To The Teacher >

Teaching phonics from the beginning of first grade involves

teaching the regular sounds of the 26 letters of the alphabet;
teaching the regular sounds of the standard letter combinations
like SH, CH, EE, Al, AW, etc.; teaching the basic rules about how
some letters influence the sounds of other letters; and helping the
children to make the most of the reliable letters in the common
irregular words.
Of course, since you are not teaching the children to memorize
words as individual visual units, the only way they can identify
words is by sounding them out. At first, they often need a good
deal of help in mastering the trick of blending the letter-sounds
of aword smoothly enough to realize what it means. Children seem
to vary a great deal in how easily they can learn this trick. But
once they learn it, they can use it very easily. Then they soon begin
to recognize the common words at sight, simply because they have
sounded them out successfully so many times. This is the ex-
perience of classroom teachers who are accustomed to using
phonics teaching methods.
Many parents have had similar experiences in successful
teaching with phonics methods. Very often, when a child is ob-
viously memorizing a few words, but cannot read anything except
the school reader, a parent becomes dissatisfied with the school
teaching. Parents who are themselves good readers often teach
such a child to read quite easily. Sometimes the parent obtains
a simple phonics textbook and uses it to teach the child.
Sometimes the parent simply draws on his or her own knowledge
of phonics to teach the child. Sometimes a parent teaches a child,
without even realizing it, simply by answering questions about
letter-sounds and letter interactions, and modeling the trick of
sounding out.

Public Demand For Phonics

A great many parents are alarmed by the poor reading and spell-
ing performance of their children. When they hear about the
millions of adult illiterates who crowd our unemployment lines, our
soup kitchens, and our prisons, they begin to feel that something
is wrong with the school system. Many of these parents are begin-
ning to demand that phonics methods of reading instruction be
 To The Teacher / 5

installed in the schools instead of the word-memorization methods.

As a result, many public schools, and many independent schools
as well, are beginning to do their best to comply with this demand.

Teachers And Phonics

At first glance, it seems that changing from word-memorization-
first to phonics-first should not be very difficult. After all, word-
memorization methods do bring phonics in eventually; and phonics
methods do produce word-memorization eventually. Besides, the
public naturally assumes that our professionally-trained teachers
know how to teach whichever method a school board chooses to
use.
Unfortunately, it is not so easy to make this change whenever
the parents want it. The teachers’ colleges have for many years
concentrated on courses that are needed by teachers who will be
working with word-memorization first. These courses include a
great deal on how to diagnose reading difficulties, and statistical
methods for measuring class performance. They include a great
deal about how to teach arithmetic, history and science without
any heavy reliance on children’s reading ability. They include a
great deal about how to motivate children to try to memorize their
words.
But most teachers’ colleges teach very little about phonics iteslf.
They do not teach which letter sounds are the easiest ones for
children to start with, or which letter-sounds are the most impor-
tant ones for children to learn early, or which letter-interaction rules
are essential, and which ones can be postponed for a little while.
They do not have teacher candidates study the history of written
English to understand how the letters came to have their present
sounds and interactions. They do not teach teachers how to help
children learn the trick of sounding words out well enough to
understand them, or how to help the children with the truly irregular
words.
Furthermore, most of the teachers now in the schools, public
or independent, themselves grew up in word-memorization
classrooms. Thanks to informal help from parents, they are able
to read. But many of them lack confidence in their own spelling
ability. And, because they themselves did not receive formal
6 / To The Teacher %

training in phonics, either in first grade or in college, they have

little confidence in the wisdom of using the phonics programs the
parents are now demanding. They really cannot put their hearts
into the task. As a result, the children do not do as well as ex-
pected; everyone is disappointed; and often the school goes back
fairly soon to the word-memorization method with which the
teachers are more familiar.

How Reliable Are The Regular Letter-Sounds?

Most teachers really do believe that children need to acquire
some knowledge of letter-sounds sooner or later. But there is one
idea which is extremely influential in making them distrust methods
that are based on teaching phonics first. They believe that all the
phonics rules that the children can learn have a great many ex-
ceptions. They believe that the exceptions make the rules very
hard for the children to learn, and very unrewarding for them. If
this were true, then phonics methods really would not work, even
in the hands of a teacher well-trained in using such methods.
The fact is, however, that there are really very few exceptions
to each rule. But teachers are not going to believe this unless they
see the evidence for themselves. Until 1966, when the Venezky
and Hanna studies were published, this evidence was never
available. Unfortunately, neither of these studies presents the
evidence in a way which makes it easy for teachers to use.
The published results of the Hanna study, however, are
presented in such a way that the evidence can be put into a form
which is as easy to use a dictionary. This is what the present
volume is intended to do. (For details about how the Hanna study
was done, see Appendix D.)
Both Venezky and Hanna give estimates of what percentage
of English words are regular. But when such percentages are
quoted, there is always someone around who will challenge the
definition of regularity which was used to classify words as regular
or irregular. In any case, the over-all percentage of regularity is
not what worries the elementary school teacher. She is concerned
with getting down to cases. She sees that her textbook expects
her to teach a certain rule about a certain letter. She wants to know
how reliable that particular rule is, and how often the children will
encounter places where this rule does not work.
 To The Teacher / 7

Take the rules about C, for example. As was mentioned earlier,

C is soft, and therefore sounds like S, before the letters E, | and
Y. Anywhere else, C is hard, and sounds like K. This is one of
the letter interaction rules taught in phonics programs. The
teacher needs to know how reliable this specific rule is. The
Hanna study shows that C before E, | or Y sounds like S in 1,295
words. In 3,915 words, where C is not followed by E, | or Y, the
C sounds like K. So the rule works for 5,210 words. There are only
10 words in which the rule does not work. Since the Hanna study
is based on a total of 17,310 words, one can see that more than
a quarter of the vocabulary consists of words where it is extremely
helpful for the reader to understand what makes C sound like S
and what makes it sould like K.
What about the sound of Al? When the subject of irregularity
is raised in professional magazines for teachers, Al is often men-
tioned as a cautionary example. The fact is that Al can have five
different sounds. The Hanna study shows that this is true. But it
also shows that, as a matter of common sense, this variety of
sounds is not a very serious problem for children. Al occurs in
314 words out of the 17,310 of the Hanna study. In 271 of those
words, it has the long A sound, as in rain. This is the sound that
teachers are expected to teach for Al. In another 37 words it occurs
in an unstressed syllable, where the vowel sound is severely
muffled, as vowel sounds usually are when they are not
emphasized.
But, as the teachers’ magazines point out, Al can also sound
like short E, short A or long |. Doesn’t this make Al very difficult?
Not when you consider the specific words that are involved. Al
has the short E sound in four words, said, again, against and
aforesaid. Children must learn said and again as exceptions.
They can easily handle against but analogy with again, and
aforesaid is hardly likely to occur in their reading. Then, there
is one single word where Al has a short A sound, the word plaid.
(Incidentally, Scotsmen pronounce this word with a long A,
‘‘olade.’’) Finally, there is the single word aisle, where Al has a
long | sound and the S is silent. But the words plaid and aisle
do not crop up in children’s reading often enough to shake their
faith in Al for iong A, unless their teacher seems uncertain about it.
8 / To The Teacher %

The facts about Al can be summed up by saying that Al is

regular in 308 words, and irregular in six words. Thus, it is regular
98% of the time. Common sense suggests that this is a high
degree of reliability. Common sense matters because common
sense is the yardstick by which children assess what is important
and what is too silly to bother their heads about.
This ABC book is designed to enable teachers to judge for
themselves the reliability and usefulness of any letter sound, any
letter combination, or any letter-interaction rules presented in the
phonics method they are trying to use.

Finding The Facts About Letter Sounds

The main body of this book devotes one page to each letter of
the alphabet, and one page to each basic letter combination. If
a letter or letter combination can have more than one sound, there
is an extra page for each extra sound. Each page has an explana-
tion of whatever letter interactions influence the letter sound
treated on that page.
The pages for letters and letter combinations are arranged in
alphabetical order for easy reference. The letter or letter combina-
tion for each page appears in the upper outside corner, like a
dictionary guide-word.
Each page presents lists of words which illustrate the letter
sound for that page. These lists are divided into three groups. ®he
— bi iust amen

imwordsofinteresttoyoungichildren who know how to use letter

sounds. Certain words in the children’s section may seem rather
adult, but they are words which occur frequently in fairy tales or
children’s adventure stories.

words more likely to occur frequently in books for older children.

or for the ordinary reader of any age. These words, however, are
also important for the younger children. Children who are taught
to read with phonics will be very familiar with the types of words
presented in the first and second groups long before they enter
secondary school.
The words in the lowest section of the page are the most un-
familiar and least frequently-used words in English which use the
 To The Teacher / 9

letter-sound treated on the page. Words of this difficulty are

presented with the idea that the good reader would first encounter
them during high school or college, or later in adult life. The reader
would still need to know the letter-sound on the page regardless
of the age at which he or she happened to encounter these
words.
In each of these major groups of words, there are three columns.
The first column usually presents one-syllable words. The second
column presents two-syllable words, and the third one presents
longer words.
On each page, below the word lists, there is an explanation of
the letter-sound treated on the page and any letter-interaction rules
which affect that particular letter-sound.
Below this is a statement of how many times the letter-sound
conforms to the rules. If syllable-stress makes a difference to how
the letter is pronounced the figures show how often it occurs in
a stressed syllable, and how often it occurs in an unstressed
syllable.
In the earlier discussion, the word-counts for hard and soft C,
and for Al were given. These counts showed that C occurs in 5,210
words, while Al occurs in only 314 words. A teacher may well
wonder how important it is to teach Al if it affects such a small
number of words. This is why the lists on each page are divided
into children’s sections and a grown-up section. By reading over
the lists on any page, and thinking of other words similar to the
ones that are given, the teacher can judge for herself how impor-
tant such words are for children learning to read.
If a certain letter combination does not occur very often in books
of special interest to young children, then the lists in the upper
third of the page may contain only one or two items altogether.
The teacher can then see why this letter combination is not
introduced in the early part of the phonics method she is using.
(See the page for EY, for instance.)
Finally, young children will encounter certain letter combinations
which are not really English letter combinations at all. For exam-
ple, toward the end of first grade, children taught with phonics
can enjoy reading Aesop’s Fables for themselves. These children
are likely to be very sensitive to unusual letter combinations, and
10 / To The Teacher ‘s

they may ask why you have not taught them AE for long E. The
AE page in the ABC book will show you that AE occcurs only in
12 words, that in eight of them it stands for long E, in three for
short E, and in one for long A. Furthermore, most of these words
are strictly adult in nature. That’s why your phonics method does
not include AE as a combination to be taught in first grade, and
that is what you can tell the children.

What Words Are Irregular?

But the teacher wants to know more about the irregular words
themselves and how they will affect the children. That is what the
gray panel in the inner margin of each page is all about. Theigrays

Take the page for short U as an example. There,

the main section of the page shows that U is short in 1,027
stressed syllables and in 518 unstressed syllables, all of them
having one or more consonants after the letter U. The gray panel
lists 4 words where U followed by consonant letters is long instead
of short. These words are Ruth, truth, Duluth and impugn. Any
child needs to be able to read Ruth and truth, of course, and those
living near Duluth, need to know that word, also. Moreover, they
need to know that the way U sounds in these words is not the
way it normally sounds before a consonant. We do not want little
Ruth relying on her own name to remember how short U sounds.
This is one reason the irregular words are so important. It often
happens that the very most familiar word which uses a certain
letter is the worst word to use as an example of how the letter
is supposed to sound.
But this list is typical of the irregular words. Whatever the letter
sound, it is often irregular in two or three words which are abso-
lutely indispensible in children’s reading. Then, the rest of the
irregular words are very adult in character, like impugn. Since
these adult words hardly ever occur in writing for children, they
do not shake the children’s confidence in the letter-sound they
are learning. Later, when such children have grown old enough
to encounter those words, they will automatically notice the
peculiar spelling as being exceptional, and again suffer no damage
as a consequence.
 To The Teacher / 11

The list in the gray panel does not include every single word
where the letter sound is irregular. But it always lists all the basic
irregular words. For example, in addition to the four words in the
gray panel on the short U page, one could also think of the follow-
ing words: ruthless, ruthlessly, truthful, truthfulness,
untruthfulness, truthfully and untruthfully. Since these are on-
ly more elaborate forms of the basic words already noted they are
not included on the list of exceptions.

Related Letter Sounds

In addition to the basic irregular words, the gray panel presents
one other type of information. At the top of the panel there are
cross-references to other pages. Sometimes these pages involve
other letters for the same sound, and sometimes they involve a
different sound for the letter or letter combination treated on the
page you are looking at. For example, short U sometimes has the
sound it has in put instead of the sound it has in but. On the short
U page, you are referred to the next page, which deals with words
like put.

Letters With Several Sounds

We all know that in English many of the letters have more than
one sound. Thus, any vowel letter can be either long or short; C
can be hard or soft, and G works the same way; CH can stand
for three sounds, the first sound in chicken, the first sound in
Christmas, or the first sound in chef. Y is a consonant some of
the time and vowel the rest of the time. And so on.
This is one reason it is so important to teach phonics to children
in a systematic way, instead of waiting for them to figure the letter-
sounds out for themselves. With so many letters doing double or
triple duty, anyone, child or adult, needs help in sorting out the
letter-sounds. What is more, the closer you look at the letter-sound
system of written English the more tricky little details you discover.
When you look in detail at the letter A, for instance, you find
out that long A and short A are not the whole story. The letter A
can also be broad as in fa la la. Besides, it can appear in letter
combinations like AR (car), Al (rain), AY (pay), AU (cause), AW
(saw), EA (meat), OA (boat) and ALL (ball). You begin to wonder
12 / To The Teacher ‘%

whether you really know everything you need to know to help the
children with the letter A. How many more little tricks does this
letter have up its sleeve? And when the children ask about these
tricks, what can you tell them?
The ABC book has a feature designed to help teachers with such
questions. For every letter which has a variety of sounds, there
is asummary, listing and explaining all the ways in which that letter
can be used.
These summary pages may be found immediately before the
separate pages which deal, one by one, with the different uses
of the letter in question. Thus, the pages summarizing the uses
of A come right before the separate pages on long A, short A,
broad A, A_E, AE, Al and so on.
These summaries may appear a bit intimidating at first glance,
but if you compare the vowel pages among themselves, you will
find that the story for each vowel letter is very similar to the stories
for all the other vowel letters. If you compare the summaries for
C and G, you will find that the stories on each of these letters are
very similar. Or you might be reminded of OR and ER by what
the A summary says about AR. A glance at the R summary will
show that, yes, what R does to the vowel before it is most of the
story on the letter R.
These pages are provided to help the teacher see that, although
the way we use the letters in English is complicated, there is a
pattern to it. Most important, there is an end to it. When children
have learned the pattern, they are finished, and they will be able
to read anything they want to read.

Words Of Many Syllables

But the best possible information about letters and sounds does
not really tell all one needs to know about the long, fancy words
of the adult vocabulary. In these words, single and double con-
sonants between vowels work a little differently from the way they
work in the simpler words. Appendix B deals in detail with such
questions.
These are problems which are not of very great concern to the
first grade teacher. Her children will be dealing mainly with words
of only one syllable, and with one-syllable words lengthened by
 To The Teacher / 13

the addition of familiar endings like -ing, -ed, -er, -y, etc., as in
hopping, liked, baker and sunny. They will also be dealing with
simple two-syllable words like little, table, hammer, pocket, lady
and happy. In all such two-syllable words, it takes two consonant
letters between vowels to show that the first vowel is short, while
one consonant between vowels shows that the first vowel is long.
This is one of the most important letter-interaction rules of English.
Children need to know about this rule and master it very
thoroughly. Otherwise, whenever they see a word with two
syllables and only one vowel letter in the first syllable, they will
have to guess whether that vowel sounds long or short.
However, we also have thousands of fancier words where the
first vowel is short even though there is only one consonant letter
before the next vowel. Family and elephant are examples of such
words. They come down to us from Ancient Latin. The Romans
had only one sound for each vowel letter, so they did not need
fancy tricks like doubling consonants to keep a vowel letter short.
But we still spell these words the Roman way.
There are a few of these words in materials written for children.
Animal, magical, general, enemy and natural are other ex-
amples. Children who are learning reading with phonics seem to
take such words in stride without any trouble. It is quite rare for
a child to ask how the A in family can be short when it has only
one M after it. If they do ask, they seem satisfied with the answer
that this is a fancy word like animal, and works the same way.
But by the time they get far enough to encounter these words,
they are usually too interested in the story to worry about the spell-
ing peculiarity.
It is only in the later grades, when they are reading about more
adult subjects like geography, history and general science that
they begin to meet a lot of those Latin-style words. Then they are
dealing with lots of words like hemisphere, population, federal,
democratic, civilian, military, physics, chemistry, element,
acidity and soluble. In addition, they will be reading words where
doubled consonants do not seem to be doing a good job of keep-
ing the vowei before them short, words like abbreviation, addic-
tion, commercial and offensive.
These complexities are dealt with in Appendix B. Although these
14 / To The Teacher +

tricky spellings do not seem to bother children much when they

read, there are two reasons for including the material in this book.
First, the complexities will probably worry first grade teachers who
are trying to do their best for the children. And second, in a school
where first grade phonics produces second, third and fourth grade
children who are good readers, the early phonics work needs to
be backed up by the teachers in these later grades. They will have
the problem of making sure the children can spell the fancy words.
The very fact that the children read those words easily reflects
a casualness in their attitude to the letter-peculiarities the words
exhibit. And this casual attitude can play havoc with their spell-
ing. It is much easier to get their spelling into shape if the teacher
can explain the consonant doubling rules which actually do apply
to the Latin-style adult vocabulary.

Spelling
On the question of spelling, a few special remarks are in order.
When you are teaching a phonics program, you need to teach
spelling right along with the reading. As each new letter sound,
letter combination, or letter-interaction is introduced in first grade,
you need to have the children writing the words which use that
item. They should be using it actively in spelling work and in story-
writing. This does not mean copying or spelling out loud by naming
letters. It means writing the words by pronouncing them and
putting down letters to match the pronunciation.
It is easy to assume that, since your children are learning letter-
sounds for reading, they will be able to use them in writing without
a lot of emphasis on spelling practice. Unfortunately, it does not
work out that way. Using phonics for reading does not automat-
ically help children spell reliably. Indeed, experience in phonics
classrooms shows that it works the other way around. What
children learn by applying phonics to spelling strengthens their
reading ability very noticeably. But the phonic skills do not transfer
to spelling ability without special attention to spelling practice.
Some phonics textbooks give teachers ample guidance on this
score, suggesting spelling activities at every step of the way. But
others do not emphasize spelling at all. It doesn’t matter. If you
yourself adopt spelling as one way of teaching each item that
 To The Teacher / 15

comes along, the children’s reading mastery will develop more

quickly and be much more thorough than would otherwise be the
case. And they will have the added advantage of self-confidence
in spelling.
Of course, the irregular words make for spelling problems. At
first, the children will spell said as ‘‘sed’’ and was as ‘“‘wuz.’”” When
beginners do this kind of thing they should first be praised for us-
ing letters which match the word’s pronunciation. But then they
should be reminded that this is not the way the word looks in the
book, because it is a funny word (or a crazy word, or an ‘“‘outlaw
word,’’ or whatever term your textbook suggests). The point is not
to ridicule the children for such mistakes. Ridicule the irregular
words instead, and in this way stimulate interest in mastering the
irregular spellings.

Dyslexia
There remains one other issue which should be dealt with in
this introduction, the problem of dyslexia. This is a condition which
was investigated and named by Dr. Samuel T. Orton in the 1920’s.
The symptoms are a tendency to do mirror-writing; to make a lot
of reversals in reading, seeing was as saw, for instance; being
very slow and hesitant in reading, and misunderstanding much
of what is read.
Dr. Orton was a neuro-surgeon at a time when a great deal of
work was being done on the study of visual, auditory and motor
functions of the brain. Researchers were discovering the speech
center and the different characteristics of the right and left
hemispheres of the brain. It was also the time when the visual-
memorization approach to reading instruction was just coming into
widespread use.
Dr. Orton saw many patients whose major complaint was dif-
ficulty in reading. He concluded that in some of the worst cases
there was probably a connection between dyslexia and small,
undetectable irregularities in the brain functions of the individual.
But he found that most of them were simply cases of people who
did not understand how reading was supposed to work. He treated
all of them by having them tutored with very careful, highly struc-
tured phonics lessons.
16 / To The Teacher “

Most of the patients he treated in this way learned to read very

well, and their dyslexic symptoms disappeared. All of them
improved their reading ability greatly, although some never com-
pletely overcame their reversal tendencies. Dr. Orton concluded
that most of the cases brought to him with reading problems had
never been dyslexic at all. Instead, they were people who had
become confused by the word-memorization approach to reading.
He believed that only a few of the worst cases had any brain
dysfunction problems. He believed that most of the cases he
treated would never have developed if the sufferers had been
taught with phonics in the first place.
Dr. Orton’s conclusions led to the establishment of the Orton
Society. This is an organization which teaches teachers in the
extra-careful phonics work which is needed to straighten out the
confusions of readers who have been disabled by the word-
memorization approach. These teachers are also qualified to
reduce very greatly the reading difficulties of the few who are truly
dyslexic.
The work of the Orton Society (recently renamed ‘‘The Orton-
Dyslexia Society) has also produced many fine teachers of first
grade phonics. These teachers take the same phonics principles
that are needed for remedial reading students, and use them to
prevent the development of reading problems. The principles they
use are the same ones used in any systematic phonics program
for first grade. The only fundamental difference between the Orton-
inspired programs and other phonics programs is that Orton-
inspired programs emphasize spelling practice very heavily, while
others tend to neglect spelling as a way of strengthening reading
ability.

Orderliness At School
Any school which teaches phonics from the beginning is likely
to earn a reputation as a good school, because the children really
learn to read and spell very well. Since their reading skills are
good, the children have much less problem with study skills than
other children. They do not need, the dictionary so often as other
children do, but when they do need it, they can master its use
very readily. They see the usefulness of titles, tables of contents
 To The Teacher / 17

and indexes, and they can master graph-reading, and table-

reading easily. Most of all, they can understand the textbooks used
in the upper grades, and they can learn to express themselves
effectively in writing assignments.
As a result, school is more interesting for them than it is for
children with reading disabilities. Furthermore, the schoolwork they
need to do, and the recreational reading they can do, absorb a
good deal of the children’s natural energy. This means that the
children are fairly orderly in the classroom, because they get some
advantage by paying attention and doing the assigned exercises.
Discipline is usually much less of a problem in these cir-
cumstances than it is when many of the children are reading below
grade level. So the school gets a good reputation for orderliness,
as well as having a good academic reputation.
On the other hand, in schools where word-memorization is
emphasized, many of the children soon realize that they are not
learning to read. For any child in our society, this is a very frighten-
ing realization. Some react by withdrawing, some by acting out
their frustration, and others by becoming class clowns to distract
attention from their failures. This is one of the chief sources of
discipline problems in these classrooms.
Parents who can afford it often transfer a child with reading
problems from such a school to one with a better reputation for
discipline and academic success. If your school is using a phonics
approach effectively, your school may be the one such parents
will choose. Each year, a few children will transfer to your school,
entering second or third grade, the upper elementary grades, or
any one of your high school classes, if your school goes beyond
the elementary level.
Some of these transfer pupils will be entering your school
because they could read a lot better than most of the children at
their former school, and they have always been bored with
schoolwork which was too easy for them. Such children may
receive a shock when they find out that they are not, after all, the
smartest children in the whole world. But after a reasonable period
of adjustment, they can usually fit in quite well.
But many of the transfer pupils will be children with a very low
reading level, children who cannot possibly keep up with the work
18 / To The Teacher Xs

your own pupils can easily do. These children cannot be expected,
to ‘‘catch on” to reading without special help. Almost always, their
reading level is low because they know nothing about phonics
except what they have figured out for themselves. What they have
figured out usually involves a certain amount of accurate
understanding of the one-letter consonant sounds, a few gross
misconceptions about other consonant sounds, and a hodge-
podge of bizarre ideas about vowel sounds. Most important, they
have no realization that it is either possible or permissible to sound
words out by their letter-sounds, and no notion of how to go about
blending letter-sounds in order to sound out.
These children need special tutoring in phonics, or special
classes in phonics if there are two or more of them in a given grade
at your school. At different ages, these remedial pupils need
slightly different types of handling, because children go through
distinct developmental changes in their attitudes about their
reading difficulties.
If you are in a position of having to deal with remedial students,
you may have special questions about how to help them. Appen-
dix C presents a few guidelines to help you plan suitable work
for these pupils. In addition, you will find many specific comments
in the body of the book, highlighting the details which present
special problems for remedial students.

Conclusion,
To sum up, the schools have for many years been teaching
reading by way of word-memorization first, instead of phonics first.
One of their major reasons for preferring word-memorization is
the erroneous impression that spelling irregularities in English
make it too difficult for children to learn reading by a phonics
method. But as we have seen, research shows that the
irregularities are not so numerous if we take account of the regular
letter and letter-combination sounds, and the regular letter-
interactions.
Furthermore, research comparing word memorization
classrooms with phonics classrooms shows that the children
taught with phonics first read better than the others. Finally, de-
tailed medical research with persons who have dyslexic symptoms
 To The Teacher / 19

shows that most of them can learn to read perfectly well through
remedial lessons based on phonics.
This book is designed to help teachers who are teaching phonics
understand how the letter-sound system of English works, and how
to evaluate the importance of each phonic element as it crops up
in the phonics textbook they are using. It is hoped that the book
will help teachers understand a subject which was neglected at
the time of their training. For only the teacher who understands
a subject well can really do a good job of getting that subject across
to the children.
20 / Names and Sounds

Letter Names and

Letter Sounds

An alphabet letter has two aspects: It has a name, and it has

a sound. The name is what we call the letter when we talk about
it. The sound is what the letter stands for, and the phrase letter-
sound implies not only the sound the letter represents, but also
the mouth position and vocal effort that are used in pronouncing
that sound.
lt might seem as though these statements are too obvious to
be worth mentioning. Unfortunately, confusion between letter-
names and letter-sounds can easily arise in the minds of children
learning to read. Such confusion is very common among remedial
students.
A major source of this confusion is the fact that the long sounds
of the vowels are the same as the vowel letter-names. Thus, when
you say the word he, you pronounce the sound of H, and then
you blend that sound to the name of E. When you say the word
so, you blend the sound of S to the name of O. When beginning
or remedial readers know how to spell he or so, they can have
trouble understanding why one cannot spell tar as ‘‘tr,’’ putting
down T for the T sound and R for the rest of the sound in the word.
They will likewise use ‘‘mlt’’ for melt, using M for the first sound,
T for the last sound and L for the middle sound.
With remedial students, who have only the vaguest ideas about
letter-sounds, this confusion can be deep-seated and persistent.
For them a great deal of work may be required to overcome this
sort of confusion. With children just beginning to learn reading,
it is important for the teacher to recognize the source of this kind
of confusion whenever it comes up. Then the teacher can help
the child sort out letter-names and letter-sounds and prevent the
confusions between them from developing into learning problems.
‘
 Vowels and Consonants / 21

Vowels and Consonants

There are two kinds of speech sounds — vowel sounds and

consonant sounds. Words are spoken by combining these two
different kinds of sounds in varied patterns. The vowel sounds are
pronounced by.opening the mouth in different ways. They allow
the voice to come out. The consonant sounds are pronounced by
closing the mouth in different ways. They restrict the voice, or
interrupt it completely. Consonants are co-sounders, that are
pronounced along with the vowels. Vowels can be pronounced
alone, or they can carry consonants along with them.
The vowel and consonant letters represent the vowel and con-
sonant sounds. In an ideal alphabet, there would be one letter for
each sound, and each letter would represent only one sound. The
Latin alphabet was very nearly ideal when it was fitted to the Latin
language of ancient Rome.
It is the Latin alphabet that is used for writing Modern English.
However, this ancient alphabet is not ideal for our modern pur-
poses. The Latin alphabet has only six vowel letters (A, E, |, O,
U, Y), whereas English has sixteen vowel sounds. And the Latin
alphabet has only twenty-one consonant letters, while English has
twenty-five consonant sounds, counting Y as a consonant, also.
(Some linguists count even more different sounds.)
This alphabet must therefore be stretched extensively to fit the
English language. We do this by using letter combinations like
OY and CH for the extra vowel and consonant sounds. In this book,
such letter combinations are called vowel or consonant teams.
(See ‘‘Vowel Teams,”’ p. 35 and ‘‘Consonant Teams,”’ p. 51.) By
using teams, and by constructing syllables in special ways, we
make the old Latin alphabet represent all the speech sounds of
Modern English. (See ‘‘Syllables, Stress and Word Structure,”
Appendix B, p. 299.)
22 / Spelling Styles . *

Two Styles of Spelling

As has been mentioned elsewhere in this book, Modern English
incorporates two subtly different styles of spelling. This results from
the way in which Modern English became a written language.
We borrowed the Latin alphabet for writing English because
Latin was still an active, spoken language for educated
Englishmen when people first began wanting to write extensively
in Modern English. Since all educated Englishmen read, wrote
and spoke Latin, many of the Latin words had come into active
use in spoken English, as well. We continued to spell most of these
words according to the standard Latin spelling patterns. For many
other Latin words, we used spelling patterns that the words had
picked up as they gradually migrated from Italy, through France,
into England.
Most of the borrowed Latin words were connected with cities,
government, law, art, philosophy, science, commerce and the
military. But the words of home, childhood, farm, forest and seafar-
ing continued to be the native English words. These had come
down to us from Old High German, through half-a-dozen Old
English dialects. For these words a whole new spelling system
was invented, with spelling patterns which differ from those of the
Latin words.
We thus have two different styles of spelling in Modern English,
the native English style, which applies to words of German origin,
and the Latin style, which applies to words which came to us
directly from Latin, or by way of its daughter languages, Italian
and French.
The native English style of spelling affects all of our one-syllable
words, regardless of origin. It also affects the vast majority of the
two-syllable words which occur in first and second grade school
materials. This is the style of spelling that children study when
they learn to read with phonics. It is only in the later grades that
children begin to encounter large numbers of words affected by
the Latin style of spelling.
The differences between the two styles, and pointers to help
 Spelling Styles / 23

the reader or speller know which style governs any given word,
are fully dealt with in Appendix B, p. 299.
24 / Syllables

Syllables
A syllable is a word-part. It is composed of a vowel sound and
all consonant sounds that are pronounced with that vowel. Most
people find it quite easy to tell how many syllables there are in a
spoken word. You simply say the word slowly, and notice how
many ‘‘bites’’ it seems to have.
Most children learn to count syllables quite easily, and most
remedial students, too, can count spoken syllables. Many remedial
students can also tell you that ‘‘a syllable is a part of a word con-
taining a vowel sound.”’ This is the definition which is usually
taught in school.
Superficially, this seems like a perfectly good re-statement of
the definition given above. But it turns out that most remedial
students have interpreted this definition to mean that syllable is
just a fancier word for vowel. When they have read a word like
cold correctly, and said that it has one syllable, and you ask them
to pronounce that syllable, they will answer by pronouncing the
O alone.
Of course, there are syllables which are composed of a vowel
only, like the first syllable of o-cean. There do not happen to be
any consonants to pronounce with the O of ocean. But there is
an N sound to pronounce with the O of no-tion, three consonant
sounds to pronounce with the O of cold, and five to pronounce
with the O of scolds.
Because of the way letter-interactions work in English spelling,
it is important for students to understand clearly that a syllable
is a vowel sound and whatever consonants are pronounced with
it. They also need to understand the ways in which spoken words
break up into different syllables when they contain more than one
vowel sound.
To understand this, it is necessary to be familiar with another
aspect of syllables—that most of them begin with consonant
sounds. There are, of course, some one-syllable words that begin
with vowels. But these tend to be confined to a few of the pro-
nouns, like I, us and our; the conjunctions and and or; exclama-
tions like ah, oh and aha; and about a third of the prepositions,
 Syllables / 25

like in, out, of, under, after. But the words which express main
ideas, the nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs usually begin with
consonants, as in house, run, brown and very. Only a very few
of these begin with vowels, as in art, eat, itch, old and use.
The main-idea words, of course, form the overwhelming bulk
of the vocabulary of any language. The tendency for these words
to begin with consonants is general throughout the Latin and
Germanic languages from which English comes. If the longer
main-idea words begin with vowels, it is usually because they are
composed of a preposition beginning with a vowel prefixed to
another word, as in inside, output, undertake and afterthought.
In English, most of the main-idea words which begin with vowels
have prefixes which go back to the Latin prepositions which began
with vowels. Examples are adjective, eject, inject, object and
interjection.
When one turns from the first syllable of a longer word to the
later syllables, the fact that most syllables begin with consonants
has important consequences. Consider the word conductor. This
word involves the prefix con-, the root duct, and the suffix -or.
This suffix begins with a vowel. But it is not a syllable in its own
right. It becomes a syllable by borrowing a consonant from the
end of the root. We do not say con-duct-or. Instead, we say con-
duc-tor, pronouncing the T from duct with the or of the suffix.
Even more striking examples of this phenomenon can be found
in words where the suffix begins with | followed by another vowel,
suffixes like -ion and -ial. In pro-duc-tion, the T from duct goes
off with the -ion, and is converted in the process into an SH sound.
The same thing happens to the T from part when -ial is added
to make par-tial. If these T’s were not being removed from the
root and pronounced with the suffix, they would not be so pro-
foundly affected by the suffix.
Most of our suffixes, both the native English suffixes and the
Latin ones, begin with vowels. They routinely become syllables
by removing the consonant from the end of the word to which they
are added, forming a final syliable beginning with a consonant.
An understanding of this can be very helpful to teachers who are
trying to teach the consonant-doubling rule, whereby the P’s must
26 / Syllables *

be doubled in words like hop-ping, and left single in words like

ho-ping and jum-ping.
The above analysis reflects the facts about how we pronounce
words and the syllables they contain. It does not reflect the system
of syllable division which is employed in dictionaries. For an ex-
planation of the dictionary system, see Appendix A, ‘‘Dictionary
Division of Syllables,’ p. 297.
 Roots and Affixes / 27

Root Words and Longer Words

The root of a word is the syllable which supplies the word’s
basic meaning. When a word has only one syllable, that syllable
is a root word. Root words can be lengthened by the addition
of various affixes. Affixes are word-parts added before or after
the root to supply alterations to the basic meaning. When affixes
are added before the root word, they are called prefixes, as in
unlock and relock. When affixes are added after the root, they
are called suffixes, as in locks, locked, locking, locker and locket.
On the Latin side of English, there are many roots which can-
not stand alone as separate words. An example is the root -ject-,
which is a form of the Latin word for throw. Although these Latin
roots are unfamiliar as independent words, they are very familiar
to modern speakers as parts of long words. They can take prefixes,
just as the simple root words can, as in eject, inject, object, pro-
ject, reject and subject. And these words can take suffixes, as
in objects, objecting, objected, objective and objection.
Prefixes change the meaning of a root in a specific way. Thus,
when you unlock a door, you reverse the proces of locking it. When
you relock the door, you lock it all over again. When you eject
something, you throw it out; when you inject medicine, you throw
it into the patient; when you object to something, you throw up
barriers around it; when you project a plan, you throw it forth
into the future; when you reject something, you throw it back at
the giver; and when you subject something to study, you throw
it under the attention of the student.
Suffixes, on the other hand change the form of the word, either
to make it conform to the grammatical requirements of sentences,
or else to change it to a different part of speech. An example is
the suffix -ed, which forms the past tense of the verb. Most of our
past tenses are formed with -ed. However, we also have many
past tense forms which are produced by changing the vowel of
the root word, instead of by adding a suffix, as in run/ran, hide/hid,
ride/rode, sleep/slept, mean/meant and sing/sang.
The suffix -ed is a native English suffix. Others are -s, -es,
-ing, -er, -est, -th and -eth. The suffixes -s and -es form the plurals
28 / Roots and Affixes ‘

of nouns, or the third person, present tense of the verb, as in cats,

dishes, jumps or fixes. The suffix -ing indicates action in progress,
as in ‘is jumping” or ‘‘were fixing.’’ The suffixes -er and -est form
the comparative and superlative of adjectives, as in bigger and
biggest. The suffixes -th and -eth change numerals from cardinal
to ordinal, as in six/sixth and sixty/sixtieth. These are all essen-
tially grammatical arrangements.
But -th can also change an adjective into a noun, as in
wide/width, long/length and deep/depth. In growth, -th changes
a verb into a noun. Indeed, most suffixes in Modern English
change the part of speech instead of handling basically gram-
matical changes. For example, although -en often forms a past
participle, as in hidden, ridden or woven, it can also change an
adjective into a verb, as in widen, ‘‘to make wide;”’ sharpen, ‘‘to
make sharp;”’ and gladden, ‘‘to make glad.”’ And -er can change
a verb into a noun for the agent of the action, as in dust/duster,
camp/camper.
The suffixes illustrated above are native English suffixes. The
Latin suffixes always make changes in the part of speech. Thus,
reflect is a verb. Reflector is the agent of that action, reflective
is the adjective form of the word, and reflection is the noun mean-
ing ‘‘the process of reflecting.”

An understanding of roots, prefixes and suffixes and how they

interact can be very helpful to children in the later grades who
are trying to perfect their spelling skills. This understanding can
also contribute very substantially to vocabulary-building.
The details of how roots, prefixes and suffixes work are supplied
in Appendix B, “Syllables, Stress and Word Structure,”’ p. 299.
 Vowels / 29

Vowel Sounds and Vowel Letters

English employs sixteen different vowel sounds, all of which
must be spelled with the vowel letters A, E, | / Y,* O and U. We
stretch these few vowel letters by using special spellings for the
five short vowel sounds, the five long vowel sounds, and the six
special vowel sounds that are peculiar to Modern English.
1. We show that a vowel sound is short by putting a single vowel
letter in the middle of the syllable, as in
bat, bet, bit, gym,* got, but
2. We have three different ways of showing that a vowel sound is
long:
a. By putting a single vowel letter at the end of its own
syllable, as in
pa-per, e-ven, ti-ger, ty-rant,* lo-cal, stu-dent
By using the pattern vowel-consonant-silent-E, as in
tape, these, time, type,* tone, tube
By using a variety of letter teams (two or more letters
representing a single speech sound), as in
Long A: ray, rain, they, their
Long E: meet, meat, chief, movie, chimney
Long I: tie, night
Long O: show, toe, boat, soul,
Long U: few, due, fruit, feudal
3. We represent the six special vowel sounds by using special
letter teams (two or more ietters for a single speech sound),
as in
a. saw, Cause
b. boy, boil
c. cow, shout
d. boot
e. foot
f. her, sir, myrrh,* fur

* Notice that Y within the word spells the same sound as | in the same position.
30 / Vowels

This is the basic pattern of our spelling system. For historical

reasons, however, there are many variations on this system. The
details of these variations are presented on the individual vowel
pages. In addition, before the individual pages for each vowel let-
ter, there is a summary of the ways in which that letter is used.
 Long and Short / 31

“‘Long”’ and ‘“‘Short”’

What is “long” about a long vowel sound; and what is ‘‘short”’
about a short vowel sound? These terms, long and short, are not
arbitrary labels for the contrasting sounds of vowels spelled by
the same letter. It can be helpful to understand what these terms
really mean.
The following words begin with the five short vowel sounds:
apple, Eddie, Izzie, operate, upper
If you pronounce each short vowel sound separately, your mouth
will make only one movement while producing each sound, and
each one will leave your mouth open.
The following words end in the five long vowel sounds:
day, see, pie, toe, cue
If you pronounce each long vowel sound separately, your mouth
will make two movements while producing each sound. For each
one, your mouth will open to begin the sound, and then glide shut
to end the sound. The sounds of long A, E and | all glide shut
with a Y sound at the end; and long O and U both glide shut with
a W sound at the end. Therefore, the long vowel sounds do not
ieave your mouth open.
A short vowel is ‘‘short’’ because it involves only one motion
of the mouth—opening. A long vowel is ‘‘long’’ because it involves
two motions of the mouth—opening, and then closing. The
technical term for a two-part vowel sound of this kind is diphthong.
This contrast between the long and short vowel sounds is a fun-
damental element in the phonetic structure of the English
language. It is linked to one of the basic characteristics of the
language—that English words end with the mouth closed
whenever possible. We do have a few words that end with the
mouth open, as will be seen below. But the habit of closing the
mouth at the end of every word is extremely strong among native
speakers of English.
If the mouth must close at the end of every word, it follows that
the short vowel sounds, which leave the mouth open, cannot be
used at the ends of words. And the fact is that short vowels do
32 / Long and Short

not occur at the end in English. After a short vowel sound, we

regularly use a consonant sound to close our mouths for us. This
is the basis of the spelling rule that vowels are short within the
syllable, as in can-dy. A vowel can be short only if it has a conso-
nant or consonant blend coming along in the same word to close
our mouths for us. This is an example of how letter-interactions
work in English. (See Vowels and Consonants, p. 21.)
On the other hand, the long vowel sounds can and do come
at the ends of words, because each one has a built-in mouth-
closing glide at the end, the extra motion which makes it long.
This is the basis of the spelling rule that vowels are long at the
end of the syllable, as in pa-per.
Many of the one-syllable words which contain short vowels end
in two different consonant sounds, as in
hand, bent, risk, pond, dust
In pronouncing these words, the mouth begins in whatever
closed position is indicated by the beginning consonant. The
mouth then opens for the vowel sound, and closes for the first
of the two final consonant sounds. The last consonant sound is
then whispered, with a certain amount of deliberate effort, by
careful speakers. If you pronounce the sample words slowly and
distinctly, you can observe these events taking place.
One-syllable words which contain long vowel sounds and end
in consonant’sounds work in a similar way, as in
tame, feet, like, boat, rude

Here, the mouth begins in the closed position of the first con-
sonant, opens for the first part of the long vowel sound, and closes
with the second part of the long vowel sound. The final conso-
nant sound is then added, and is pronounced distinctly by careful
speakers. In the long-vowel words given here, it may not be easy
to observe the closing of the mouth before the final consonant
sound. But when the final sound is L or R, it is easier to observe
that the consonant is added separately, almost as though it were
a separate syllable, as in
pile, file, tire, fire, hire
These words are pronounced almost as though they had two
 Long and Short / 33

syllables, as witness the fact that pile and file rhyme with the two-
syllable words di-al and tri-al, while hire sounds exactly like
higher. Indeed, when we add the suffix -y to fire, we spell the
result as three syllables — fi-er-y.
This phenomenon is not quite so striking with the other long
vowels, or with other final consonants. But notice how close the
following pairs come to rhyming—detail/betrayal, care/mayor,
dear/seer, enroll/bestowal, rule/jewel, cure/sewer, fine/lion,
moon/ruin. These are not perfect as rhymes, but the significant
point is that, without loss of meaning, the long vowels that are
within syllables can be dragged out to rhyme perfectly with their
two-syllable counterparts.
This has great significance for reading students of any age.
When they are trying to decode a word that contains a long vowel
sound and ends in a consonant sound, they must be warned to
give the vowel its full length, and !et it close the mouth, before
trying to add the final consonant sound. This is the strategy that
will bring them closest to the meaning of the target word. Once
the word has been understood, of course, it can then be repeated
with a more normal pronunciation. The student who hurries to the
final consonant sound without giving the long vowel its full length
is likely to sound sail like sell, peel like pill, fire like far, and so
on. Such confusions often arise when students are first learning
to sound out long vowel sounds.
In addition to the single vowel letters, all of which can be long
or short, there is one vowel team which has both long and short
sounds, the team OO. It is short in foot, and long in boot. Short
OO is always followed by a consonant sound, while long OO can
come at the end of the word, as in too and zoo. The long sound
ends with a W sound. As with the other long vowel sounds, the
student must give the long sound of OO its full length before
adding a final consonant sound, as in pool and tool. Otherwise,
pool may sound like pull. The words ending in -ool rhyme with
jewel and rule.
We have two other teams that represent sounds which behave
like long vowels because they are diphthongs. These two are OY
and OW, as in boy and how. The sound of OY ends with a Y
sound, and OW ends with a W sound. Again, students must be
34 / Long and Short

careful to give these vowel sounds their full length to avoid con-
fusion, especially before L and R sounds. These sounds occur
within such words as
boil, moist, point, howl, town, shout, proud, sour
Notice how well those ending in L and R rhyme with two-syllable
words—boil/royal, growl/vowel, sour/shower, hour/tower.
As was mentioned earlier, we do have a few sounds which are
short, and yet come at the ends of words. One of these is the
sound represented by the team AW, as in jaw. This is a vowel
sound which opens the mouth with one motion, and leaves it open.
Perhaps it is because this goes against the grain for English
speakers that in some regions an R is used to close the mouth
when a word ends in this sound. In these regions, there is much
confusion of pairs like saw/sore, raw/roar, law/lore, etc.
Another short vowel sound which can come at the end of the
word is the broad sound of A, as in fa la la. This sound of A is
equivalent phonetically to the short sound of O as in hot. There
are only a few one-syllable words that end in this sound, and these
are not words of the usual sort. Instead, they are imitations of en-
vironmental sounds of music, laughter, and infant babbling.
Perhaps as a result of this, there does not seem to be any tendency
to add R sounds to these words.
But we also have a great many words in which A is a suffix and
is unstressed,.as in
soda, tuna, idea, pneumonia, Anna, and Cuba
Like so many unstressed vowel sounds, these A’s take on the
sound of an unstressed short U. Of all our vowel sounds, this one
opens the mouth the least, so it should not be too much of a prob-
lem as a final sound. Nevertheless, the same regions which pro-
nounce saw like sore pronounce Cuba like Cuber.
Finally, we have the sound of the suffix -y, as in happy, which
many dictionaries identify as a short | sound. However, in many
regions, this suffix is pronounced with an unstressed long E sound.
Indeed, | myself have heard the short | version of -y only as one
element of a marked Southern accent. Since the standard sound
of -y seems to be long E, | cannot see it as a wide-spread excep-
tion to the general habit of closing the mouth at the end of the word.
 Vowel Teams / 35

Vowel Teams
As has been seen under ‘‘Vowel Sounds and Vowel Letters,”’
p. 29, English uses a variety of vowel letter-combinations for its
five long vowel sounds and for its six special vowel sounds. We
even use one for short E.
There are historical reasons for this variety of spellings. But the
net result is that students must master this variety, and the task
can be confusing. Since there is no avoiding it, teachers must do
their best to make the task as simple and straightforward as
possible.
The vowel letter-combinations of English are as follows:
ieeOmsnontur
EA as in head
2. For the long vowel sounds
Long A- AY, Al, EY and El, as in pay pain, they and their
Long E - EA, EE and IE, as in meat, meet, chief and
movie
Long | -IE and IGH, as in pie and night
Long O - OW, OA and OE, as in show, boat and toe
Long U - EW, EU, UE and UI, as in few, Europe, due
and fruit
3. For the special English vowel sounds
AW and AU, as in jaw and pause
OY and Ol, as in boy and boil
OW and OU, as in cow and shout
OO as in boot
OO as in foot
ER, IR, UR and EAR- as in her, sir, fur and heard
At the Fortune Society, where the information and ideas in this
book were tested for ten years, we use the term letter team for
any letter-combination which stands for a single speech sound.
If the combination stands for a vowel sound, we call it a vowel
team, even if there are consonant letters in the combination, as
in IGH, one of the teams for long |. All of the above letter com-
binations are vowel teams.
36 / Vowel Teams

The term vowel team is important because many people are

under the erroneous impression that whenever two vowels come
together in a word, the first vowel is long and the second one is
silent. An examination of the teams listed above shows how
misleading this rule is.
In the first place, the rule does not give any hint that Y, W, R
or GH can be parts of vowel letter-combinations. Thus, it ignores
the vowel teams AY, EY, OY, AW, EW, OW, ER, IR, UR, EAR-
and IGH, eleven of our twenty-five standard vowel teams. If we
go along with the rule, ignore these eleven, and consider only the
remaining fourteen, it turns out that the rule is really useful only
for the following six teams:
Al, EE, OA, OE, UE and UI, as in
rain, meet, boat, toe, due and fruit
At first glance, the rule seems to be useful for EA. But, in reali-
ty, it holds true only for two-thirds of the EA words, as in meat.
In most of the remaining third, the E is short instead of long, as
in head; and in the rest it is part of the EAR- team, and sounds
like ER, as in heard.
For the team IE, the rule is true less than one-tenth of the time.
In a very small number of words like pie, the | is long and the E
is silent. But in most words, the E is long and the | is silent, as
in chief and movie.
The rule is always false for the following six teams:
AU, El, EU, Ol, OO and OU, as in
pause, their, Europe, boil, boot, foot and shout
The following nine pairs of vowel letters can also appear together
in English words:
AE, AO, EO, IA, IO, IU, UA, UO and UU as in
pha-eton, cha-otic, ge-ography, gi-ant, radi-ate, bi-ology,
radi-o, tri-umph, radi-um, gradu-ate, continu-ous,
continu-um
In all of these words, the two vowels are in different syllables,
and the second one has the sound required by the syllable to which
it belongs. In most of these examples, the first vowel is indeed
long, but that is because it is at the end of its own syllable. When
 Vowel Teams / 37

the first of the two vowels is |, however, it is long only in the root
syllable of a word. If the | is farther along in the word, it has a
long E sound, like -y as a suffix. Compare Y and | in fury and
furious.
Clearly, the rule that when two vowels appear together, the first
is long and the second silent, is a very unreliable rule. This
unreliability can cause great confusion for remedial students. It
often leads such students to read boot as ‘‘boat,’’ cause as
“case,’’ or boil as ‘‘bowl.’’ Even first-graders in schools where
reading is taught by a phonics-first approach can exhibit such con-
fusions. Many of them pick the rule up from parents who learned
it in school and passed it on when the children first began asking
questions about letters and sounds.
This rule is so widely known for three reasons. First, it holds
true for enough of the most common words so that it is very learn-
able. Second, aside from the simplest consonant sounds, it is
almost the only “‘phonics”’ which is taught in schools which em-
phasize word-memorization. And third, it is often taught even in
schools which use otherwise excellent phonics programs. Indeed
the flaws in this rule supply the chief arguments for those who
maintain that phonics should not be taught first. And at the same
time these flaws shake the confidence of those who are just begin-
ning to believe that phonics should be more strongly emphasized.
As was mentioned earlier, the great variety of vowel teams that
we do have in English makes the mastery of the vowels confus-
ing to begin with. Compounding the confusion by invoking such
an unreliable rule is hardly the way to ease the task.
As a matter of fact, however, there are patterns which can be
highlighted to bring order into the apparent chaos of the vowel
letter-combinations. In teaching these patterns, the first step is
to establish the term team for any combination of letters which
is normally used to represent a single speech sound. Then ex-
plain to the children that they need to learn to see each team as
a unit, and to learn the sound or sounds for each one just as well
as they know the sounds for single letters, like T or C.
It is also helpful for the teacher to realize that letter teams occur
chiefly in the native English style of spelling. Vowel teams do crop
up occasionally in the Latin style of spelling, as in delay, maintain,
38 / Vowel Teams

obey, surveillance, appeal, esteem, relief, approach, pneumonia,

royal, rejoice, allow, propound, determine, circus and purpose.
But in the Latin style of spelling an apparent vowel team often
breaks up, and the two vowels are in separate syllables, as in
mosa-ic, re-inforce, re-ality, pre-emptive, di-et, conveni-ent, co-
alesce, po-etic, du-et, ru-in, co-incidence and co-operate.
The next step is to work with the two teams where both letters
are the same, EE and OO, as in
see, meet, too, boot, and foot
These two teams are very easy for children and remedial students
to master, if they are taught as teams. Students must, of course,
learn two sounds for OO.
The next step is to emphasize that for most of the vowel teams,
the position the team has in the word is very important. A great
deal depends on whether the team is in the middle of the root
word, like Al in pain, or whether it represents the last sound in
the word, like AY in pay. With this in mind, the remaining teams
can be considered in groups classified according to the last let-
ter of the team, as follows:
1. Teams ending in A — EA and OA, as in
sea, meat, head and boat
EA and OA are teams for long E and long O. OA is for long
O in the middle of the root word. EA is for long E either in the
middle of the root word or at the end. When EA is in the mid-
dle of the word, it can also represent short E. But quite a few of
the words which have EA as short E are longer forms of root
words where EA is long, as in mean/meant, leap/leapt,
heal/healthy, clean/cleanser.
2. Teams ending in E — IE, OE, and UE, asin
pie, chief, movie, toe and due
When these teams come at the end of the root word, they stand
for long |, O or U. In such words, they can be considered as
special cases of the long-vowel spelling pattern, vowel-
consonant-silent-E. Pie works like pipe with the second P omit-
ted. Toe works like tone with the N omitted. Due works like
duke with the K omitted.
 Vowel Teams / 39

In a word like chief, however, since the E is not final, this

parallel is not valid. IE in the middle of the root is a team for
long E.
In a word like movie, the IE is not at the end of the root word.
Here, the root word is move, and the -ie is a suffix which works
like the suffix -y, as in baby. For the behavior of IE in the suf-
fixes -ies and -ied, see p. 161.
3. Teams ending in | or Y — Al, AY, El, EY, Ol, OY, as in
pain, pay, their, they, boil, boy
These six teams involve three complementary pairs, AI/AY,
EI/EY and OI/OY. In each pair, the team ending in | is for the
middle of the root word, while the team ending in Y is for the
end of the root.
The AI/AY and EI/EY pairs both represent the long A sound.
This sound is termed long because two motions of the mouth
are needed to pronounce it. (See “ ‘Long’ and ‘Short,’’”’ p. 31.)
Long A is pronounced by opening the mouth and letting it glide
shut with a sound like the consonant Y. OY, as in boy, is a
special English vowel sound. This, too, is pronounced with two
motions of the mouth—first opening, and then gliding shut with
a Y sound. It therefore makes phonetic sense to have teams
ending in Y for all three of these pairs. When suffixes beginning
with vowels are added to words containing these teams, the
Y takes on a quite marked consonant sound, as it furnishes
a consonant sound to begin the last syllable: player, playing,
conveyor, obeying, royal, toying.
But it is a convention of English spelling that tne letter Y is
not used as a vowel letter inside the word except in Greek spell-
ings like gym, type and typhoid. If a final Y spelling moves
inside the word, it must change from Y to !: cry/cried, carry/car-
ried, happy/happily. The Al, E! and Ol versions of these teams
are simply examples of this rule in operation.
4. Teams ending in O. The team OO, which was dealt with above,
is the only team ending in O.
5. Teams ending in U or W—AU, AW, EU, EW, OU, and OW, as in
pause, paw, feud, few, shoulder, show, proud and prow.
40 / Vowel Teams

Here again, as with teams ending in | or Y, we have pairs of

complementary teams. Those ending in U are for the middle
of the root word, and those ending in W are for the end of the
root. This makes sense if you stop and listen closely to the
name of the letter W—‘‘double U.”’ If you take W as a double
U and the letter U itself as a single U, you can appreciate the
equivalence of these two letters. However, the situation with
these teams is not quite as clearcut as it is for those ending
inl On ye
In the first place, AU/AW stands for a special English vowel
which is not a two-motion vowel. Instead, it is a pure vowel
sound, which opens the mouth and leaves it open. This is un-
comfortable for English speakers, with the result that in many
regions an R sound is added to words ending in this sound.
Then there can be much confusion between pairs of words like
saw and sore, paw and pour, or law and lore.
The remaining teams in this group, however, represent long
U, long O, and the special English vowel sound of cow. All
of these are two-motion vowel sounds, and all of them end with
a W sound. When suffixes beginning with vowels are added
to these words, the W sound goes off with the suffix, furnishing
a consonant sound to begin the last syllable, as in chewing,
fewer, showing, plowing, avowal, shower and towel.
A peculiarity of the teams ending in W is that they often appear
in the middle of a root word, especially before final N or final
L, as in dawn, crawl, strewn, own, bowl, down and growl.
AW can also appear before K, as in hawk and awkward. And
OW as in cow can appear before D, as in crowd and powder.
But if there is a second consonant after the N, the W becomes
U, as in jaunt, launch, pound and count.
It should also be noticed that OW occurs fairly frequently with
the long O sound as a suffix, as in pillow and follow.
Finally, there is one more point to be noticed about the OU/OW
teams. Although OW has two regular sounds, it is the most
reliable vowel team in the language. OW appears in 253 words,
about half of them with the long O sound, and the rest with
the sound of cow. Of the 253 words, only one, the word
 Vowel Teams / 41

knowledge, has OW with any other sound, and since the sound
of the root word know echoes for us in the background of the
word knowledge, we are hardly aware of this abnormality.
OU, on the other hand is the most unreliable of all our vowel
teams. Almost all the other vowel teams have exceptional
sounds in an occasional word, as in said, sew, great and choir.
But although OU has its normal sound, as in shout, in 279
words, and in a few of the OUGH words, and its long O sound
in 37 words, it also appears with other sounds in sizeable
groups of words. It has the sound of OO, as in boot, in soup
and 36 other words. Before R and a different consonant, it
sounds like ER, as in journey. This involves 49 words. And it
sounds like short U in young and 25 other root words, and also
in the 350 adjectives formed by the suffix -ous, as in famous
and tremendous.
. Teams ending in R — ER, IR, UR and EAR.-, as in
her, sir, fur and heard
All four of these vowel teams represent the special English
vowel sound of ER. EAR- represents this sound only when the
R is followed by a different consonant letter, as in learn, pearl,
early, hearse and earth.
All of the others can come at the end of the word, and -er is
very heavily used as a suffix. They occur mainly in root words
before other consonants, as in curb, bird, serf, urge, clerk,
girl, firm, turn, chirp, nurse, hurt, curve, person and circus.
(See ‘‘The Letter R,”’ p. 216 and ‘‘Homonyms and Other
Optional Spellings,’ p. 65.)
. Teams ending in GH
The only real team ending in GH is IGH as in night. IGH is
a team for long |. It occasionally occurs at the end of the root
word, as in high, but it occurs mainly in root words that end
in T, as in light, sight, bright, slight, etc. Here the GH part of
the team is the only indication of a long vowel sound.
One might argue that AIGH, EIGH and AUGH, as in straight,
weigh, freight, caught, daughter, and a few other words should
also be considered as teams. However, in these words, tne
 42 / Vowel Teams ‘

Al, El and AU all have their normal sounds. The GH is merely

a written relic of an obsolete consonant sound. Since the GH
has no special effect on the vowel sounds, it seems overly fussy
to identify these combinations as special vowel teams.
OUGH, however is a different matter. In most words contain-
ing OUGH, the GH itself is silent. But it indicates a variety of
sounds for the OU teams.
Only 38 words contain this team. These words include the
following 23: through, where the team represents the long OO
sound; bough, doughty, drought and slough (a marsh), where
the OU has its normal sound as in shout; though, dough,
borough, furlough and thorough, where the team has a long
O sound; enough, rough, tough and slough (what a snake
does with its skin), where the team is for -uff; cough, where
it represents -auf; and ought, bought, brought, fought,
nought, sought, thought and wrought, where the team
represents an AU sound. The remainder of the 38 OUGH words
are longer forms of those already listed, like although,
thoroughfare, roughen, thoughtless and overwrought.
OUGH thus represents six different sounds randomly scattered
among 23 basic words. At the Fortune Society, we teach that
OUGH is a team that should be seen as a unit. But we also
teach that it is a wild team (like a wild card in a card game).
We advise students not to try to learn any specific sound for
OUGH, but to sound out the other letters in the word and let
context suggest the appropriate sound for the OUGH.
The vagaries of OUGH are favorite grounds of complaint
among people who believe that phonics is too complicated to
be useful. But it is the experience of teachers who rely on
phonics that OUGH creates very little problem. It occurs in so
few words, and its variability makes it so noticeable, that
children who know the regular phonics handle it easily.
The above analysis of English vowel teams does not, of course
reflect the order in which the various teams should be taught. You
should stick to the order of presentation reflected in the phonics
materials you are using. Different programs present the teams in
different orders. In general, they do the sensible thing, and bring
 Vowel Teams / 43

in first the ones which appear most frequently in the vocabulary

of children. But it is hoped that the analysis here will help teachers
to integrate new teams with more familiar ones as the lessons go
forward.
44 / Silent Vowels

Silent Vowel Letters

Final Silent E

One of the devices used for stretching the Ancient Latin alphabet
to fit Modern English is the use of final silent E. The letter E is
regularly silent when it is the last letter in the word, and there is
any vowel earlier in the word. Of course, if E is the last letter of
the word, and there is no other vowel in the word, the E must
sound, as in be, he, me, she, the, we and ye. But in longer words,
instead of having any sound of its own, final E interacts with other
letters in the word, giving the reader essential information about
the affected letters. Both young children and remedial students
understand this best if you explain that the silent E ‘‘has an im-
portant job to do,”’ even though we don’t pronounce the E at all.

Final silent E does a variety of ‘‘jobs,’’ as follows:

1. ““One-job E’s”’
a. It makes the vowel before it long, as in
cake, these, bike, type, rope, tube
b. It makes a final C or G soft, as in
chance, force, sauce, hinge, large, gouge
c. It shows that a final S or Z sound is part of the root word,
and is not the suffix -s, as in
dense, purse, house
cheese, praise, pause
bronze, sneeze, ooze
(See “The Letter S,”’ p. 222, and -ZE, p. 292.)
d. It prevents V from being the last letter of the word (keeping
the V from falling over?), as in
have, native, twelve, carve, leave, groove
e. It adds length to a word containing only one or two sounds,
making the word look important enough to be a main-idea
word, as in
ore, ewe, awe
 Silent Vowels / 45

(See “Very Short Words,” p. 295.)

if In the suffix -le, it makes the letter L behave like a vowel,
as in

ap-ple, sta-ple, bun-dle, bu-gle

Notice that in the second syllable of each word the voice

comes out with the L sound.

. “Two-job E’s”’
In the following words, the final silent E is doing two ‘‘jobs”’
at the same time:
a. pace, page, rice, huge (making the first vowel long; mak-
ing the C or G soft)
base, rise, doze (making the first vowel long; showing that
the S or Z sound is part of the root)
brave, dive, drove (making the first vowel long; keeping the
V from coming last)
pie, toe, due (making the first vowel long; adding length to
a very short word)
. “No-job E’s”’
There are also a very few extremely common words in which
final silent E is doing nothing at all. These are:
are, were, there, where, gone
In are and were, the vowels are changed by R, just as if
there were no E at the end. In there, where,and gone, the
first vowel in each word is short instead of long.).
We also have a number of borrowed words, like grille,
horde, plaque, and others, where final silent E is doing
nothing in English. In the French, from which these words
come, final silent E shows that the final consonant sound
should be pronounced. In English, with our anxiety to get
our mouths closed at the end of every word, we have no
need of any special letter to tell us to pronounce the final
consonant sound.
46 / Silent Vowels “

Silent U

The letter U is silent when it comes between G and E, | or Y,

as in
guess, plague, guide, guy
In words like these, the E, |, or Y would make the G soft if they
were allowed to come right after the G. Then the G would sound
like J. (See ‘‘ ‘Hard’ and ‘Soft’ ’’, p. 50.) The U has no sound of
its own, and only serves to keep the G hard.

Final silent E, with its various “‘jobs,”’ and silent U acting to keep
a G hard, are the only silent vowel letters in English. But many
people believe that in any vowel letter-combination the first vowel
is long and the second one is silent. This rule has very little validity.
Its unreliability is discussed in detail under ‘‘Vowel Teams,” p. 35.
Here, it is only necessary to say that the unreliability of this rule
means that it is best to discard the rule completely, and to teach
children that the only silent vowel letters are the E’s and U’s
mentioned above.
 Consonants / 47

Consonant Sounds and Consonant

Letters

English employs twenty-five different consonant sounds, but the

Latin alphabet which we use contains only twenty-one consonant
letters. Worse still, three of the Latin consonant letters duplicate
the sounds of other letters. C duplicates the sounds of S or K,
as in cent and cat; X duplicates the blended sounds of KS, as
in tax; and Q before U duplicates the sound of K, as in queen.
We stretch the available letters by using letter teams to represent
consonant sounds which did not occur in Ancient Latin.
The consonant sounds and their ordinary spellings are as
follows:
/b/* as in boy /t/ asin top
/d/ as in dog /vi_ as in vine
/fi as in fire /w/ as in wing
/g/ as in goat /y/ asin yard
/h/ as in hand /z/ asin zebra
/\/ asin jump or gym Ich/ asin
/k/ as in cat or king children
/\/_ as in leaf /sh/ as in ship
/m/ as in man /th/ as in this
/n/ as in nest /th/ as in thing
/p/_ as in pig /wh/ as in when
/r/ asin ring /zh/ as in vision
/s/_ as in sit or cent /ng/ as in long
These are the basic spellings of our consonant sounds. For
reasons connected with language history, there are variations on
these spellings. The details of these variations are presented in
the individual consonant pages. The variations are most numerous
for the letters C, G, H, L, P, R, S, T, W and Y. Before the individual
ABC pages for each of these letters, there is a summary of the
ways in which the letter is used.
* Slashes enclosing a small letter mean ‘‘the sound of’’ that letter.
48 / Unvoiced, Voiced and Nasal

Unvoiced, Voiced and

Nasal Consonants

Consonant sounds are pronounced by closing the mouth and

restricting the voice, or interrupting it completely. This is what
makes them different from the vowel sounds, which are pro-
nounced by opening the mouth and letting the voice come out free-
ly. But a slight use of the voice does accompany some of the con-
sonant sounds.
The consonant sounds differ among themselves according to
the degree to which the voice is used in pronouncing them.
A consonant sound is unvoiced when the voice is not used at
all in pronouncing the sound, and only the breath is used. Students
get this idea best if they are told to whisper the consonant sound.
The P sound is an example of an unvoiced consonant sound.
A consonant sound is voiced when the voice is used while pro-
nouncing the sound. Students get this idea best if they are told
to grunt lightly as they pronounce the sound. The B sound is an
example of a voiced consonant sound.
A consonant sound is nasal when the mouth is held closed, and
the voice carries the sound out through the nose. Students get
this idea best if they are told to hum the consonant sound. The
M sound is an example of a nasal consonant sound.
Notice that P, B and M all involve the same mouth position, with
the lips pressed firmiy together. By using this one mouth position,
and making it unvoiced, voiced or nasal, we pronounce three
distinctly different sounds, as in pat, bat, mat, or in rip, rib, rim.
The table of consonants on the opposite page shows which con-
sonants have which type of sound.
 Unvoiced, Voiced and Nasal / 49

Table of Consonants
Unvoiced Voiced Nasal
P B M
Rg D N
K G NG
- V
S Zz
CH J
SH ZH
WH W
TH TH
(thing) (this)
H R
L
7;

It is sometimes helpful for students to understand these dif-

ferences among consonant sounds, especially in connection with
voiced and unvoiced TH, and in connection with L and R. Tne con-
sonant sounds L and R are so heavily voiced in English that prob-
lems result, especially when these consonant sounds follow a
vowel sound. (See ‘‘The Letter L,’’ page 170, and ‘‘The Letter R,”’
page 216.)
50 / Hard and Soft

Hard and Soft C and G

The terms hard and soft apply to the letters C and G. When
C is soft it represents the same sound that S represents. When
G is soft, it represents the same sound that J represents. Hard
C represents the same sound as K, and hard G represents the
first sound in goat.
Both of these letters are soft before the letters E, |or Y, asin
center, city, ice, icy and general, giant, cage, cagy
When C or G appears anywhere else, it is hard, as in
cat, cot, cut, clap, crib, pack, fact, accent, plastic,
gas, got, gun, glass, grass, signal, magma, big

These are examples of letter-interactions. The details of how

C and G work are given in the summary for the letter C, page 89,
and in the summary for the letter G, page 132, and on the individ-
ual pages for C and G.
The point to be made here is that C and G are the only letters
which can be either hard or soft. This needs to be emphasized
because many people confuse these terms with the terms voiced
and unvoiced, especially in connection with the two sounds
represented by TH.
TH is voiced in this and unvoiced in thing. (See Unvoiced,
Voiced and Nasal Consonants, p. 48.) These two sounds are pro-
nounced with the same mouth position. The difference between
them depends on whether or not the voice is involved in the pro-
nunciation. The difference has nothing to do with hardness or soft-
ness, and E, | and Y have no effect on how TH is pronounced.
The terms hard and soft need to be reserved strictly for C and
G. Remedial students are often confused about these terms. Until
this confusion is straightened out, they do not make much progress
either with C or with G or with TH.
 Consonant Teams / 51

Consonant Teams

Modern English has 25 different consonant sounds, whereas the

Ancient Latin alphabet which we use has only 21 consonant letters.
In order to stretch this alphabet to fit the English language, we
use a number of consonant letter teams for the extra consonant
sounds. We also use a number of special teams for consonant
sounds at the end of root words.
1. Teams for Special English Consonant Sounds
Children and remedial students must be warned that they can-
not work out the special sounds of these teams by trying to
blend the regular sounds of the two letters which are teamed
up to take care of each special sound. Instead they must learn
to see each team as a unit—two letters for a single sound. They
also need to understand that they need to know these teams
just as thoroughly as they know the sounds of single consonant
letters, like T or J.
a. CH as in church, school and machine
CH is a team for the special English consonant sound at
the beginning and end of church. This is the only way we
have to represent this sound at the beginning or end of a
native English root word.
CH can also have a K sound, as it does in school. This oc-
curs in the Latin style of spelling. In such words, the CH
is a Roman attempt to represent a Greek sound which was
foreign to the Latin language. In borrowing words from the
Greek, the Romans tried to maintain the Greek flavor by
certain special spellings of this kind. In pronouncing this par-
ticular Greek sound, the closest the Romans could come
was aK sound. These words still retain the K sound for CH
in modern English. This has happened partly because so
many of these CH’s are biended with S, R, or L, as in
schedule, chronic and chlorine. Since it is impossible for
us to pronounce the normal sound of CH with these other
consonants, we stick to the Roman sound for these CH’s.
52 / Consonant Teams

CH can also have an SH sound, as it does in machine. CH

is the French team for our SH sound. CH has this sound
in words which we have borrowed fairly recently from
France. These words tend to deal with automobiles, high
cuisine, and high fashion. Our retention of the French
pronunciation of the CH’s reflects the cultural leadership
of France in these fields.
The fact that CH can have three different sounds can, of
course, cause confusion. Children and remedial students
should be taught to use the regular English sound of CH,
and try the other possibilities only if the ordinary sound does
not make sense.
b. GH as in straight
GH is a team which represented a special Germanic sound
in Old English. In Modern English, this sound has entirely
disappeared. (See ‘‘Silent Consonants,”’ p. 60.)
c. -NG as in long
NG is a team for the special English consonant sound at
the end of long. It also occurs at the end of the native
English suffix -ing. This is the only way we have to repre-
sent this special English consonant sound. Because this
sound occurs only at the end of the word, and English
speakers are not very sharply aware of final consonant
sounds, it can take students a certain amount of time to
master -NG.
One source of confusion is that N alone represents this
sound in words ending in -nk, as in bank. The regular sound
of N is pronounced by laying the tip of the tongue up behind
the front teeth and humming. -NG is pronounced by laying
the front and back of the throat together and humming. But
when we pronounce an N on the way to a K sound, the
tongue is drawn back from the regular N position, and
automatically takes on an -NG sound. This can pose a prob-
lem for children and remedial students unless the teacher
helps them understand what is going on in the mouth in say-
ing these words.
 Consonant Teams / 53

d. PH as in phone
PH is a consonant team for the sound of F. Like CH for the
K sound, this is a team the Romans used for a Greek sound
which they could not quite pronounce. It occurs in words
which the Romans borrowed from the Greeks, or in Roman
roots recently incorporated into modern technical terms.
Because PH seems like such a ridiculous way to spell F,
and because the word phone is seen on every pay
telephone booth, PH is very easy for students to master.
e. SH as in shoe
SH is a team for the special English consonant sound at
the beginning of shoe and the end of fish. This is a sound
the Romans did not have. However, the -ci-’s, -ssi-’s and
-ti-’s in thousands of Latin words all took on this sound on
entering Modern English. Examples are: politician, mission
and nation. SH itself is strictly for the beginnings and ends
of native English root words. In the Latin style of spelling,
SH occurs only in fashion and cushion.
The SH team is fairly easy for children to learn for reading
and spelling, partly because the word she is so common.
But the Latin words which use other letters for this sound
can present a problem when children begin to encounter
them in quantity in the later grades.
f. TH as in this and thing
TH is a team for two different native English consonant
sounds. It is pronounced by sticking the tongue out slightly,
and blowing across it. For TH as in this, the voice is used
with this pronunciation. For TH as in thing, the voice is not
involved. (See ‘‘Unvoiced, Voiced and Nasal Consonants,”
p. 48.)
Voiced TH occurs at the beginning of the pronouns thou
and they, and ail their forms; at the beginning of the
demonstrative pronouns, this, that, these, tnose, there,
then, etc.; and at the beginning of the definite article the.
TH as in this is for pointing words (what else does
demonstrative mean?), while TH as in thing is for main-idea
words like thumb, thank and thin.
54 / Consonant Teams x

TH is also voiced between vowels in native English words

like mother, leather and bathe. It is usually unvoiced at
the end of the root, as in path and mouth.
In the Latin style of spelling, TH is always unvoiced, as in
theology, ethics and mathematics. These Latin words
contain TH’s because the unvoiced TH was a Greek sound.
Since this sound did not occur in Latin, the Romans pro-
nounced it as T. However, on entering English, most of
these Greek TH’s went back to the original TH sound.
Thomas, Thames and thyme are the only ones we pro-
nounce with plain T.

g. WH as in when and wheel

WH is a team for the native English consonant sound which
careful speakers pronounce at the beginning of when. It
does not occur at the ends of words. WH is pronounced the
same as W-, except that WH- is unvoiced, whereas W- is
voiced. (See ‘“‘Unvoiced, Voiced and Nasal Consonants,”
p. 48.)

This sound, however, is rapidly disappearing from Modern

English speech. In most regions, it is pronounced the same
as plain W-. In these regions only well-educated people use
the special WH- sound. Young children can be taught to
use it in the correct places, and parents usually want them
to learn it, even if this pronunciation does not occur naturally
in their own speech.
But the older remedial students have great difficulty with
this sound if it is not already a natural part of their speech.
If they try to use the correct WH- sound, they soon begin
substituting it for all the W- sounds, saying such things as,
‘Tom whas going out whest whith his dad.”’
Fortunately, there is no real need to teach remedial students
the correct sound of WH. They understand the WH- words
perfectly well by sounding them out with plain W- sounds.
This does, however, pose a spelling problem. They can
master spelling with WH- if you teach them to use it only
for question words (the interrogatives), and for words whose
 Consonant Teams / 55

meanings are connected with whistling or whining noises.

(See WH-, p. 273).
. Teams for the End of the Word
In English spelling, there are a number of special letter com-
binations which are used when a consonant sound is the last
sound of the root word, as follows:
-CK is for K at the end of the root, right after a short vowel
sound
-DGE is for J at the end of the root, right after a short vowel
sound
-FF is for F at the end of the root, right after a short vowel
sound
-LL is for L at the end of the root, right after a short vowel
sound
-SS is for S at the end of the root, right after a short vowel
sound
-TCH is for CH at the end of the root, right after a short vowel
sound
-ZZ is for Z at the end of the root, right after a short vowel
sound
Examples of the words affected by these doublings are:
back, fudge, stiff, well, pass, scotch and jazz.
-K is for K at the end of the root after anything else.
-GE is for J at the end of the root after anything else.
-F is for F at the end of the root after anything else.
-L is for L at the end of the root after anything else.
-SE is for S or Z at the end of the root after anything else.
-CH is for CH at the end of the root after anything else.
-ZE is for Z at the end of the root after anything else.
Examples of words ending in these letters and teams are:
risk, leak, book; hinge, page, gouge; gulf, loaf, roof; curl,
feel, tool; tense, please, house, rouse; bench, reach,
couch; bronze, breeze, gauze
This list needs to include more words than the one above in
order to show that the single letters and teams in the second
list are used after consonant sounds, after long vowel sounds,
56 / Consonant Teams “

and after special English vowel sounds, that is, after anything
else except a short vowel sound.
First-graders learning to read with a phonics-first approach
seem to be able to take all these variations in stride. They see
words exhibiting these teams and single letters so often that
they can read and spell them with little problem.
Remedial students, however, have been so confused about let-
ters and sounds that the teams can be very difficult for them.
They need to learn the rules which are given here. A useful
mnemonic device is to identify the words that require conso-
nant doublings as ‘‘flask words.”’ The word flask ties up into
one neat bundle the letters involved in the most frequently-used
doublings: F, L, S, and K.
There are excellent reasons for the use of most of the final con-
sonant doublings. Remedial students can master the teams
more easily if these reasons are shared with them. See ‘‘The
Letter C,” p. 89; -FF, p. 131; ‘‘The Letter L,”’ p. 170; and ‘“‘The
Letter S,”’ p. 222.
In addition to general problems with these teams, remedial
students are often very much confused between the teams CK
and CH, because they are vaguely similar in appearance. The
rules and reasons for the various consonant teams can help
them sort out this confusion, also.
-VE as in brave, have, twelve and native
The only other team that we have for a final sound is -VE. This
team is used for the sound of V regardless of whether it comes
at the end of the root or at the end of a suffix.
This team is another relic of Latin spelling. The Romans never
used plain V at the end of the word, so neither do we. Linguists
differ in their explanations of this phenomenon. It therefore
seems foolish to pass on any of these explanations to children.
Just the same, children want to know what the E is doing after
a V, especially in words like have, twelve and native, where
the silent E is having no influence on the previous vowel. An
effective answer is a joking one. The V, standing up on a sharp
point is very tippy, and children enjoy the idea that the E is
 Consonant Teams / 57

just there to keep the V from falling over. Remedial student

s
also enjoy this explanation.
58 / Consonant Blends

Consonant Blends

Blends of consonant sounds are a prominent feature of English

speech. We have many places where two consonant letters
coming together in a word represent a team, as in the combina-
tions CH, SH and TH. (See ‘‘Consonant Letter Teams,” p. 51.)
We also have a number of consonant combinations where one
of the letters is silent as in KN- and -MB. (See “‘Silent Consonants,”’
p. 60.) But all other consonant letter combinations represent con-
sonant blends.
These are combinations in which each letter retains its own
sound. Consonant blends can occur either at the beginning or the
end of a word, as in
black, proud, sweet, rest, paint, help, bird, act, splash,
world
Most of the consonant blends involve two different sounds, but
some of them involve three different sounds.
Young children who are learning to read by a phonics-first
approach usually have little difficulty in sounding out the consonant
blends, either for reading or for spelling. A little bit of modeling
by the teacher is usually enough to help them get the idea of how
to slip the blended consonant sounds together in an understana-
able pronunciation.
For remedial students, however, the blends can present a major
problem because of confusions which developed in their earlier
attempts to read. They tend to pronounce the two consonants of
a blend at the beginning of a word too separately. Then an
unwanted vowel sound slips in between the two consonant
sounds, making the final pronunciation impossible to understand.
With blends at the end of the word, they tend to ignore one of the
sounds, often coming out with a word quite different from the one
they are trying to read. (Lap for lamp; men for mend.)
When they have trouble with blends at the beginning of the word,
they need a lot of modeling by the teacher, and a good deal of
 Consonant Blends / 59

coaching to help them get the blends together. For blends at the
end, they need practice in getting through the vowel part of the
word, using the first consonant to close their mouths, and whisper-
ing the last one. Although there are many more different blends
at the ends of words than at the beginning, all of them can be
handled by this one strategy.
Blends at the beginning, however, are more troublesome.
Among the ABC pages of this book, there are special pages for
these blends. They will be found among the pages for B, C, D,
FY Gr POs andy.
60 / Silent Consonants

Silent Consonants
Modern English employs a variety of silent consonants. Some
of them take part in letter-interactions, and others are relics of ob-
solete pronunciations.
1. Letter-Interactions
a. Internal Consonant Doubling
When native English suffixes beginning with vowels are
added to roots containing a short vowel followed by a single
consonant letter, that letter is doubled in order to keep the
first vowel short, as in rub/rubbed, mad/madden, big/big-
ger, drum/drumming, fun/funny, hop/hopping, fat/fattest.
But in pronouncing these lengthened words, we do not pro-
nounce the extra consonant. It is used only to show that
the vowel of the root is short. The extra consonant letter
is silent. To see how it sounds when we actually do pro-
nounce a consonant twice, compare the following: drum-
ming/drum major, madden/mad dog, fattest/hat trick. In
a phrase, the first of two identical consonant sounds is
essential to the meaning of the first word, while the second
sound is essential to the meaning of the second word. We
must therefore pronounce both in order to be understood.
But in ‘words lengthened by suffixes, the last consonant
sound of the root is needed only once, while the extra con-
sonant letter is there only to interact with the vowels and
keep the first one short.
When young children or remedial students are first learn-
ing to use doubled consonants in spelling, they often con-
vince themselves that both of the doubled consonants are
pronounced. This produces excellent spelling for a little
while. But when the lessons move on to other matters, and
the spotlight is no longer upon these words, the student,
hearing only one P in hopping, will write only one P, pro-
ducing hoping by mistake. It is best to dispell this confu-
sion immediately, instead of allowing it to become well
enough established to cause problems later.
 Silent Consonants / 64

The silent consonants involved in consonant doubling are

by far the most frequently-occuring silent consonants in
English words. There are a few others, however, which take
part in letter-interactions.
b. Silent L
In one-syllbale words containing a single vowel letter fol-
lowed by one or two consonant letters, the vowel is usually
short, as in pan or pant. But when a single A or O is followed
by -LL, the short sound of the A is changed to an AW sound,
as in ball; and the short sound of O is changed to a long
O sound, as in roll. After A or O, a single L followed by a
different consonant has the same effect, as in bald, salt or
cold, colt. But if the last letter is K or M, the L goes silent,
as in talk, calm, and folks. Nevertheless, the L is still inter-
acting with the vowel and changing its sound. In such words,
the silent L is the only indicator that the vowel has a special
sound.
c. Silent T
We have silent T’s in words like castle, fasten and soften.
These are words where the root ends in -st before the suffix
-le, or words where the root ends in -st or -ft before the suffix
-en.
In many of these words, the root does not exist in Modern
English as an independent word. For example, the root of
hustle is hust-, which means nothing to us by itself.
Sometimes the root exists as an independent word, like
cast, but that word seems to have no relation to the -le form,
castle. But whenever the root does exist as an indepen-
dent word, the T has its normal sound until the -le is added,
as in nest/nestle. Roots which take -en are usually indepen-
dent words, as in soft/soften, fast/fasten, Christ/christen
or haste/hasten.
In the longer forms, even though the T is silent, it is inter-
acting with the vowels to show that the first vowel is short.
2. Obsolete Consonant Sounds
In the following consonant combinations, one letter has its
62 / Silent Consonants

normal sound, while the other is silent. These are not examples
of letter-interactions. Instead, the silent member of each com-
bination is a relic of a sound which was pronounced in earlier
times.
a. KN- as in knife

K is always silent before N at the beginning of a root word.

(See KN-, p. 169.) In related German words, the K is still
pronounced to this day. Most of these words have mean-
ings referring to shapes like knees or knuckles, or to things
done by knees or knuckles.
. WR- as in write
W is always silent before R at the beginning of a root word.
(See WR-, p. 276.) All of these words have meanings related
to twisting, as in wring, wrestle or wry. Even writing is a
process of making twisty lines.
. GN as in gnat, reign, and sign
G is silent before N either at the beginning or end of the
word. Where the root ends in GN, and native English suf-
fixes are added, the G remains silent. Before Latin suffixes,
however, the G takes on its regular sound, and makes the
first vowel short, as in sig-nal and inter-reg-num. (See GN,
p. 142.)
. MB and MN as in lamb and autumn
After M, B and N are silent at the end of the root word. But
in longer forms, the B or N often has its usual sound, as
in crumb/crum-ble, condemn/condem-nation. (See MB,
MN, p. 178.)
. GH as in straight
Old English employed a German consonant sound which
we no longer use. It can be heard at the end of the name
of the composer, Johann Sebastian Bach. In Old English,
this sound was represented by the consonant team GH. But
on the way into modern English, this sound completely
disappeared, and the Vowels before it became long,
regardless of what sounds they had had earlier. Examples
are light, eight and though. The confusions of this change,
 63 / Silent Consonants

however, are reflected in the variety of vowel sounds which

we now have for OUGH. There was one Old English dialect
in which these GH’s became F’s instead of disappearing
entirely. A few survivals of this dialect remain in Modern
English, as in laugh and enough, where the vowels came
out with short vowel sounds.
3. Individual Silent Consonants

a. H as in hour, exhibition, ghetto, rheumatism and oh

H at the beginning of the syllable usually represents the first
sound in hat. But in four root words borrowed from the
French, H is silent at the beginning. These four words are
hour, honor, herb and heir. We also have quite a group of
other words based on these four words like hourly,
dishonesty, herbal and heiress, where the H is also silent.

We also have a few silent H’s after the prefix ex-, as in

exhibit. After other prefixes, however, the same H is pro-
nounced, as in inhibit and prohibit. There are also a few
other words where H is silent because it is inconvenient to
pronounce.
H is silent after G at the beginning of the syllable. In two
of these words, ghetto and spaghetti, the silent H is inter-
acting with the other letters to keep the G from being soft
before an E. The remaining words beginning with GH are
all native English words expressing the scary aspect of the
spirit world. Examples are ghost, ghoul and ghastly.
After R at the beginning of the word, H is silent, as in Rhode
Island. These are remnants of Latin spellings for borrowed
Greek words. There are very few of these words.
Finally, after a vowel, H is always silent. The words involved
are chiefly exclamations or hesitation sounds, like ah, eh,
oh and uh.
b. P as in pneumonia, Psalms and pterodactyl
P is always silent at the beginning of the word if the conso-
nant after it cannot be blended with the P. These, again
are Greek spellings. Consonant blends of this kind were
64 / Silent Consonants

pronounced in Greece, but the Romans could not handle

them any better than we can, so the P’s have been silent
from Roman times on.
4. Scholarly Insertions
Finally, there are a few words in which scholars of the Eigh-
teenth Century inserted silent consonant letters in words where
they felt they belonged. This was a time when the history of
the English language was just being discovered, and scholars
were fascinated by the relationships between English and
earlier languages.
Examples of such silent letters are the B in debt, the C in mus-
cle, and the S in island. The scholars noticed B’s in earlier
forms of the word debt, and the B which we still pronounce
in debit, and decided that debt really needed a B. For muscle,
they felt that the C of muscular was needed. For the S in
island, they reached back over many centuries, and lifted the
S from the Latin word insula (which does, after ali, survive in
our word peninsula). Roughly a dozen such scholarly inser-
tions have become frozen into words, and survive in our
modern spelling. All of these words appear as exceptions on
the consonant pages for whatever silent consonant they
contain.
 Homonyms / 65

Homonyms and Spelling Options

One of the chores that teachers face is the task of helping
children with homonyms, words which sound exactly alike, but
have different meanings and different spellings. Examples are:
sail/sale, here/hear, right/write, road/rode, fur/fir
cent/sent, vane/vain/vein, hall/haul
Children who are being taught with a phonics-first approach can
sound these words out easily, and context automatically suggests
the correct meaning of whichever one appears in a sentence. But
in writing, the homonyms can present a problem.
In general, spelling should be a matter of pronouncing a word
and putting down the letters which will guide the reader to pro-
nounce the same thing. But when the word is a member of a
homonym pair, the task is not quite this straight-forward. The
meaning of the written result will depend not only on the sounds
prescribed for the reader to pronounce, but also on which option
has been used in representing the sounds.
When children or remedial students first encounter this problem,
they can find it difficult. Beginners try to avoid making mistakes,
and remedial students are so terrified of mistakes that they will
hesitate indefinitely, rather than run any risks.
Teachers need to realize that inexperienced readers have not
yet read widely enough to have built up clear mental images of
how the different members of a homonym pair should look. She
should help the children realize this, too, and encourage them to
experiment with the possibilities. The children will soon find that
once they see both options down in black and white on the paper,
they can tell which one is needed for their immediate purpose.
Even remedial students find this to be true.
This problem, of course, extends far beyond the homonyms.
Neat and sleep, for instance are words which have no homonyms.
Yet each has only one correct spelling. For these words, also,
children should be encouraged to try both spelling options, and
wait until they have both down in black and white to decide which
one looks better. If they do this consistently, they will soon become
66/ Homonyms

so sure of the right spellings that they will no longer have to

experiment with the more frequently-used words. But they should
still be encouraged to experiment whenever they are not sure of
a word, until all of them have been mastered.
What children really need to know thoroughly, as they approach
the end of the letter-sound lessons, is exactly what options there
are for each sound. It is also helpful for them to have an idea of
how heavily the different options are used. By this time, they will
have read widely enough to have some impressions of their own
about this. But they can be fascinated by the actual facts, which
are shown in the ABC pages of this book.
Indeed, a good way to review what has been taught about letter-
sounds is to take each speech sound and ask the class to list all
the ways it can be spelled. Then have them speculate about how
often each one is used, and finally have the teacher get the rele-
vant numbers from the ABC pages, and let the class see how close
they came to being right.
 Letter A / 67

The Letter A

In English, the letter A has three basic sounds, long, short and
broad.
1. A is short when it is within the syllable, as in
tap, trap, tramp, chance, trap-ping, chan-cy, con-trap-tion
In the case of a word beginning with a vowel, A is short if
it has a consonant after it in the same syllable, as in
at, and, act, ac-tive, at-tic, ad-vo-cate
2. A is long, and sounds like the name of the letter A—
a. When it is the last letter in the syllable, as in
a-corn, ba-king, cra-dle, fa-tal, va-ca-tion, com-bi-na-tion
(But in the Latin style of spelling, these A’s are often short,
as in Ca-bin, or-ga-nic, re-a-li-ty.)
b. In the spelling pattern A__E, as in
bake, cane, dare, be-have, se-date, con-gre-gate
In the letter groups -ANGE and -ASTE, A is also long, as
in change and paste.
c. In the vowel teams AY and Al, as in
ray, day, stay, de-lay, dis-play, at the end of the root word,
and in
rain, chair, stain, pail, con-tain, pre-vail, within the root
word
3. Broad A has the same two sounds as short O in hot and dog.
(In some regions, these sounds are the same, while in others
they are different.)
a. Broad A has the same sound as the O in hot —
1) When it is the very last letter in the word, as in fa la la
2) When the short sound is changed by final R, or by R
followed by a different consonant sound, as in
car, cart, car-ton, car-na-tion
68 / Letter A . %

But if the next sound is a vowel, it will capture the R

sound, and leave the A unchanged, as in
car-ry, bar-rel, pa-ra-graph, da-ring
3) When the short sound is changed by final LM, as in
calm, palm, psalm
4) When the short sound is changed by a W sound before
the A, as in
wash, swab, squat, quan-ti-ty
The broad A sound of WA is changed to a long O sound
by final R, or by R followed by a different consonant
sound, as in
war, warm, quart, war-den
(Compare the sounds of war and wore.)
b. Broad A has the sound of short O in dog —
1) When the short sound is changed by final LL, or by L
followed by a different consonant sound, as in
ball, bald, salt, talk, al-ways, fal-ter, bal-sam
But if the next sound is a vowel, it will capture the L
sound, and leave the A unchanged, as in
al-ley, gal-lant, re-a-li-ty, wha-ling
And on the Latin side of English, A often remains short,
even before L plus a different consonant, as in tale and
cal-ci-um
2) In the vowel teams AW and AU, as in
paw, jaw, hawk, awk-ward, crawl, yawn, aw-ning, at
the end of the root word, and before K, L, or N, and in
cause, caught, haul and ap-plaud, within the root
word
This sound is usually counted as one of the six special
vowel sounds of English. (See ‘‘Vowel Sounds and Vowel
Letters,’ page 29.)
Unstressed A
Like the sounds of most English vowels, the sounds of A are
 Letter A / 69

muffled beyond recognition in the syllables which are the most

hurried, and are therefore the least stressed. This can happen to
any A spelling, as in
fi-nal, dis-tant, a-lone, de-moc-ra-cy, pi-rate, o-range,
cer-tain, so-da, dol-lar, up-ward, he-rald, res-tau-rant
Schwa™* is usually used by dictionaries to respell the vowel
sounds of these unstressed syllables.

The letter A forms the second member of the vowel teams EA

and OA. (See ‘The Letter E,”” page 104, and ‘‘The Letter O,”’ page
182.)

* In dictionaries, schwa look like this: 9.

70/LongA
See also:
ASE pas
Foreign A, p
A as in acorn
Exceptions:

Unstressed any
many
baby taking along
(short E)
bacon named away
water
paper races across
papa
table later about (broad A)
April potato around

Unstressed
shaken agent located
basin daring cinnamon
cable labor dependable
famous volcano theater
patient quotation primary

Unstressed
alien oasis chaotic
blazon creative deplorable
matrix erasure convalescent
scathing pollination supremacy
vagrant complacency instability

A is a vowel letter. It is long in a syllable that ends in A. When

there is a single consonant letter between vowels, the first vowel
is long before the native English suffixes, and certain Latin suf-
fixes. The vowel is often long before Latin suffixes when there
is an R- blend between vowels, as in April.

1121 words have long A in a stressed syllable, where the vowel

sound is clear.

143 words have long A in an unstressed syllable, where the

vowel sound is often muffled.

This count excludes words like taking, where the native

English suffix simply changes the word’s form.
 Short A / 71
See also:
WA, p. 271
Foreign A, p. 86
A as in apple
Exceptions:
what Unstressed
father
am asking admit
mamma
(broad A) and daddy woman
can fatter giant
bass
chamber had quacked finally
ancient dance standing important
cambric
cambridge Unstressed
champagne
(long A) ranch athlete general
valve demand approach
forecastle
(silent A)
flat relapse urban
cattle volcanic adventure
Arkansas
rather reality defendant
(AS = AW)

Unstressed
ban vanquish campaign
wrath transfer accessible
vat mortality bacteriology
flax dissatisfy continental
tact agriculture severance

A is a vowel letter. It is short in a syllable that ends with a con-

sonant letter. When there are two consonants between vowels,
the first vowel is almost always short. In many of the long, Latin
words, the first vowel is short even when there is only one con-
sonant between vowels, as in volcanic.

2616 words have A before a consonant in a stressed syllable,

where the short A sound is clear.

2040 words have A before a consonant in an unstressed

syllable, where the vowel sound is often muffled.
72 / Broad A

See also:
AH, p. 74

A as in fa la la Short O, p.
WA-, p. 271
Foreign A, p

Unstressed
Exceptions:
tra la la Linda banana
the article a
ha ha Martha camera
(long if stres
aha Anna umbrella muffled if
zebra gorilla unstressed
extra idea father
mamma
Unstressed water
data gardenia papa
soda
(broad Aw
tuna asthma algebra the word)
Ira comma formula
China cobra bacteria
Austria area operetta

Unstressed
schwa larva retina
bra fauna ammonia
Omaha stamina pyromania
enigma schizophrenia
orchestra vendetta

A is a vowel letter. It is broad when it is the very last letter in

the word. Within the word, the same sound is spelled by the letter
O, as in hot.

Only 9 words have A at the end in a stressed syllable, where

the broad A sound is clear.

233 words have A at the end in an unstressed syllable, where

the vowel sound is muffled.
 AZE k73
See also:
Ep: 110
Foreign A, p. 86
A—E as in cake
Exceptions:
are take safe airplane
(broad A) made stare baseball
have gave chase careful
comrade same place became
forbade ate cage awake
(short A)

Unstressed
grace bracelet pirate
rage salesman manage
lake prepare furnace
ache replacement accurate
fare demonstrate advantage

Unstressed
ale blockade beverage
strafe create desperate
gale overrate discourage
phrase palisade obstinate
scale disgraceful immediate

Vowel-consonant-silent-E is a special long vowel spelling pat-

tern. The silent E makes the A “‘say its name.” The E remains
silent when a syllable beginning with a consonant is added to
the word.

399 words have A_E in a stressed syllable, where the long A

sound is clear.

625 words have A__E in an unstressed syllable, where the vowel

sound is often muffled.

These words are not counted under long A, p. 70.

74 / AE, AH ; %
Exceptions:
faery

AE as in Aesop Ni:
Long E Short E
Caesar aesthetic
algae
encyclopaedia
archaeology
alumnae

paeon Aeschylus
praetor Daedalus
propaedeutic

AE is a vowel team for long E or short E. These are Greek and

Latin spellings.

This is the entire list of words containing AE.

AH as in hurrah

bah ah

dahlia sahib
pariah

AH is a vowel team for broad A.

This is the entire list of words containing AH.

 Al
/ 75
See also:
AY, p. 85
El, p. 119
Al as in rain
Exceptions:
said mail pain straight
again tail train fairy
against sail chain railroad
(short E)
wait hair afraid
aisle maid stair explain
(long 1)
plaid Unstressed
(short A)
gain contain mountain
faint complain bargain
waist failure captain
claim remain curtain
praise hairdresser retail

Unstressed
braise proclaim portrait
bail affair chieftain
faith curtail villainy
prairie prevail clairvoyant
maim ailment certainty

Al is a vowel team for long A. It is used within the root instead

of AY. Notice how often Al comes before L, N and R. In a few
Latin words, the team breaks up, as in mo-sa-ic.

271 words have the team Al in a stressed syllable, where the

long A sound is clear.

37 words have the team Al in an unstressed syllable, where

the long A sound is often muffled.

These words are not counted under long A, p. 70.

76 / -AL
See also:
AL-, p. 77

-AL as in canal bia

Exceptions:
Unstressed withal
Al royal general (orqad A)
Hal final musical
pal central hospital
gal signal medical
corral animal several

Unstressed
local total renewal
rival equal colonial
fatal metal actual
normal ideal unusual
trial special accidental

Unstressed
pedal annual geographical
dismal educational mechanical
brutal fraternal transcendental
martial immaterial confidential
glacial remedial capitalism

When a word ends in A followed by a single L, the A is short.

Final AL is a common Latin suffix.

5 words have final AL in a stressed syllable, where the short

A sound is Clear.

549 words have final AL in an unstressed syllable, where the

short A sound is muffled.

These words are also counted under short A, p. 71 and

under L, p. 173.
 AL- / 77
See also:
-AL, p. 76
-ALL, p. 78
-ALLY, p. 79 AL as in also or Alfred
No exceptions
A as in also _ Short A_
almost alphabet
always album
altogether
already
although

Walter algebra
falsify contralto
walnut alcohol
almanac calcium
almond altitude

falter calculate
palsy malfunction
walrus albino
alternate malnutrition
alderman malpractice

When AL comes before a different consonant, the A may be

broad, as in also, or it may be short, It is more likely to be short
on the Latin side of the language.

40 words have AL before a different consonant with a broad

A sound.

75 words have AL before a different consonant with a short A

sound.

These words are also counted under L, p. 173 and those

containing short A are also counted under short A, p. 71.
78 / -ALL , %
See also:
-AL, p. 76
AL-, p. 77
-ALL as in call -ALLY, p. 79

Exceptions:
all talk called
ball walk falling shall
scalp
fall salt taller
valve
hall bald smallest talc
wall chalk hallway salmon
Alps
stall calm stalling (short A)
squall palm salty half
malt psalms exalt calf
salve
balk gall forestall
(short A an
false stalk installment silent L)*

Unstressed
mall herald
alms cobalt
psalmist windfall
embalm asphalt

In these words, the root ends in ALL or in AL plus a different

consonant. A in the middle of the syllable is usually short, but
the L changes it to broad A, making it sound like the short O
of dog. Before final K or M, the L goes silent, but it still makes
the A broad. Before final M, the broad A sounds like the short
O of hot. -ALL is a native English letter team.

88 words have A changed by L in a stressed syllable, where

the broad A sound is clear.

8 words have A changed by L in an unstressed syllable, where

the broad A sound is often muffled.

*In some regions, these words are pronounced with a broad

A.

In most of these words the L sounds, and is included in the

counttor Ep 173,0n LES py 176:
 -ALLY / 79
See also:
-ALL, p. 78
-OLLY, p. 194
-ARRY, p. 82 ALL- as in rally
Except in words
like: Unstressed
Sally shallow really
calling,
taller, etc. alley gallon finally
valley palace usually
dere a native gallop alligator generally
=nglish suffix
s added to
salad valentine balloon
words from
». 78. Unstressed
balance actually realize
value normally socialist
salary idealism moralize
analysis morally realist
metallic penalize specialist

Unstressed Long A
gallant virtually palings
fatality bimetallism scaly
italicize federalist whaler
allegation dualism azalea
hospitality imperialist alias

In these words, the L does not make the A broad because the
L sound goes off with the next syllable.

166 words have ALL or AL in a stressed syllable before a vowel.

In these words, the A sound is clear.

123 words have ALL or AL in an unstressed syllable before a

vowel. In these words, the A sound is often muffled.

These words are also counted under short A, tong A, and

Ea safe, Waly Wobvetive) ash
80 / -ANGE, -ASTE ; >
See also:
=E Deel 0

-ANGE and -ASTE as in “eps dunt

change and paste Exceptions:

anger
tangerine
strange ranger pastry caste
taste stranger engaged angelic
flange
waste danger arrange tangent
angel (short A)

baste wasteful endanger

haste changeless arrangement
tasty manger distaste
hasty basting interchange
hasten exchange

chaste chasten interchangeable

grange estranged rearrange
mangy distasteful foretaste
changeling archangel

The final E is silent. It makes the A long, even though there are
two consonant letters between the A and the E. The E remains
silent when a syllable that begins with a consonant is added.
ANGE and ASTE are best considered as special letter groups.

44 words have ANGE or ASTE in a stressed syllable, where the

long A sound is clear.

Only one word, orange, has ANGE in an unstressed syllable,

where the vowel sound is muffled.

These words are not counted under A__E, p. 74, or under

silent E, p. 110.
 -AR / 81
See also:
-ARRY, p. 82
WAR.-, p. 272
AR as in car
Exceptions:
scarce Unstressed
(long A) far large dollar
catarrh jar starry sugar
(double R, H) hard. garden beggar
bizarre tar farmer coward
(double R, E) part remark wizard

Unstressed
carve scarlet custard
barb harvest cellar
charge carpet eastward
scarred architect singular
parsley department peculiar

Unstressed
arsenal disarmament vinegar
harmony carnival billiards
foolhardy pharmacy participate
departure marvelous nuclear
charlatan carbohydrate standardize

In these words, the R is at the end of the word, or is followed

by a different consonant. A in the middle of the syllable is usually
short, but the R changes it to a broad A, making it sound like
the short O of hot. AR is a special letter team.

289 words have A changed by R ina stressed syllable, where

the broad A sound is clear.

217 words have A changed by R in an unstressed syllable,

where the vowel sound is often muffled.

These words are also counted under R, p. 219.

82 / -ARRY
See also:
-AR, p. 81
-ERRY, p. 12:
-ARR- as in carry -IRRI-, p. 165
-ORRY, p. 193
-ALLY, p. 79
Unstressed
marry Harry arrive Except in wor
barrel arrow arrest like:
narrow parent arithmetic starry
carrot wheelbarrow macaroni jarring, etc.,
parrot caramel Here R is
doubled
Unstressed_ before a nat
English suf
tariff charity separation added to
barren apparent cigarette words endir
parallel character dungarees in AR.
garrison embarrassment documentary
daring comparison summarize

Unstressed
marathon honorary alimentary
parity planetarium narration
familiarity hilarious dispensary
paramount visionary popularize
peculiarity subsidiary parenthesis

In these words, the R does not make the A broad because the
R sound goes off with the next syllable.

146 words have AR or ARR in a stressed syllable before a vowel

letter. In these words the A sound is clear.

26 words have AR or ARR in an unstressed syllable before

a vowel letter. In these words the vowel sound is often
muffled.

These words are also counted under short A, long A, and

R, p. 71, 70, and 219.
 AU
/ 83
See also:
AW, p. 84
Foreign A, p. 86
AU as in sauce |
Exceptions:
aunt Paul August automobile
laugh haul author autumn
ero) caught laundry daughter
gauge taught caution naughty
(long A) because sausage astronaut
beauty
(long U) fault haunted audio
sauerkraut gauze jaunty auditorium
(OU as in pause faucet authentic
shout) launch saucer autograph
fraud applause cauliflower

clause pauper auxiliary

jaunt exhaust authorize
vault jaundice hydraulic
automatic inauguration manslaughter

AU is a letter team for the special English vowel sound heard

in sauce. It is used within the root instead of AW.

169 words have AU as in sauce.

84
/ AW
See also:
AU, p. 83

AW as in jaw
No exceptions

saw laws seesaw

paw drawn awful
crawl sawing outlaw
draw squawk drawer
straw yawn strawberry

shawl lawn rawhide

pawn brawl lawyer
squawl sprawl awkward
dawn thawing withdraw
flaw bylaw drawback

bawl bawdy catawba

brawn hawser withdrawal
gawky sawyer
dawdle

AW is a letter team for the special English vowel sound heard

in paw. AW is used at the end of the root and before final L,
N or K. Before other consonants, AW becomes AU, as in pause.
AW is a native English spelling.

77 words have AW as in jaw.

.
 AY
/ 85
See Also:
Al, p. 75
EY, p. 126
AY as in play
Exceptions:
says say away birthday
(short E) day today runway
quay pay playing highway
(long E) may stayed driveway
gray daylight railway

clay wayfarer stowaway

bray mayor hearsay
nay daybreak gangway
stray prayer noonday
gay layman photoplay

Unstressed
flay portray anyway
wayward mainstay yesterday
dismay astray Saturday
mayhem payable always
tramway causeway essay

AY is a vowel team for long A. It is used at the end of the root.

Within the syllable, AY becomes Al, as in plain.

133 words have AY in a stressed syllable, where the long A

sound is clear.

10 words have AY in an unstressed syllable, where the long

A sound is often muffled.

These words are not counted under long A, p. 70.

86 / Foreign A

In foreign spellings, A is
usually broad, as in garage
AY, AUorA A at the
within the end of the
AE syllable syllable
madame kayak pajamas
restaurant

morale yacht bravo

barrage goulash llama
mirage andante raja
promenade cayenne drama
camouflage chauffeur safari

sabotage renaissance toccata

montage gauche pasha
persiflage mauve naive
locale bayou

These words are English enough to be included in the Hanna

listing, but many of their letter sounds reflect their languages
of origin.

12 words have A__E. These are French. Some of these A’s are
short.

4 words have AU. These are French.

3 words have AY. These are French or Eskimo.

10 words have A within the syllable. These are from various

languages.

42 words have A at the end of the syllable. These are mainly

Italian or Spanish.
 B / 87
See also:
B, p. 88
MB,
p. 178
B as in bat
Exceptions:
doubt ball better begin
debt big bunny baby
subtle bear Billy birthday
(silent B)
tub rubber bubble
job grabbing table

beak bashful barometer

booth starboard laboratory
curb boyish probable
bulb oblong biography
knob describe inhabit

berth biceps bourgeoisie

ban bisect beneficial
subside absorb collaborate
bailiff belated backgammon
forbade submerge subterranean

B is aconsonant letter for the first sound in bat and the last sound
in tub.

2339 words have B as in bat.

88 / B Blends
See also:
-LE, p. 175

B as in bright and blue

-RE, p. 220

brown brushes brother

break broken umbrella
brick bringing library
black blinked blanket
blow blazing problem

branch braided brilliant

breath brimming celebrate
bruise bridegroom broccoli
bleat blotter gambling
blind obliged blizzard

bleak bromide cerebral

brunt abridge celebrity
brazen calibrate libretto
blarney blaspheme bludgeon
sublime blemish obligatory

BR- and BL- are consonant blends. The blend sometimes splits
up between vowels, as in problem. If the blend splits, the B
makes the first vowel short. Very often, the BR blend does not
split, and the first vowel is long, as in library.

231 words have ‘the blend BR-.

168 words have the blend BL-.

These words are also counted under B, L and R, pp. 87,

173 and 219.
 Letter C / 89

The Letter C
In English, the letter C has two sounds, hard and soft. When
it is hard, it sounds like K, and when it is soft, it sounds like S.
As can be seen, C has no sound of its own. The only way to tell
how a C sounds is to notice the letter that comes right after it.
In the Ancient. Roman alphabet, C had only one sound, the K
sound. But as modern Italian, Spanish, French and English
evolved from Ancient Latin, these K sounds gradually went soft
before E, | and Y sounds. For this reason, C is soft before E, |
and Y in Modern English. When C is soft, it always sounds like
unvoiced S, never like Z, which is the voiced version of S.
1. C is hard before any letter except E, | or Y, as in
can, cop, cut, clip, crab, fact, accent, acme, acne,
acquire, lilacs, uncle, acre
Also, C is hard if there is nothing after it, as in music.
2. C is soft before E, | or Y, as in
cent, cedar, certain, city, cider, circle, cymbal, cypress,
dance, race, races, raced, racer, racing, racy
It makes no difference what the sound of the E, | or Y hap-
pens to be. These letters automatically make C soft when they
come right after it.
We have many words which contain both hard and soft C’s,
as in
accent, cir-cle, cycle, accident, circumference, concert
When C comes before Latin suffixes containing unstressed |
and another vowel, the S sound is distorted to an SH sound,
as in
racial, special, crucial, official, patrician, atrocious
When we need to speli a K sound before an E, | or Y, we use
the letter K, as in
kept, keep, kerchief, kit, kite, shake, shaken, shaker,
shaking, shaky, leaking, peeking, looking, banker,
asked
90 / Letter C s

C is the first letter in two consonant teams, CK and CH.

1. CK is used to spell the sound of K at the end of the root,
right after a short vowel, as in
pack, peck, pick, pock, puck
These are always words which can take the native English suf-
fixes, -ed, -ing, -er, -y, -en, etc. If such a word ended in C alone,
the C would have to be doubled before the suffix. But since
all these suffixes begin with E, | or Y, the vowel of the suffix
would make the second C go soft: ‘‘paccing.’’ To avoid this
we would have to give the second C a backbone, and turn it
into a K. Another possibility would be to end the word
with K alone. Then the longer forms would need double K:
‘“‘pakking.’’ But then, the first K would violate the rule that K
is used only before E, | or Y. It is easier to spell all these words
with CK in the first place, and not have to solve these problems
afresh every time they arise.
2. CH has three sounds in English.
a. CHisa letter team for the special English consonant sound
at the beginning of children. This sound did not occur in
the Latin language. Therefore, the Latin alphabet which we
use has no single letter available for representing it. It oc-
curs frequently in English, as in
chair, check, chill, chop, chunk, coach, peach, approach
CH is vaguely similar to CK in appearance. As a result,
remedial students who have never understood how letters
represent speech sounds, often confuse them. Once they
gain a clear understanding of the different functions of these
two consonant teams, this confusion can gradually be
overcome.
At the end of the root, right after a short vowel, the CH sound
is spelled TCH, as in
catch, etch, pitch, botch, clutch
Like the words ending in CK, these are all words which can
take the native English suffixes, -es, -ed, -ing, -y, etc. When
 Letter C / 91

the suffix is added, the inserted T keeps the first vowel short
without introducing any unwanted sound into the word, as in
cat-chy, pit-cher, hat-chet, clut-ches, et-ching
This works because the CH sound is actually a complex
sound which is begun by placing the tongue in the same
position which produces a T sound.
. CH sounds like K in words of Greek origin, as in
school, Christmas, chlorine, character, stomach,
psychological
These are words which the Romans borrowed from the
Greeks. They contained a special Greek sound which the
Romans could not pronounce. But in order to maintain the
Greek flavor of the words, the Romans respelled the sound
CH. Such words sometimes contain other vestiges of Greek
spellings, as well, like the silent P and the Y within the word
in psychological.
. CH sounds like SH in words borrowed from the French, as in
machine, parachute, chenille, chef
In French, the sound which we spell SH is regularly spelled
CH. We retain the French sounds in these words in order
to retain the French flavor. Notice that the I’s also have a
foreign sound.
92 / Hard C
See also:

Soft C, p. 93
K, p. 168
C as in cat Q, p. 214

Exceptions:
can called bicycle
cutting music Caesar
came
facade
car coldest uncle
(soft before
could scared picnic A)
coat candy circus
muscle
indict
act contest activity victual
coop instinct instinctive (silent C)
cane object objection There are 48
coast traffic almanac words which
curl medical cosmetic use K before
A, O or U.
Examples
cod access consonant appear on p. -
cam cobra coincidence
talc clinic counterfeit
peptic concoct amplification
metric extinct apologetic

C is a consonant letter which has no sound of its own. Here it

is hard, and sounds like K. C is hard whenever it is not followed
by JE slOhaye

3915 words have hard C.

 Soft C / 93
ee also:

lard C, p. 92
sI-, p. 98
ep. 114 C as in city
‘xceptions:
occer cent raced bicycle
ceptic
mice dancer scissors
(hard C be-
fore E) face circus science
prince pencil December
ello
oncerto
once except policeman
(soft
ic = GH) scene reduce ocean
rescendo cider descend conscious
(soft center ancient accident
© = SH) succeed social society
policy office Official

cede efficacy efficient

cyprus deficit deficient
jaundice ascension associate
exceed excessive association
suffice cellular appreciation

C is a consonant letter which has no sound of its own. Here it

is soft, and sounds like S. C is soft before E, |or Y. Soft C takes
on an SH sound before unstressed E or | followed by another
vowel, as in ocean and social.

These are words of Latin origin. Originally all these C’s were
hard.

1295 words have soft C.

94 / C Blends
See also:
-LE, p. 175
-RE, p. 220
C as in clown and crown
Exceptions:

cry cracking across kleptomania

cream creepy crayon (K instead
of C)
crawl crowded exclaim
class cleaned including
cluck clothes clever

crew increase criminal

crime cradle microscope
crouch describe description
cliff declare declaration
scrap secret secretary

croak ascribe clergyman

crimp crevice ecliptic
crypt discreet seclusion
clench conclave credulity
cleat cyclic nucleus

CL- and CR- are consonant blends. C is hard before L and R.

These blends sometimes split up between vowels, as in declara-
tion and secretary. If the blend splits, the vowel before it is short.
Otherwise, the vowel before the blend is long, as in declare and
secret.

194 words have the blend CL-.

327 words have the blend CR-.

These words are also counted under C, Land R, and SCR

pp. 92, 173 and 219, and 231.
 CH
/ 95
See also:
CH, p. 96

ACH, p. 247
CH, p. 97
CH as in chicken
s s

-TU-, p. 251

Exceptions: child teaches chapter

chair chased checkers
yacht ' : 3
(silent CH) church pinching sandwich
lunch changing chocolate
march children handkerchief

chunk challenge enchantress

churn chowder achievement
search chisel challenger
torch approach attachment
wrench merchant treachery

chafe surcharge chastity

char orchard charitable
chide chisel archery
launch urchin chargeable
quench anchovy enfranchise

CH is a consonant team for the first sound in chicken and the

last sound in each. This is the special English sound of CH.

382 words have CH with its native English sound.

96 / Greek CH
See also:
CH; p. 95
CHY p97
CH as in Christmas
Exceptions:

school chorus stomach drachm

anchor toothache schism
(silent Ch)
echo

Christ orchid Christianity

chord chloride chemistry
ache schedule character
scheme scholastic mechanics
chrome architect psychology

chasm epoch chaotic

chaos strichnine technique
ocher chronology chameleon
schizoid alchemy

In words of Greek origin, CH is a team for the sound of K.

Because it represents this simple sound, the E of ache can make
the A long.

Notice that Greek CH can form the consonant blends CHR-,

CHL- and SCH-.

146 words have Greek CH. This includes 15 words with the
blend CHR-, 6 words with the blend CHL-, and 12 words
with the blend SCH-.
 French CH / 97
ee also:
SH, p. 95

SH. p. 236 CH as in Chicago

5H, p. 96 2 2

chef mustache parachute

Chevy pistachio
machine

cache chiffon Michigan

chic chauffeur Charlotte
chute champagne Chevrolet
crochet ricochet Chivalry
chaperon chandelier

gauche chenille echelon

schwa chateau nonchalance
chamois chauvinism
cliche

In words borrowed recently from France. CH is a team for the

sound we normally spell as SH. Notice how many of the vowels
in these words also have foreign sounds.

40 words have French CH.

98 / -Cl-
See also:
Soft C, p. 93

-Cl- as in special Sip. 2

-Sl-, p. 236
-SSI-; p-238
-TI-, p. 250
ancient conscience SH Pes
social delicious No exceptions
precious magician
suspicion
musician

glacier official commercial

crucial malicious politician
racial efficient association
spacious socialist appreciate
vicious financial excruciating

specious depreciate emaciated

clinician judiciary
capacious paramecium
pernicious meretricious
omniscient efficacious

In these words the soft C has an SH sound. The unstressed |

before a vowel changes the S sound of the soft C to an SH
sound. These are all words of Latin origin.

121 words have C changed to an SH sound by unstressed |

before a vowel.

These words are also counted under soft C, p. 93.

 -CK / 99
See also:
C, p. 92
C, p. 93
K, p. 168 -CK as in duck
QU, p. 215

back blocks checkers

Exceptions:
neck thicker blackboard
Mac pick Jackie chicken
Doc
Vic
rock stockings bucket
(no K: slang) luck sticky tickle

trek
(no C: foreign) check nickel hickory
buck buckle mackerel
shellac
dock attack stockholder
chic
bloc wick wicked unlucky
sac wreck unlock pickpocket
(no K: foreign
forms) In Suffixes
blackguard knack deadlock hammock
(silent CK)
thwack hackney gimmick
chock grackle hummock
wrack cockney panicky
wick lackadaisical trafficking

CK is a consonant team for the sound of K. It is used at the end

of the root, right after a short vowel. This spelling is convenient,
since so many of the words can take endings beginning with
E, | or Y. We would have to use K in ducking even if the root
word were spelled ‘‘duc.”’

276 have CK at the end of the root.

18 have CK at the end of the suffix. These are remnants of

Middle English spelling.

These words are also counted under C and K, pp. 92 and

168.
100 /D
See also:
DGE, p. 102

D as in dog 5 -ED? padi

Exceptions:
did ended around add
down jumped study odd
had called different (Seep. 298
gold Daddy second handkerchief
card idi
riding Sunday handsome
(silent D)

damp decide orderly

aid disease discomfort
dare student independent
guide huddle radio
blind advance forbidden

deuce adapt definitive

dirk decade condescending
dunce donor providence
bard lurid advocate
pod cascade

D is a consonant letter for the first sound in dog and the last
sound in had.

3864 words have D as in dog.

 D Blends / 101

See also:
-LE, p. 175

D as in dreaming and dwarf

drink dresser children
draw drawing hundred
drive dropped drawer
dry dreamy dragon
drum dries laundry

drill drama draftsman

drown drowsy dressmaker
drag squadron hydrogen
drain dreadful cathedral
dwell drainage Edward

drab dreary drapery

drake drought cylindrical
dram syndrome dehydrate
drench eavesdrop hydraulic
Dwight dwindle rhododendron

DR- and DW- are consonant blends. These blends very seldom
split up between vowels. When the blend does not split up, the
vowel before it is long, as in hydraulic.

148 words have the blend DR-.

5 words have the blend DW-.

These words are also counted under D, R and W, pp. 100,

219, and 268.
102
/ -DGE
See also:
G, p. 132
A ioe Ure
-DGE as in bridge
Exceptions:

fudge lodging midget judgment

acknowledgme
badge judged badger
fledgling
judge dodger hedgehog abridgment
pledge smudgy (no E after
grudge pledged the G)

budge ridgepole drawbridge

edge begrudge misjudge
trudge budget sledgehammer
ledge fidget dislodge
lodge gadget

In Suffixes
sludge ledger knowledge
dredge adjudge acknowledGe
midge bludgeon cartridge
nudge cudgel partridge

DGE is a consonant team for the sound of J. It is used at the

end of the root, right after a short vowel. The silent E is needed
to make the G soft. The D serves to insert an extra consonant
letter so that the silent E cannot make the vowel long.

55 words have -DGE at the end of the root.

7 words have -DGE at the end of the suffix.

These words are also counted under G, p. 137.

They are not counted under D, p. 100.
 -DU-, -DI- / 103
See also:

“L,-TU-,p. p.156251 -DU- as in graduate

soldier education
gradually

educate educator educational

procedure modulate soldiery
gradual undergraduate graduation
individual grandeur cordial
schedule pendulum cordiality

assiduous sedulous arduous

credulous modulous glandular
deciduous residual undulate
incredulous residuum verdure
individualism individuality fraudulent

In these words, the unstressed |, and the Y- element of the

unstressed long U, change the D sound to a J sound. These
are all words of Latin origin.

This is the entire list of words in which | and U make D sound

like J.

These words are also counted under D, long U, and unstressed

| before a vowel, pp. 100, 257, and 156.
104 / Letter E : “

The Letter E

In English, the letter E has three basic sounds, long, short and
silent.
1. E is short —
a. When it is within the syllable, as in
pet, fled, swept, felt, sense, pet-ting, pen-ding, re-pen-tant
In the case of a word beginning with a vowel, E is short if
it has a consonant after it in the same syllable, as in
egg, end, ef-fort, en-ter, es-ti-mate, ex-tra
b. In the vowel team EA when it is within certain words, as in
head, meant, health, plea-sure
This is the only case of a short vowel sound spelled by a
team. Notice how many of these words have other forms
where EA is long, as in mean, heal, please.
The short sound of E is changed to a special English vowel
sound by final R, or by R followed by a different consonant
sound, as in
her, herd, cer-tain, per-fect, per-ma-nent, de-ter-mine
But if the next sound is a vowel, it will capture the R sound,
and leave E unchanged, as in
ber-ry, her-ring, he-rald, me-rest, pe-ri-od
The short sound of EA is changed to the same special English
vowel sound by R followed by a different consonant sound, as
in
heard, learn, hearse, ear-nest
But if the next sound is a vowel, it will capture the R sound,
and leave the EA unchanged, as in
hea-ring, dea-rest, wea-ring, bea-ring
The sound of ER as in her is one of the six special vowel
 Letter E / 105

sounds of English. See ‘‘Vowel Sounds and Vowel Letters’,

page 29.
. E is long, and sounds like the name of the letter E—
a. When it is the last letter in the syllable, as in
he, e-ven, Pe-ter, de-cent, e-lastic, se-cre-tion, pre-vi-ous
(But in the Latin style of spelling, these E’s are often short,
as in spe-cial, se-pa-rate, de-mo-crat.)
b. In the spelling pattern E__E, as in
these, here, com-pete, ath-lete, in-com-plete
c. In the vowel teams EA, EE and IE, as in
sea, see, ea-ger, ab-sen-tee, at the end of the syllable,
and in
meat, meet, re-peat, dis-creet, chief, field, within the root.
d. Inthe vowel teams IE and EY when they are in suffixes, as in
mo-vie, can-dies, can-died, al-ley, chim-ney
(Suffixes with this sound are usually spelled plain -y, as in
hap-py. See ‘‘The Letter Y,’’ page 280.)
. E is silent when it is the very last letter in a word which also
contains another vowel letter. Final silent E has the following
functions:
a. After a single vowel letter followed by a single consonant
letter, silent E makes the previous vowel long, as in
tape, these, time, type, tone, tube
b. Silent E adds length to a very short word, making it look
important enough to be a main-idea word, as in
tie, ore, ewe, awe
c. After a single S which has another consonant or a vowel
team before it, silent E shows that the S belongs to the root,
as in
dense, false, purse, house, pause, praise
Here the E shows that the S is not a suffix, as it is in dens,
falls. purrs, how’s, paws and prays
106 / Letter E ; >

d. After a single Z which has another consonant or a vowel

team before it, silent E shows that the Z belongs to the root,
as in
bronze, gauze, freeze
This does not seem very necessary, but whatever S does,
Z does, too.
e. After a V, silent E keeps the V from being the last letter in
the word, as in
have, be-have, carve, elves, leave, grieve
No language which employs the letter V permits it to be final
in the word. Unfortunately, this leaves English with no
satisfactory way to spell the short vowels in have, live and
give, or in the many words ending in the suffix -ive, such
as na-tive.
f. After C or G, silent E makes the C or G soft, as in
face, chance, force, page, change, badge, large, hinge
Many words ending in silent E can take suffixes beginning with
consonants. In such words, the E remains silent, as in
statement, basement, toeless, densely, amazement,
forgiveness, forceful, largely
Many words ending in silent E can take suffixes beginning with
vowels. Then, the E must be dropped before the suffix is add-
ed, as in
baker, tied, denser, freezing, giving, forcible, largest,
basal
But the E is not dropped if the vowel of the suffix would harden
a soft C or G, as in noticeable, chargeable
Unstressed E
Like the sounds of most English vowels, the sounds of E are
muffled beyond recognition in the syllables which are the most
hurried, and are therefore the least stressed. This happens main-
ly to sounds spelled by the simple letter E, as in
telephone, competition, funnel, basket, confident,
confidence
 Letter E / 107

Schwa” is usually used by dictionaries to respell the vowel sounds

of these unstressed syllables.
E in Teams for Other Vowel Sounds
1. EY / El, as in they. their—
a. EY spells long A at the end of the root, as in
prey, o-bey, con-vey
b. El spells long A within the root as in
eight, weigh, freight, vein, reign, sur-veil-lance
2. EW/ EU, as in few and feud—
a. EW spells long U at the end of the root or before final N,
as in
dew, grew, blew, hew, hewn, cur-few
b. EU spells long U within the root as in
deuce, Eu-rope, feu-dal, pneu-mo-ni-a

* In dictionaries, schwa looks like this: 9.

108 / Long E x
See also:
[See= fey aks}
Silent E, p. 11
E as in even Foreign E, p. 12

Unstressed
Exceptions:
me the belong
A few foreign
she begin remember words.
we elect December
be decide enough
idea remain behind

Unstressed
fever report reality
cedar beholder geology
secret belief elastic
veto prepare deliberate
legal deny appetite

Unstressed
precinct event evaporate
cathedral destroy democracy
rebate belittle inadequate
evil deposit hideous
premium cinema molecule

E is a vowel letter. It is long in a syllable that ends in E. When

there is a single consonant letter between vowels, the first vowel
is long before the native English suffixes, and certain Latin suf-
fixes. The vowel is often long before Latin suffixes when there
is an R-blend between vowels, as in zebra. E is also long in the
prefixes be-, de-, e-, pre-, re- and se-, especially when they are
unstressed.

395 words have long E in a stressed syllable, where the vowel

sound is Clear.

1476 words have long E in an unstressed syllable, where the

vowel sound is not always clear.

This count excludes words like completed, where the

native English suffix simply changes the word's form.
 Short E / 109
See also:
EA, p. 115
Foreign E, p. 128
E as in exit
Exceptions:

pretty Unstressed
ee bell February lasted
(short 1) leg November garden
men everyone children
felt” elephant longest
egg forgetting pocket

Unstressed
bet oneself moment
fence suggest insect
bench sketched confidence
neck senate amusement
press telescope turpentine

Unstressed
dwell texture orchestra
vent rectangle parallel
condense desperate incumbent
infect execute installment
confess identity concentrate

E is a vowel letter. It is short in a syllable that ends with a con-

sonant letter. When there are two consonants between vowels,
the first vowel is almost always short. In many of the long, Latin
words, the first vowel is short even when there is only one con-
sonant between vowels, as in elephant.

2485 words have E before a consonant in a stressed syllable,

where the short E sound is clear.

1918 words have E before a consonant in an unstressed

syllable, where the vowel sound is often muffled.
110 / Siient E
See also:
-ANGE, p. 80
Foreign E, p. 1
E as in rake
Exceptions:
Unstressed maybe
cake careless awake pirate
recipe
these evening complete college (long E att
like likely desire service end)
home homesick suppose handsome
cute useful excuse minute

Unstressed
brace lateness debate baggage
scene merely extreme athlete
pride tireless decline native
choke lonely compose purpose
cube lively endure lettuce

Unstressed
pave casement engrave delicate
theme hereby concede acetylene
rhyme spiteful subscribe examine
globe polestar invoke troublesome
mute tuneful induce furniture

E at the end is silent if there is another vowel in the word. This

is the spelling pattern vowel-consonant-silent-E. It shows that
the vowel before'the consonant is long. Notice that when a suf-
fix beginning with a consonant is added to these words, the silent
E remains silent.

1338 words have vowel-consonant-silent-E in an stressed

syllable, where the vowel before the consonant has a clear
long sound.

1434 words have vowel-consonant-silent-E in an unstressed

syllable, where the vowel sound is often muffled. If the
vowel is |, it often becomes short.
 Silent E / 111
See also:
Silent E, p. 110
Foreign E, p. 128
-SE, p. 233 E as in dance
-VE, p. 267
-ZE, p. 292
-ANGE, p. 80
chance curve raise
since serve leave
Exceptions: large horse choose
scarce badge nurse choice
(long A) twelve sense house
lens
(no final E) Unstressed
bulge increase entrance
piece involve balance
bronze discharge attendance
carve collapse endurance
pause convince tortoise

Unstressed
coerce espouse fragrance
conceiving condense syringe
revenge appraise obedience
response enlargement compliance
divorce defenseless perseverance

E at the end is silent if there is another vowel letter in the word.

Silent E usually makes the vowel before it long. But it cannot
do this if there are two consonants between the first vowel and
the E, or if the vowel sound is represented by a vowel team.
In these words, the E is making a C or G soft, or is part of an
-SE, -VE or -ZE team. Notice that when a suffix beginning with
a consonant is added to these words, the silent E remains silent.

825 words have two consonants or a vowel team before silent

E in a stressed syllable, where the vowel sound before the
consonants is clear.

244 words have two consonants or a vowel team before silent

E in an unstressed syllable, where the vowel sound of the
syllable is often muffled.

These words are also counted under soft C, p. 93; soft

G; p. 137; -SE,;p. 233; -SE, p. 234; -VE, p. 267; and -ZE,
p. 292.
112 / Silent -E

-E as in giraffe
grille kitchenette
belle cigarette

steppe barrette vaudeville

butte gazette comedienne
cayenne croquette silhouette
gazelle roulette etiquette
bizarre palette statuette

fosse impasse pipette

chenille cretonne coquette
gavotte finesse demitasse
rosette nacelle mignonette
layette crevasse

These are French spellings. The vowel-double-consonant-E at

the end usually shows that the last syllable is stressed. Notice
the French sounds of the OU’s and the CH.

This is the entire list of words with vowel-double-consonant-E.

Palette is the only one where the last syllable is not stressed.
 ExE / 413
See also:
Silent E, p. 110
Foreign E, p. 128
E_E as in these
Exceptions:
were here evening sincerely
(ERE = ER) Steve merely interfere
there Pete complete extremely
where
ere eve stampede precede
(long A)
scene convene athlete
allege theme compete atmosphere
(short E) scheme supreme centipede

gene gangrene hemisphere

sphere obscene acetylene
mere serene supercede
cede morpheme maganese

Vowel-consonant-silent-E is a special long-vowel spelling pat-

tern. The second E makes the first E ‘‘say its name.’ The second
E remains silent when a syllable beginning with a consonant
is added to the word.

Notice how few words use E__E. Most of our long E words are
spelled with the vowel teams EA and EE.

92 words have E_E spelling long E.

These words are not counted under long E, page 108.

 / Long EA
114 ‘

See also:
Short EA, p. 11
EAR-, p. 116
EA as in meat EAU, p. 128
also, p. 295
(very short
words)
each ears easy
read leader teapot
dear meaning season Exceptions:
clean leaves reason beauty
sea pleased teacher (long U)
yea
leaf beamed feature (long A)
beach healer disappear
feast dream daydream
flea steamer increase
deal peaked measles

lea meager misdemeanor

reap squeamish entreaty
ream bequeath unseasonable
sheaf appease malfeasance
heave feasible upheaval

EA is a vowel team for long E. It is used mainly within the root

but it can also come at the end. In a few Latin words the team
breaks up, as in re-a-lity. Most of our long E sounds are spelled
with EA or EE.

EA is also a team for short E. There is no way for the eye to

tell which sound is spelled by a given EA. The reader must be
prepared to use whichever sound makes sense in the context
in which the EA appears.

325 words have EA as in meat.

These words are not counted under long E, p. 108.

 Short EA / 115

See also:
EA, p. 114
EAR-, p. 116
EA as in bread
Exceptions:
great head heavy already
break read ready treasure
steak
deaf breakfast instead
(long A)
breath wearing gingerbread
bear weather feather

lead cleanser heaven

dread abreast treachery
death healthy jealousy
meant bearing meadow
dealt pleasant deadlock

realm steadfast cleanliness

heady zealous endeavor
masthead zealot pleasantry
homestead leathern immeasurable
threadbare forbear pleasurable

EA is a vowel team for short E. This is the only case of a letter

team being used for a short vowel.

EA is also a team for long E. There is no way for the eye to tell
which sound is spelled by a given EA. The reader must be
prepared to use whichever sound makes sense in the context
in which the EA appears. But notice how often these words are
related to words in which EA is long (heave/heavy, deal/dealt,
mean/meant, please/pleasure).

Students should not be made to learn words like bear as ex-

ceptions, even though they rhyme with long A words like care.
The R sound automatically distorts both short E and long A
sounds so that these words become rhymes.

156 words have EA as in bread.

These words are not counted under short E, p. 109.

116 / EAR- ’
See also:
Long EA, p. 1

EAR- as in learn H Short EA, p. 1

Exceptions:
earth earning early beard
earn learnt earthquake (long E)
heard earthworm
heart
hearth
earl earthy earthly hearken
pear! unheard rehearsal (broad A)
search pearly searchlight
research rehearse

dearth learned earldom

hearse unearth earthenware
yearn earnest unearthly
earthen unearned unlearned

When EA comes before R and a different consonant, the R

changes the E sound to the special English vowel sound of ER.

This is the entire list of words that have EAR- before a different
consonant.

These words are also counted under R, p. 219.

 -ED / 117

-ED as in jumped, filled

or batted
Sounding Sounding Sounding
like T like D like ed

picked robbed landed

laughed tugged traded
reached dodged nodded
baked pulled knitted
sniffed named pasted

dashed returned decided

chopped preferred discarded
addressed displeased completed
advanced relieved connected
eloped settled departed

menaced redeployed countermanded

trafficked mortified interrogated
ravished disallowed apprehended
prefixed ennobled docketed
prefaced enlightened billeted

-ED is a suffix added to verbs to show past action. The E is usual-

ly silent. It is sounded only after D and T, where a vowel sound
is needed to help the listener realize that the suffix is in use.
Otherwise, the D is voiced if the ED follows a vowei or a voiced
consonant. But if it follows an unvoiced consonant, the D loses
its normal voicing, and sounds like T.

Students should be encouraged to spot the root, and say it in

such a way as to make it mean that it happened ‘‘yesterday.”’
This will yield the correct sound for the -ED.

There is no count for these words, since they are only lengthened
forms of root words already counted.
118 / EE
See also:
Foreign E, p. 1%

(very short
2 also, p. 295
EE as in sheep words)

Exceptions:
see seeing between
feet
es g
reener Halloween heel
breeches
green sweetest cheerful (short 1)
street needed reindeer
trees sleepy sixteen

flee tepee housekeeper

beef cheesecloth evergreen
sleeve degree agreement
tee tweezers guarantee
breeze succeed sweetheart

breech decree nominee

weep genteel indiscreet
seethe redeem proceeding
reek beseech velveteen
spleen esteem unseemly

EE is a vowel team for long E. It is used mainly within the root

but it can also be at the end. In a few Latin words, the team
breaks up, as in pre-emi-nent. In a few words, -EE is a suffix,
as in nominee.

Most of our long E sounds are spelled with EE or EA.

307 words have EE as in sheep.

These words are not counted under long E, p. 108.

 El / 119
See also:
Ey, 0. 126

El as in their
Exceptions:
conceive
deceive their theirs reindeer
perceive eight eighteen neighbor
receive
ceiling
weigh eighty neighborhood
(long E after weight
C) neigh
either
neither Unstressed
seize veil heirloom foreign
leisure
weir
heir freighter sovereign
weird reign heiress forfeit
(long E) freight heavyweight counterfeit
heifer
beige
(short E)
sleigh heinous
Geiger
height skein surveillance
sleight sheik inveigle
feisty
stein El is a letter team for long A. It is used within the root instead
seismograph
poltergeist
of EY. Notice how many of these words end in silent GH, or in
kaleidoscope GN spelling N. In a very few Latin words, the team breaks up,
(long |) as in re-in-force.

Most people seem to be confused by the old rhyme about | before

E. It may be better to learn that El within the word spells long
A, that IE within the word spells long E, and that the CEl’s are
special. Rhyme or no rhyme, there are still many exceptions.

44 words have El in a stressed root syllable, where the long

A sound is clear.

9 words have El! in an unstressed syllable, where the long

A sound is often muffled.
120 / EO, OE | .

EO and OE are very unusual

Long E Short E
people Leonard
townspeople leopard

Long ES Short E Long O

phoenix jeopardy yeoman
subpoena jeopardize yeomanry
phoebe
amoeba
onomatopoeia

EO and OE can be vowel teams, as shown above.

In words like pigeon and gorgeous, EO is not a vowel team.

The E only serves to make the G soft.

Ordinarily, E and O belong to different syllables, as in ge-og-

ra-phy, cour-te-ous and po-et.

This is the entire list of words in which EO and OE within the

root are vowel teams.
 -ER /121
ee also:
RRY, p. 122
3, p. 164
JR, p. 265 ER as in her
Kceptions:
Unstressed
r
(see p. 122) mother after another
father better October
yer
(ER = long A) farmer flower everything
paper number different
rgeant
(ER = AR) under eastern government

yNcerto
Unstressed
(short E)
clerk person perhaps
herd perfect perform
nerve service overhead
jerk refer permission
certain university interview

Unstressed
serf submerge intercede
berth nervousness underestimate
fern alternative reservation
assert terminal overburden
perjury conversion supervise

ER is a letter team for the special English vowel sound heard

in her. E within the syllable is usually short. But R at the end
of the word, or R before a different consonant, changes the short
E to this special sound. -ER is very common as a suffix.

329 words have ER in a stressed syllable at the end of the

word, or before a different consonant. In these words, the
special vowel sound is clear.

1737 words have ER in an unstressed syllable at the end of

the word, or within the word, as in every. In many of the
words with internal -ER, the vowel sound is entirely lost,
as in interested.

This count excludes many words with added -er, like

greener. It includes only words like baker, with meanings distinct
enough to warrant a separate entry in the dictionary. The words
counted here are also counted under R, p. 219.
122 / -ERR %
See also:
-ER, p. 121
-ARRY, p. 82
ERR- as in berry -IRRI-, p. 165
-ORRY, p. 19

berry ferry blueberry

merry very American
cherry sheriff terrible

error kerosene prosperity

merit inherit territory
herald hysterics ceremony
heroism sterilize stationery

peril periscope period

therapy spherical incoherent
experiment numerical bacteria

In these words, the R does not change the E to a special vowel

sound, because the R sound goes off with the next syllable.

129 words have ER or ERR in a syllable where the unchanged

E sound is clear.

In words where ER is unstressed before a vowel, as in

different, the E sound is usually changed by the R, unless
it is lost entirely as in temperature.

These words are also counted under long and short E,

pp.108 and 109, and under R, p. 219.
 -ES / 123
See also:

-E,
p. 111
-S, p. 228
FED op: 117
-ES as in boxes
Foreign E, p. 128

dresses faces oranges

catches teaches sandwiches
washes bushes finishes
bridges cages villages
fixes blazes promises

cases licenses furnaces

prances expenses actresses
gashes reflexes annexes
plunges arranges drawbridges
dozes displeases advertises

lasses devices depresses

hoaxes bonuses enterprises
binges transfixes hypnotizes
lenses alleges cartridges
quinces justices duchesses

These words have the suffix -es added to them. This is a special
form of the suffix -s. The -es form is used when a word ends
in the sounds of S, Z, CH, SH, or J. The muffled E sound of -es
helps the listener realize that the suffix -s is in use.

In some of these words, like face, the E is silent in the root, but
sounds when <s is added. In others, like dress, the root has no
siient E, and the -es form of -s must be added

There is no count for these words, since they are only lengthened
forms of words already counted.
124 / EU
See also:
EWoaps 125
feud Foreign E, p. 1
FU as in

No exceptions

Eugene Europe

sleuth feudal rheumatism

deuce neutral maneuver

Unstressed
neutron eulogy grandeur
eunuch pseudonym pneumonia
pseudo therapeutic neurotic
lieutenant

EU is a vowel team for long U. It is used within the root instead

of EW. In a few Latin words, the team breaks up, as in pe-tro-le-
um. EU is sometimes a Greek spelling, sometimes a French
spelling.

27 words have the team EU in a stressed syllable, where the

long U sound is clear.

12 words have the team EU in an unstressed syllable, where

the long U sound is not always clear. However, even when
most of the long U sound is lost, we maintain the Y-sound
with which long U begins, as we do in grandeur. This is what
tends to make the D of grandeur sound like J.
 EW / 125
See also:
=U, p. 124

EW as in few
=xceptions:
sew chew grew jewel
(long O) flew screw newspaper
=W within the drew threw nephew
root: knew new review
ewd blew mew Jewish
1ewt
brew corkscrew brewery
crew dewdrop jewelry
dew skewer renewal
pew renew reviewer
stew sewer newfangled

shrew askew curfew

hewn anew mildew
strew steward sinewy
strewn pewter viewpoint

EW is a vowel team for long U. It is used at the end of the root

and before final N. Before other consonants, EW becomes EU,
as in feud. EW is a native English spelling.

It is usually true that a long vowel “‘says its name.’ But the name
of long U begins with a Y-sound which is often lost, because
it is so difficult to pronounce after certain consonants, especially
L and R. For example, the Y-part of the long U sound is clearly
heard in few, but it is lost in flew and grew.

64 words have EW for long U.

126 ‘BY. 7
See also:
AY, p. 85
Elpyatg
EY as in they EY, p. 127
Exceptions:
whey obey
hey greyhound
k ey
(long E)
prey convey conveyer ne
survey heyday surveyor Steno !)
surveying disobey
bey purvey conveyance
eyrie purveyor
abeyance

EY is a vowel team for long A. It is used at the end of the root.

Within the syllable, EY becomes El, as in their.

This is the entire list of words containing EY for long A.

 ENO AN27.
see also:
ay, P. 126
Y, p. 285
EY as in money
Jo exceptions

turkey monkey honeybee

chimney honey donkey
valley alley

barley hockey attorney

cockney jersey baloney
jockey volley parsley
galley journey honeysuckle

abbey trolley palfrey

blarney pulley journeyman
kidney parley

EY is a vowel team. In these words, the EY is a suffix. As a suf-

fix, EY sounds like the -Y of puppy

43 words have EY as a suffix.

128 / Foreign E “

In foreign spellings E varies,

as in ballet and Socrates
French Greek Other

cafe acme
bouquet
encore
rendezvous

entree acne mesa

fete beta posse
crochet diabetes andante
plateau apostrophe ukulele
chauffeur anemone adobe

negligee epitome alcalde

entrepreneur hyperbole tsetse
clientele phoebe
bureaucracy bases
indices

These words are English enough to be included in the Hanna

listing, but many of their letter sounds reflect their languages
of origin. In these words, the E at the end sounds, except in fete
and clientele. In the Greek words, there is also a long E sound
in the -es suffixes.

75 words have foreign sounds for E, ES, ET or EZ at the end,

or for the teams EE, EU or EAU.
 F / 129

F as in fan
fun funny himself
five filling before
fall feeder father
leaf faces afternoon
knife offer different

gift forgive difficult

fair define definite
fuse prefer preference
left forecast professor
craft safeguard fiftieth

fern falsify modification

brief clarify amplification
feat terrific felony
chafe preface magnificent
fend fortnight fertilize

F is aconsonant letter for the first sound in fan and the last sound

1907 words have F as in fan.

130 / F Blends ~

See also:
PH, p. 213
-LE, p. 175
F as in frog and fly
free freezing Friday
friend fresher frighten
from floppy afraid
floor flutter flower
flat flashing snowflakes

frown fraction frequently

freight refrain refreshments
flood frontier conflicting
flax flavor confronted
fleet reflect refrigerate

frail frugal inflation

frock fragrant inflammable
fret defray flexible
fluke inflict fraternize
flange fluid fraudulent

FR- and FL- are consonant blends. These blends very seldom
split up between vowels. When the blend does not split up, the
vowel before the blend is long, as in refrain and reflect.

143 words have the blend FR-.

171 words have the blend FL-.

These words are also counted under F, L and R, pp. 129,

173, and 219.
 -FF / 131
See also:
US foe alas

-FF as in sniff
Exceptions:

off huffing cuff

fluff Stiffest staff
muff stuffing sheriff
(final F)
bluff buff rebuff
giraffe
gruff scoff plaintiff
(added E)
scuff cliff tariff

chaff bailiff midriff

ruff distaff pontiff
whiff mastiff
skiff

FF is a letter team for sound of F at the end of the word. It is

used right after a short vowel. There does not seem to be any
justification for this doubling, unless it was adapted to avoid con-
fusion with the suffix -s, at a time when S at the end of the word
was written 9 and F was written t.

39 words contain FF at the end of the word. These words are

also counted once each under F, p. 129.
132 / Letter G ‘ *

The Letter G
In English, the letter G has two sounds, hard and soft. When
it is hard, it spells the first sound of go. When it is soft, it sounds
like J. The way to tell how a G sounds is to notice the letter that
comes right after it.
In the Ancient Roman alphabet, G had only one sound, the
sound it has in go. But as modern Italian, Spanish, French and
English evolved from Ancient Latin, these hard G sounds gradually
went soft before E, | and Y sounds. For this reason, G is normally
soft before E, | and Y in Modern English.
1. G is hard before any letter except E, | or Y, as in
game, go, gun, glass, grass, dogfish, fragment, signal,
bagpipe, flagship, pigtail, dogwood, zigzag, eagle, ogre.
Also, G is hard when it has nothing after it, as in
bag, beg, big, bog, bug
2. Gis normally soft before E, |, and Y, as in
germ, giant, gym, ginger, hinge, page, pages, paged,
paging, cagy
It makes no difference what the sound of the E, |, or Y hap-
pens to be. These letters usually make G soft when they come
right after it.
Hard and soft G work like hard and soft C. But there is one
important difference. When we need a hard C sound before
E, | or Y, we have the letter K available to solve the problem.
But the only letter we have for the hard G sound is G. There
is asmall group of very common words in which G is hard even
though the next letter is E or |, as in
get, give, girl, begin
Furthermore, we have no satisfactory solution for the problem
of how to show a hard G sound before the native English suf-
fixes, -ed, -ing, -y, etc. Instead of solving this problem, we
ignore it, and simply take doubled G before these suffixes as
being hard, as in
hugged, hugging, digger, baggy, doggie, nugget
 Letter G / 133

The French and Spanish also have this problem of how to keep
G hard before E, | or Y. They have a routine solution for the
problem. They insert a silent U between the G and the E, |,
or Y. This device appears in some of our words, too, as in
guest, guide, guy, plague, league, guillotine
Most of these words are borrowed from French.
The Italians, who also have this problem, solve it by inserting
silent H between the G and the E, | or Y, as in ghetto and
spaghetti.
Finally, we never use J when the J sound is the last sound in
the word. Instead, we use G with silent E to make it soft, as in
page, huge, large, forge, plunge, hinge, bulge
In page and huge, the final silent E is doing two jobs, making
the G soft, and also making the vowel long. In the other sam-
ple words, the first consonant after the vowel determines the
vowel sound, while the E confines itself to making the G soft.
But when we want a short vowel sound immediately before final
GE, we must insert an extra consonant letter to keep the silent
E from affecting the vowel. The letter we insert is D, as in
badge, edge, bridge, lodge, judge
D makes phonetic sense for this purpose because the J sound
is a complex sound which is begun by placing the tongue in
the normal position for D.
AJ sound at the end causes one additional problem in English,
in the words that rhyme with change. By all the logic of the
English spelling system, the N in change should make the
vowel short, just like the N’s in hinge and plunge. But this is
a problem that has no good solution. Using a letter team for
the long A sound ought to do the trick. But the only letter teams
we have for long A within the root are Al and El. Spelling
change with one of these would make it look like ‘‘chainge,’’
or ‘‘cheinge.’’ Either of these solutions makes the word look
as though it had the suffix -ing buried within it. This is too con-
fusing to be practical. Therefore, we have to be satisfied with
the letter group ANGE for these words. There is quite a group
134 / Letter G *

of words where -ang- indicates long A, both in one-syllable

words and in longer forms, as in
range, strange, danger, angel, changing, mangy

Letter Teams Containing G

G is a member of the consonant teams NG, GH and GN.
1. NGis aconsonant team for the last sound in long. This sound
did not occur as a final sound in the Latin language. Therefore,
the Latin alphabet which we use has no single letter available
for representing it. We use NG at the end of the root, as in
hang, leng-then, sing, song, sung
And in the suffix -ing, as in baking.
When suffixes are added to verbs ending in NG, the team re-
tains its normal sound, as in
hanged, hanger, hanging, singing, singer, longing
But when suffixes are added to adjectives ending in NG, the
G takes on the hard G sound, as in
longer, strongest, younger
Where the basic word includes a suffix, the G may be hard
or soft, as in
finger, angle, single, bungle, ginger, tangerine, angel

2. The team GH stands for a sound which was common in Old

English but does not exist in Modern English. It did not exist
in Latin either, and therefore the Latin alphabet which we use
had no single letter available for representing it. When Modern
English was first being written, the team represented a sound
like the German CH in Bach. But with the disappearance of
this sound, the GH team has become silent in most words, as in
light, straight, caught, through, though, fought
There were some sections of England where these words were
pronounced with an F sound for the GH team. A few of our
Modern English words still have this sound for GH, as in
laugh, cough, enough
 Letter G / 135

At the beginning of the syllable, GH sounds like hard G, as in

ghost, ghast-ly, ghet-to, spa-ghet-ti
. In the consonant team GN, the G is silent at the beginning or
the end of the root, as in
gnat, sign, reign, foreign, assign, benign
But if Latin suffixes are added to these words, the team splits
up, and both letters have their normal sounds, as in
Sig-nal, re-sig-na-tion, be-nig-nant
136 / Hard G ‘
See also:
Soft G, p. 137

G as in goat Exceptions:

egg
game getting garden (see p. 295)
girl given again exaggerate
gun biggest hungry (first G silent!
dog shaggy wagon diaphragm
bag going together phlegm
paradigm
seraglio
gay gadget bugle
(silent G)
gears gossip signature
gift eager vagabond
goal leggings engagement
gulf ragged regardless

goad cargo inorganic

brig gibbon boondoggle
gird triangle propaganda
girth lagoon allegory
gaunt goulash litigation

G is a consonant letter for the first sound in goat and the last
sound in dog. This is the hard sound of G. G is hard whenever
it is not followed by E, | or Y.

We also use this sound in some very common words like get
and give, where the next letter is E or |. Since we have no other
letter for hard G, we must use G for these words.

1367 words have hard G. This count includes 43 words where

G is hard before E and |.
 Soft G / 137
See also:
Hard G, p. 136
-DGE, p. 102
J, p. 167 G as in giant
Exceptions:
cage largest gypsy
43 common
change stranger orange
words like get
and girl large stages general

40 words like gym message village

tiger whose
age cottage geography
hard G is hard
before a native gem ranger passenger
English suffix, germs forging gentleman
and many like baggage
gyp hydrogen
begging, where
hard G is sponge ginger tragedy
doubled before huge suggest regional
a native English
suffix. genes genius eugenics
margarine gist genus progeny
algae gibe cogent terminology
gaol merge ingest longitude
(soft before
bilge strategic tautological
A)
G is a consonant letter. Before E, | or Y, it is soft and sounds
like J. When a J sound is at the end of the word, it is always
spelled with G and silent E.

727 words have soft G.

138 / G Blends
See also:

GU-, p. 143
-LE,
p. 175
G as in green, gloves, -RE,
p. 220

and penguin

gray grassy grandmother

ground growing grasshopper
grade growled angry
glass glider geography
glad glitter ugly

groom graceful gratitude

graft griddle aggressive
grease grocer immigrant
glue gloomy glamorous
gloat language distinguish

grief angler glossary

grange anguish negligent
glade gracious degradation
glimpse gravity topography
grime glucose regression

GR- and GL- are consonant blends. G is hard before R and L.

These blends sometimes split up between vowels. If the blend
splits, the vowel before it is short, as in progress. Otherwise,
the vowel before the blend is long, as in program.

GU- is also a consonant blend. In this blend the G is hard, and

the U represents the sound of W.

291 words have the blend GR-.

83 words have the blend GL-.

17 words have the blend GU- sounding like GW-.

These words are also counted under hard G, L, R and U

as a consonant, pp. 136, 173, 219, and 260.
 Silent GH / 139
See also:
GH-, p. 140

GH as in straight
-GH, p. 141
IGH, p. 162
OUGH, p. 203

light caught through

might taught although
fight bought frighten
right thought neighbor
sight eight daughter

naughty eighty thoughtless

weight eighteen lightning
freight weightless neighborhood
neigh freighter overweight
blight delight knighthood

sleigh inveigh manslaughter

weighty benighted haughty
sprightly onslaught

GH is a consonant team for an Old English sound which has

now been lost. In most words, GH is now silent.

165 words have silent GH.

140 / GH- %
See also:
GH, p. 139
-GH, p. 141
GH as in ghost
ghetto
spaghetti

aghast ghoul burgher

ghastly ghostly burgh

sorghum

GH is a consonant team. At the beginning of the word or syllable,

it is a team for hard G.

This is the entire list of words that have GH sounding like hard G.
 -GH / 141
See also:
GH, p. 139
GH, p. 140 .
GH as in laugh
Exceptions:

ugh rough enough cough

iGHE="'G) tough laughter

laughable roughen

slough (uff)

GH is a consonant team. At the end of the word, it is sometimes

a team for the sound of F.

This is the entire list of words having GH with the sound of F.

142 / GN
See also:
-IND, p. 163

GN as in sign
gnome reign foreign
gnaw gnat design
assign

resign resign assignment

align campaign sovereign
gnarled champagne foreigner
arraign cognac poignant
alignment

deign malign consignment

feign benign sovereignty
unfeigned impugn mignonette
gnu ensign poignancy
gnash arraignment

GN is a consonant team for the sound of N. Occasionally, it

represents a sound like a blend of N and Y-, as in poignant.

When GN is followed by a Latin suffix, the team often breaks

up, and the G becomes hard as in sig-nal, ma-lig-nant.

This is the entire list of words that have GN sounding like N.

These words are also counted under N, p. 179.

 GU- / 143
See also:
Hard G, p. 136

GU as in guest
Soft G, p. 137
G blends, p. 138
-UE, p. 263

Exceptions:
guess league

guard
guild guilty guillotine
guarantee
(GU with silent guide fatigue catalogue
U before A) vague guitar synagogue
guy

rogue guilder analogue

fugue guileless demagogue
vogue guernsey pedagogue
guile intrigue beleaguer

GU can be a consonant team for hard G. When the next letter

is E, | or Y, the U serves to prevent the E or | from making the
G soft.

36 words have GU as a team for hard G.

These words are also counted under hard G, p. 136.

144 / French G : %

In French words, GE has a

special sound
garage

rouge gendarme camouflage

beige regime sabotage
barrage lingerie
massage bourgeoisie
mirage

cortege persiflage
montage negligee
prestige

In French, G is soft before E, | or Y, just as it is in English. But

it has a special sound which is respelled ZH in English
dictionaries.

These words are English enough to be included in the Hanna

listing, but many of their letter sounds reflect their French origin.

This is the entire list of English words that have soft G with a
French sound.
 Letter H / 145

The Letter H
In English, the letter H has one basic sound, the first sound in
help. It has this sound when it is the first letter in the word or
syllable, as in
hat, hit, hole, dollhouse, childhood
In a small group of words borrowed from French, H is silent at
the beginning of the syllable, as in
hour, heir, ho-nor, dis-ho-nest
There are also a few Latin words where H goes silent at the
beginning of a syllable because it is inconvenient to pronounce
the H sound in that position, as in
ex-haust, ex-hi-bit, pro-hi-bi-tion, ve-hi-cle
Notice, however, that the H does sound in related words where
it is more easily pronounced, as in pro-hi-bit and ve-hi-cu-lar.
H almost never occurs alone after a vowel in English, although
it does occur in
oh, ah, hah, eh, uh
Notice that these are all approximations of different types of inar-
ticulate grunts.
Consonant Teams Containing H
H is the second letter in the consonant teams CH, GH, PH, RH,
SH, TH and WH. All of these are teams for sounds which did not
exist in the Latin language. Therefore, the Latin alphabet which
we use has no single letters available for representing them.
1. CH has three sounds in English, as in
chicken, school and chef, (See ‘‘The Letter C,”’ p. 89.)
2. GH has three sounds in English, as in
straight, laugh and ghost (See ‘‘The Letter G,”’ p. 132.)
3. PH sounds like F in English, as in
phone and graph (See ‘‘The Letter P,” p. 209.)
4. RH sounds like R in English, as in
rhyme, rhythm and Rhodes (See ‘‘The Letter R,”’ p. 216.)
146 / Letter H ~

5. SH has one sound in English, as in

ship, cash, leash (See ‘‘The Letter S,”’ p. 222.)
6. TH has two sounds in English, as in
this and thing (See ‘‘The Letter T,”’ p. 241.)
7. WH has one sound in English, as in
what, wheel, wheat (See ‘‘The Letter W,”’ p. 268.)
Notice that in all these teams, the H is the second letter of the
team. This observation can be helpful to remedial students whose
reversal tendencies cause them to place the H before the other
letter (‘“‘hse’’ for she).
 H- / 147
See also:
Silent H, p. 148

H as in hat

he helped history
house horses hundred
here hiding himself
have handy hungry
head hottest hello

half higher handsomely

hinge hobby however
harm habit horizon
heal behave adhesive
hymn rehearse inherit

hag hireling abhorrence

hale harlot prehensile
hart enhance harbinger
hue hoarfrost maharaja

H is aconsonant letter for the first sound in hat. It has this sound
only when it is the first letter in the syllable. When H is not the
first letter in the syllable, it is a member of one of the letter teams,
CH, GH, RH, PH, SH, TH or WH.

The sound of H, as in hat, does not occur as a final sound in

English.

796 words have H as in hat.

148 / Silent H } .
See also:

H, p. 147

H as in hour

oh honest shepherd
hurrah graham fishhook
ah John
eh

heir forehead silhouette

honor gingham philharmonic
hourly dishonest vehicle
exhaust heiress exhibition
vehement annihilate

herb demijohn honorific

herbage nihilism exhilarate
exhortation

H is a consonant letter. In these words it is silent. The words

beginning with silent H are borrowed from French. Many of the
other words have related forms where the H sounds as in herd,
prohibit, vehicular and harmony.

45 words have silent H.

 Letter | / 149

The Letter |

In English, the letter | has three basic sounds, long I, short |

and long E. We also use the letter Y for these three sounds. In
general, we use | when the letter is within the word, and Y when
it is at the end. If-Y is within the word, it indicates a Greek origin;
and if | is at the end, it is a foreign spelling (as in ski).
1. |/ Y is short when it is within the syllable, as in
bit, mist, print, quilt, bit-ten, print-ed, pre-dic-tion, gym,
sym-bol
In the case of a word beginning with a vowel, | is short if it has
a consonant after it in the same syllable, as in
it, imp, ig-loo, in-te-rest, im-pres-sion
The short sound of | / Y is changed to the special English vowel
sound of ER by final R, or by R followed by a different conso-
nant sound, as in
sir, third, sir-loin, cir-cum-stance, myrrh
But if the next sound is a vowel, it will capture the R sound,
and leave the | sound unchanged, as in
mir-ror, ir-ri-gate, spi-rit, ti-ring, sy-rup, ty-rant
2. |/Y is long and sounds like the name of the letter | —
a. When it is the last letter in the syllable, as in
1, bi-ting, i-de-a, de-ci-ded, ty-rant
(But in the Latin style of spelling, these | / Y’s are very often
short, as in cli-nic, mi-ne-ral, de-ci-sion, phy-sics.)
b. In the spelling pattern |__E, as in
bite, five, tire, de-cide, spe-cia-lize, type, a-na-lyze
c. In the vowel team IGH, as in high, night, right
d. In the letter groups -IND, -ILD and -IGN, when they are at
the end of the root, as in
find, kind, wild, child, sign, align
150 / Letter | *

But in longer forms of these words, the | often goes short,

as in
kin-dred, wil-der-ness, chil-dren, sig-nal, ma-lig-nant
Notice that when the | goes short, the G of -IGN sounds.
e. When it is spelled -Y or -IE at the end of a root word, as in
by, cry, fly, sky, re-ply, de-ny, sa-tis-fy, tie, pie
And when IE is substituted for the -Y of the root, as in
flies, cried, re-plies, de-nied, sa-tis-fied
f. When 1/ Y before another vowel is in a root syllable, as in
li-on, ri-ot, sci-ence, tri-al, bi-o-lo-gy, pi-o-neer, re-li-a-ble,
ap-pli-ance, cy-a-nide
And when | before another vowel is in the stressed syllable
of a complex suffix, as in
va-ri-e-ty, so-ci-e-tal, psy-chi-a-trist
3. | and Y represent a long E sound—
a. When Y or IE are suffixes, and in the suffix ly, as in
can-dy, hap-py, his-to-ry, li-bra-ry, a-bi-li-ty, quick-ly,
slow-ly, fun-da-men-tal-ly
b. When |/ Y is before another vowel in a suffix, as in
hap-pi-er, ra-di-o, pe-ri-od, fu-ri-ous, me-di-um, va-ri-ous,
em-bry-o
This type of | corresponds very closely to the suffix -Y of
such words as hap-py and fu-ry. But it often sounds more
like the consonant Y of can-yon, as in
mil-lion, cham-pion, a-lien, com-pa-nion
In a great many words, this Y-sound of a suffix containing
| before & vowel distorts the sound of the consonant which
the | captures from the previous syllable. It can turn S or
T sounds into SH sounds, and Z sounds into ZH sounds,
as in

mis-sion, com-pul-sion, ra-cial, na-tion, par-tial, vi-sion,

oc-ca-sion, con-fu-sion, gla-zier
For the behavior of suffixes beginning with | before a vowel,
 Letter | / 151

see pages 322 to 325, under ‘The Latin Style of Spelling,’’

in Appendix B.
c. In the vowel team -IE- when it is within the root word, as in
chief, field, piece, fierce
d. In foreign spellings. In languages other than English, | usual-
ly represents the sound of our long E. In borrowed words,
we often imitate the foreign pronunciation, and the foreign
sound of the I’s can persist for a long time after the word
becomes fully English, as in
ski, antique, machine, police, concertina
Unstressed |/ Y
Unlike the sounds of other English vowel letters, the sounds of
|/ Y are fairly distinct even in unstressed syllables. When the next
letter is a consonant the | / Y remains detectably long or short,
depending on how it would sound if it were stressed, as in
i-de-a-lism, li-bra-ri-an, ta-king, in-ci-den-tal-ly, pro-hi-bi-tion,
psy-cho-lo-gy, cryp-to-gra-phy
As was outlined above, when Y, and | before a vowel, are
unstressed because they are in suffixes, they have a distinct long
E sound. Some linguists (and many dictionaries) identify this as
a short | sound. But using a long E sound for these | / Y’s seems
to be the most useful approach for beginners and remedial
students who are attempting to sound out a word that looks un-
familiar. In any case, the difference in sound between unstressed
long E and unstressed short | is nearly undetectable to the layman,
and the student reader is most certainly a layman.
|/ ¥ in Teams for Other Vowels
| / Y is the second member of the vowel teams Al / AY, El / EY,
Ol / OY and UI. (See “‘The Letter A,” p. 67; ‘The Letter E.” p. 104;
“The Letter O,” p. 182; and ‘‘The Letter U,” p. 253.)
152 / Long |
See also:
-l, p. 154
Foreign I, p. 1
l as in ivy Long Y, p. 28

Exceptions:
Unstressed
business
rider tiger direction (silent |)
biting spider idea
shiny siren biography
whiter bicycle rhinoceros
timer surprising

Unstressed
twilight title librarian
spiral irony biology
slimy primary ideal
cider diary gigantic
driver society identity

Unstressed
bison likable admiral
guidance revival vibration
pilot reprisal itinerary
stipend refinery diameter
tribal advisable ironic

| is a vowel letter. It is long in a syllable that ends in |. When

there is a single consonant letter between vowels, the first vowel
is long before the native English suffixes, and certain Latin suf-
fixes. The vowel is often long in Latin words when there is an
R-blend between vowels, as in microscope.

386 words have long | in a stressed syllable, where the vowel

sound is clear.

143 words have long | in an unstressed syllable, where the vowel

sound is sometimes muffled.

This count excludes words like biting, where the native

English suffix simply changes the word’s form.
 Short I / 153
See also:
-IND, p. 163
Foreign |, p. 166
Short Y, p. 287 l as in indian
Exceptions:
Unstressed
climb
pint
it digger running
ninth big missed music
(long !) this tricky credit
island him didn’t cabin
isle string city magic
viscount
(long | and Unstressed
silent S)
limp fifty disgusted
indict fib spinach installment
(long | and
silent C) nip permission improvement
mix assistant ownership
pitch condition quantity

Unstressed
ill manilla sceptic
sprint submissive diploma
silt signature insurance
timber religion astonish
quibble manipulate tuberculosis

| is a vowel letter. | is short in a syllable that ends with a conso-

nant letter. When there are two consonants between vowels, the
first vowel is almost always short. In many of the long, Latin
words, the first vowel is short even when there is only one con-
sonant between vowels, as in manipulate.

2434 words have | before a consonant in a stressed syllable,

where the vowel sound is clear.

3934 words have | before a consonant in an unstressed syllable.

In spite of being unstressed, the short | sound remains
fairly clear.
154 /-l s
See also:
Long -Y, p. 2

or ski Suffix -Y, p. y

| as in Rabbi

| ski macaroni
hi taxi spaghetti
hi-fi zombi

yog! confetti alibi

anti broccoli alkali
chili khaki Rabbi

alumni cadi safari

fungi nisel timpani
mufti maharani

At the end of the word, | may be long or it may have a long E

sound. In English, | is at the end of the word only in foreign spell-
ings, slang forms, and in the pronoun I.

This is the entire list of words with | at the end.

The words where the | is long are also counted under |, p. 152.
 Stressed -l- / 155
See also:
Long I, p. 152
-IED, p. 161
-l- as in lion

crier science diary

driest diamond violin
liar giant violet
flier quiet

dial society diagram

client variety diameter
riot violence biology
trial reliable biography
diet triangle appliance

bias denial compliance

ion defiance priority
brier propriety psychiatrist
pious pliable ultraviolet
liable violate viaduct

When | comes before another vowel, it does not usually form

a team with the second vowel. Instead, the | is at the end of one
syllable, and the other vowel begins its own syllable. If the | is
in the root, as in reliable, or if it is in a stressed syllable, as in
variety, it is long.

124 words have | sounding like long | before another vowel.

These words are also counted under long |, p. 152.

156 / Unstressed |
See also:
-IED, p. 161
Suffix -Y, p. 2!
-l- as in radio -Cl-, p. 98
SE". 296
-SSI-, p. 238
-Tl-, p. 250
funnier Indian question
happiest Curious television
tinier soldier nation
prettiest million motion
copier period vacation

furious social abbreviate

various partial appreciate
medium region education
librarian conscience condition
patriot Official musician

dubious dominion visionary

passion aquarium partiality
radium gardenia recipient
memorial devious initiation
sodium hernia collegiate

When | comes before another vowel, it does not usually form

a team with the second vowel. Instead, the | is at the end of one
syllable, and the other vowel begins its own syllable. If the | is
part of a suffix, it is unstressed, and sounds like -Y in funny.

Unstressed | before a vowel is very common on the Latin side

of English. (See ‘‘Suffixes like -ial,’’ pp. 323, 324.) In many such
words the vowel sound of the | is lost in the effect that its
unstressed long E sound has on the preceding consonant.

1719 words have unstressed | before a vowel.

 LSE 7457
See also:
Silent -E, p. 110
Foreign |, p. 166
Y_ E-p, 288 I_E as in bike
Exceptions:
Unstressed
give
like sidewalk notice
live
(short |) fire awhile promise
ice decide engine
ride bonfire favorite
white meantime imagine

Unstressed
slice lifelike reconcile
dime subscribe advertise
bride rhinestone apprentice
dive divide relative
wire retirement medicine

Unstressed
stride justice adjective
chime native conservative
prime motive organize
vise protective juvenile
guide creative hypocrite

Vowel-consonant-silent-E is a special long vowel spelling pat-

tern. The silent E makes the | ‘‘say its name.’’ The E remains
silent when a syllable beginning with a consonant is added to
the word.

394 words have |__E in a stressed syllable, where the long

| soundis clear.

484 words have !__E in an unstressed syllable. In these words,

the | is often short in spite of the silent E.

These words are not counted under long |, p. 152, or under

short |, p. 153:
158 / -IE ~
See also:
+E, p. 159

-IE as in pie “IED, p. 161

« s -IE-, p. 160

Long -Y, p. 28
also, p. 295

lie untie No exceptions

tie necktie
die

belie
magpie

fie
hie
vie

IE is a vowel team. When IE is at the end of the root, it is stressed

and sounds like long |.

This is the entire list of words which have the team IE at the
end of the root.

These words are not counted under long |, p. 152.

 Suffix -IE / 159
See also:
Long -lE, p. 158
-IE-, p. 160 2 s
IED, p. 161 -IE as in movie
Suffix -Y, p. 285

No exceptions brownie laddie birdie

collie lassie genie

prairie caddie menagerie

coolie eerie reverie
calorie
lingerie

eyrie coterie
bourgeoisie

IE is a vowel team. In these words, IE is a suffix. It sounds like

the suffix -Y in funny.

This is the entire list of words which have the suffix -lE.
160 / -lE- ‘

See also:
El, p. 119

-IE- as in chief Long IE, p. 1

. H Suffix -IE, p. 7

field fielder believe qr

thief pieces relief lasses ie
priest masterpiece (ShOHSE)
shield sieve
niece (short |)

grief achieve achievement

weird windshield disbelief
fierce hygiene besieger
yield frontier chandelier
tier cashier

Unstressed
brief grievance chesterfield
fiend priesthood mischievous
wield reprieve handkerchief
shriek cavalier
pierce centerpiece

When IE is within the root of the word, it is a letter team for long
E. Notice how many of these words end in LD, F or VE. IE also
has this sound in a few -ier suffixes, as in frontier.

71 words have IE in a stressed syllable, where the long E sound

is clear.

6 words have IE within a root in an unstressed syllable, where

the vowel sound is often muffled.

These words are not counted under long E, p. 108.

 -IED, -IES / 161
See also:
_ong -lE, p. 158

ong,» 288 -IED and -IES as in tried

Fe and hurries
cried replies cities
dried supplied candied
fries multiplied movies
pies satisfied families
lies butterflies histories

dies certified hobbies

tried dignified varied
relied occupies envied
denies qualifies libraries
applied prophesied realities

pried salaried similarities

modifies academies extremities
crucified casualties bibliographies
liquefied emergencies conspiracies
petrified prophecies intermediaries

If a word ends in Y, we change the Y to! before adding the suf-

fix -ed. Before adding the suffix -s, we change the Y to | and
add E before the S. If the word ends in -IE, like tie or birdie,
we simply add D or S.

The endings -IED and -IES have the same vowel sound that -Y
or -IE has in the original word.

There is no count for these words, since they are only lengthened
forms of words already counted.
162 / IGH
See also:
Silent GH, p. 1

IGH as in light No exception:

right brightness delight

bright lightning frightened
might tightly tonight
sight fighter flashlight
knight sunlight nightgown

flight spotlight overnight

high eyesight nightingale
slight birthright copyright
sigh playwright highland
midnight highwayman

blight insight unrighteous

plight fortnight wheelwright
thigh alight
nigh outright
sprightly

IGH is a vowel team for long |. This is a remnant of old German

and Old English spelling.

88 words have IGH.

These words'are not counted under long |, p. 152. They are

counted under GH, p. 139.
 -IND, -ILD, -IGN / 163
See also:
GN, p. 142
Short |, p. 153
-IND as in find
Exceptions:
wind (blowing) kind kindest behind
build
guild
mind minded blindfold
gild child children childhood
rescind wild wilder wilderness
(short 1) sign signing signal

bind remind assignment

blind unwind resignation
grind design designer
rind resign alignment
mild kindliness

unbind consignment womankind

align designation mildew
malign malignant ensign
unmindful

When IND, ILD and IGN are at the end of the word, the | is long.
The | remains long when a native English suffix is added. But
in longer forms, the | often goes short.

51 words have -IND, -ILD or -IGN at the end of the root with
a long | sound.

These words are not counted under long |, p. 152. They are
counted under D, GN, Land N, pp. 100, 142, 173, and 179.
Those with short | are counted under short |, p. 153.
164 /-IR ‘
See also:
-ER; pr i2i
2 2 -IRRI-, p. 165
IR as in girl "UR, p. 265
-YR, p. 289

sir dirty circle Exceptions:

bird Stirring circus
. err “ souvenir
chirp whirling squirrel fakir
first chirping birthday (long E)
skirt birdie thirteen cee
whirr
birch squirming virtuous (double R)
birth mirthful circulate
firm circuit circumstance
twirl thirsty confirmation
flirt sirloin circumference

fir girdle firmament

firth affirm affirmative
mirth skirmish virtuous
smirk virgin virtual
girder circlet circumvent

IR is a letter team for the special English vowel sound of ER.

| within the syllable is usually short. But R at the end of the word,
or R before a different consonant, changes the short | to this
special sound.

114 words have IR at the end of the word or before

a different consonant.

These words are also counted under R, p. 219.

 -IRRI- / 165
See also:
-IR, p. 164

Exceptions:
IRR- as in mirror
squirrel
(IR as in girl) sirup
Words like chirrup
Stirring stirrup
(where R is
doubled be-
spirit irregular irrigate
fore a native
English suffix miracle irrelevant irritation
is added.) spiritual conspiracy irresponsible
mirage delirious irresistible
dirigible irrational

dispirited irritant tiring

empirical irradiate siren
satirical irresolute direct
virile irrespective spiral
irony

In these words, the R does not change the | to a special vowel

sound, because the R sound goes off with the next syllable.

53 words have IR or IRR before a vowel letter.

These words are also counted under long | and short I, pp.
152, and 153, and under R, p. 219.
166 / Foreign | *

In foreign spellings, | varies,

as in machine and lingerie.
| within the | at the end of
pee _Syllable _ the
syllable _
policeman ski
automobile mosquito
magazine piano
gasoline
submarine

sardine souvenir yog!

antique meringue trio
fatigue liter
chlorine lira
cuisine

pique motif nisei

naive debris Cuirass
artiste petit diva
pristine fakir merino
benzine liana

Words of this kind are English enough to be included in the

Hanna listing, but many of their letter sounds reflect their
languages or origin.

90 words have | with a foreign sound. The sound is almost

always the same as our long E sound.
 J / 167
See also:
Soft G, p. 137
-DGE, p. 102
-DU-, p. 103 J as in jeep
Jean Johnny Judy
Jane jumping jacket
Jack jokes January
job judged jolly
just joining enjoy

jar object injection

jot subject journalism
joy rejoice objective
jig adjust majesty
jab project trajectory

jest adjourn jeopardize

jamb sojourn subjunctive
jilt conjure jurisprudence
joist jetsam prejudice
jowl adjudge adjudicate

J is a consonant letter for the first sound in jeep. We never use

J as the last letter in the word. Instead, we use -GE or -DGE.

235 words have J as in jeep. In 60 of these, the next letter

is E or |, even though the usual letter for this sound before
E and | is soft G.
168 /K 7
See also:
Hard C, p. 92
Hard CH, p. ¢
K as in keep -CK, p. 99
QU, p. 214
-X, p. 277

king walked kitchen

keep kitten Thanksgiving Exceptions:
kite drinking handkerchief disc
ask shaky kangaroo arc
make lucky breakfast franc
zinc
talc
tuck skillful needlework bloc
key kindly cantankerous chic
speak lukewarm remarkable sac
stake pitchfork basketball (all final C
the root.)
skull crinkle pickpocket

kelp fakir alkaloid

kiln akin skeletal
musk bodkin frankincense
dank evoke kleptomania
shrike bethink obelisk

K is a consonant letter for the first sound in keep and the last
sound in speak. In English spelling, K is used only before E,
| or Y, where C will not work to show the K sound.

Root words ending in a K sound must be spelled with K because

most of them take the native English suffixes beginning with E,
land Y.

904 words have K as in keep. Of these, 40 have A, O, U

or L after the K. These are all borrowed from other
languages.
 KN- / 169
See also:
GN, p. 142
N, p. 179
KN as in knee

know knocker knowledge

knew knife knighthood
knot kneeling
knight knitting

knead knapsack unknown

knob knothole acknowledge
knives knuckle
knack penknife

knoll knavish foreknowledge

knave knurled knickerbocker

KN- is a native English letter team for the sound of N. It occurs

only at the beginning of the root. At one time, these K’s were
pronounced.

Notice how many of these words have meanings connected with

shapes like knees or knuckles, or with actions performed by
knuckles.

37 words have KN as in knee.

These words are also counted under N, p. 179.

170 / Letter L

The Letter L
L is a consonant letter for the first sound in look. The sound
of L in American English is a very sophisticated sound and, as
a result, the letter L is especially difficult for reading students.
When one says that our L has a sophisticated sound, one means
that it is quite a lot more difficult to pronounce than the spon-
taneous L sound that occurs in the babbling of infants. Children
take a long time to master the trick of saying L in the adult
American way. Most of them are still pronouncing L in a babyish
way during the first year of school. It is very hard for them to com-
bine the L sound with other consonant sounds, as in black and
clock. As a result, they become especially confused about such
words when they have to learn them as whole words in word-
memorization classrooms.
The spontaneous L sound of infant babbling is a voiced conso-
nant which is pronounced quite far forward in the mouth. The adult
L of American English is pronounced farther back in the mouth,
and is much more heavily voiced than the infant L. Before the
vowel sound, L behaves like any other consonant. Compare hot,
not and lot. The L blends with the O sound in the same way as
the H or the N. But we voice an L sound after the vowel especial-
ly heavily, so much so that the voice remains almost as
unrestricted while the L is being pronounced as it is during the
vowel sound, as in tell, tile and tail. This can confuse remedial
spelling students very seriously.
L after the vowel is even harder for children to pronounce than
L before the vowel. If they are not getting careful work in phonics,
they become confused about these words, also, when they begin
trying to read. In fact, Lcan cause so much confusion that children
soon begin to build up a block against reading these words. Then,
at the first glimpse of a word containing L, they begin to guess
wildly, which causes more trouble, which causes even wilder
guessing, and so on. By the time such children become remedial
students the problem can be severe.
As far as speech goes, most people eventually master the
American L, and can handle it after long vowel sounds, and after
 Letter L / 171

short E, | and U sounds (as in help, hill, hulk), without any distor-
tion of the vowel sounds. But the short sounds of A and O are
normally distorted when L follows them in the same syllable (as
in call and cold; see below). This, of course, only increases the
confusion of children who are having trouble with reading.
The letter L is used in the following ways.
1. L before the vowel.
a. L is the first letter in the syllable in words like
last, let, look, loud, tab-let, quick-ly, care-less
b. Lis the last member of a consonant blend in words like
black, clean, chlorine, flag, glad, plan, slip, splash
c. -le is a native English suffix, as in lit-tle. Although the L is
before the E, we pronounce this suffix the way we pro-
nounce the suffix -el, as in tun-nel. Because of this pronoun-
ciation, -le behaves like a suffix beginning with a vowel. It
captures the final consonant sound from the root syllable
of the word, and runs off with it. (See ‘‘Syllables and Stress,
English Suffixes,’’ page 304.) For this reason, consonant
doubling is used to show a short vowel sound before this
suffix, as in
ap-ple, ta-ble, bub-ble, bu-gle
2. L after the vowel. (See ‘ ‘Long’ and ‘Short’, p. 31.”
a. Lafter long vowel sounds, and special English vowel sounds
that behave like long vowels. Examples are
pail, feel, tile, coal, rule, boil, howl, cool
In these words, the glide at the end of the long vowel sound
closes the mouth before the L is pronounced. The result
is often much like a two-syllable word. Students must be
warned to give the vowel sound its full length before adding
the L sound. After identifying the word, the student can then
repeat the word with a more normal pronunciation.
b. L after short E, | and U. Examples are
tell, help, jelly, elder; fill, milk, pillow, filter; dull, bulk,
sullen, sulky
Notice that if the L sound is at the end of the root word,
172 / Letter L

we use LL to spell it. Most final doublings of this kind serve

a specific purpose. There does not seem to be such a
justification for -LL, however.
c. LL, or L and a different consonant after A or O. Examples
are
hall, halt, hal-ter, fal-ter; roll, hold, hol-ster, sol-dier
Here we have A and O within the syllable, where vowels
are normally short. But the L sound in these syllables
changes the A so that it sounds like AW in crawl, and it
changes the O sound from short to long. This happens
regularly on the native English side of our language. But
on the Latin side of English, A and O can be short before
L followed by a different consonant sound, as in
talc, calcium, alphabet, solve, revolver
d. AL and OL before a vowel sound. Examples are
ral-ly, bal-lad, tal-low, gal-lop, al-ley, cal-lous. hol-ly,
fol-low, dol-lar, trol-ley, pol-len, pa-ling, po-ling
Here, the suffix captures the L sound and runs off with it,
leaving the first vowel unchanged. Students must be warn-
ed that these ALL’s and OLL’s do not sound as they would
at the end of words like call and roll.
3. Silent L.
L is silent before final K and M sounds after A and O, as in
talk, calm, folk, Holmes
Here, although the L has no sound of its own, it is needed to
warn the reader of the changed sounds of the A’s and O's.
 L/ 173
See also:
AL, pp. 76-77
OLD, p. 193
-OLLY, p. 194 L as in leaf
Silent -L-, p. 174
-LL, p. 176
look helper leather
Exceptions: please sleeping yellow
milk lived careful
colonel
(L = R) feel felt himself
girl children telephone

clip alarm equally

trail loyal politics
pile chloride apologize
bleat gallant colorful
howl include revolver

vale calcium fluoridate

phlegm evolve turbulence
plight allay similarly
gulch bellows telemetry
sleigh helmsman astrology

L is a consonant letter for the first sound in leaf and the last
sound in feel. It is the second member of the consonant blends
BL-, CL-, CHL-, FL-, GL-, PL-, PHL- and SL-.

When L comes at the end after a long vowel sound it is often

pronounced almost like an extra syllable, as in pile. The reader
must be careful to give the vowel its full length before sounding
the L.

6326 words have L as in leaf.

174 / Silent L
See also:
ALL,
p. 78
OLD,
p. 193
L as in walk
Exceptions:

talk talker sidewalk half

chalk walking calf
could
walked
would
should
balk calm folklore (silent L be’
stalk palm talkative ForD
folk psalm kinsfolk almost
yolk chalky almond almighty
polka
Balkan
balm almshouse gentlefolk
alkali
qualm palmate
alms ophthalmoloc¢
(L soundin
L is a consonant letter. Here it is silent. In these words, A and before Ko
after A or |
O have their sounds changed by the L, even though the L loses
its own sound. Notice that the letter after the L is always K or M.

When words ending in LK and LM contain E, | or U, the vowel

is short, and the L sounds.

31 words have silent L before K or M.

These words are also counted under -ALL, OLD, K and M,

pp. 78, 193, 168 and 177.
 -LE / 175
See also:
Silent -T-, p. 245

-LE as in table

apple able trouble

little needle candle
tickle title bicycle
bottle maple possible
bubble eagle bumblebee

scribbler probable acceptable

measles encircle reasonable
startling horrible honeysuckle
trickled vehicle responsible
giggly redouble settlement

gable arable admissible

swaddle culpable inaudible
pestle crucible redoubtable
dawdle debacle comestible
cobbler mistletoe impregnable

-LE is one of the native English suffixes. It is pronounced like

the suffix -el as in tunnel. This pronounciation makes -le behave
like a suffix beginning with a vowel. It captures the last conso-
nant of the root and runs off with it. As a result, two consonants
before -le are needed to show a short vowel before the suffix,
as in little. A single consonant before -le shows a long vowel
in the first syllable, as in table. When a suffix beginning with
a vowel is added to these words, the final E must be dropped.

630 words have the suffix -le.

These words are also counted under L, p. 173.

176 /-LL 7
See also:
-AL, p. 76

-LL as in bell OLD,

.193
: : Exceptions:
call smaller windmill
fell telling waterfall belle
will hilly baseball Corbi?
grille
roll rolled bluebell vaudeville
full pulling downhill chenille
nacelle
stall skillful foretell (silent E)
cell install fulfill kiln (silent N)
dull spillway illness A
drill spellbound millstone mil
dwell foothill chlorophyll nil
(single L at!
cull pall instill end. ot the 5
dell null appall
gill quell enthrall
knell rill crestfallen
mull boll atoll

-LL is a consonant team for the sound of L at the end of the root.
We use -LL at the end after a short vowel. We also use -LL at
the end after A or O changed by L.

152 words have -LL at the end.

>

These words are also counted once each under L, p. 173.

 M / 177
See also:
laps oy, IF}
-MB, p. 178
M as in
H
man
Exceptions:
mnemonics me milk many
(MN = N) map smaller morning
comptroller am jumped mother
(MP = N) came making become
March seemed important

mist hammock amazement

clamp admit margarine
chrome major magnetic
prism metal socialism
palm camel ambulance

maim mandate admonish

pomp monarch phenomenon
smite alchemy sublimate
mall dictum medallion
mar syndrome impetuous

M is a consonant letter for the first sound in man and the last
sound in drum.

3698 words have M as in man.

178 / -MB, -MN
See also:
GN, p. 142

-MB and -MN as in lamb

and condemn

climb climber honeycomb

comb combing autumn
thumb bomber
bomb crumbs
dumb

limb plumber column

tomb plumbing solemn
hymn tombstone succumb
damn benumb
jamb dumbbell

-MB and -MN are consonant teams for the sound of M.

Notice that in these longer forms, the B or the N sounds:

crumble damnable
thimble condemnation
clamber autumnal
hymnal columnist

28 words have -MB at the end of the word.

7 words have -MN at the end of the word.

These words are also counted under M, p. 177.

 N / 179
See also:
GN, p. 142
KN, p. 169 ®
MN,p.178
PN-, p. 211
N as in nest
Exceptions: night needed anyway
& no noisy airplane
a mean sending number
(see p. 295) snow planned chicken
stand rainy interested
Anne
cretonne
(-NNE) nail inning unfinished
noun connect tradition
bound flannel astonishment
thorn silken anonymous
near nasty disturbance

feint infer pecuniary

nape naive genealogy
naught nitric transgression
niche colon vigilance
glen ermine notarize

N is a consonant letter for the first sound in nest and the last
sound in mean.

7927 words have N as in nest.

180 / -NG
See also:
NK, p. 181

NG as in long
-ANGE, p. 80

Exceptions:

ring singing something tongue

thing crying morning harangue
meringue
sang going during
(silent UE)
king stepping singsong
feeling ding-dong ginger
string
dingy
stingy
clang youngster ringleader (soft G)
lung prolong kingfisher
sling lodgings lengthwise
strength stronghold amongst
wring bowling alongside

tungsten sarong prepossesing

lading beetling unassuming
changeling unremitting

-NG is a letter team for the special English consonant sound

at the end of long. This sound does not occur at the beginning
of the word. In words with Latin suffixes, like tangent, and words
ending in -nge, like hinge, the G is soft.

When suffixes are added to verbs ending in -NG the team re-
mains a team, as in hanger and longing. When suffixes are
added to adjectives or other non-verb roots the team breaks up,
and the G has a hard G sound as in longest and finger.

370 words have the team NG at the end of the word or syllable.
This count does not include words with the suffix -ing unless
they have a special meaning, as in bedding.
 -NK / 181
See also:
NG, p. 180

-NK as in bank

pink pinker Thanksgiving

think thinking uncle
thank thanked
drink drinking
drank spanking

blank anger frankfurter

chunk conquer indistinct
franc function fingernail
lynx language congressman
zinc single entangle

dank bethink propinquity

languor singularity
inkling compunction
juncture dysfunction
ingot sacrosanct

-NK is a consonant blend that comes at the end of the word.

Before K sounds or hard G sounds, N takes on an NG sound.

355 words have N sounding like NG.

These words are also counted under N, p. 179; and under

C, G, K, Q_or X, pp. 92, 136, 168, 214 or 277.
182 / Letter O

The Letter O
In English, the letter O has three basic sounds, long O, short
O, and short U.
1. O is short when it is within the syllable, as in
hot, stop, pond, hot-ter, fon-dle, con-cert, a-dop-ted and
in
dog, long, dog-gie, sof-ter, cost-ly, di-a-logue
In some regions, the short O’s in the set of examples beginn-
ing with dog sound different from the short O’s in the set of
examples beginning with hot. In these regions, O as in hot
sounds like the broad A of AR, while O as in dog sounds like
the broad A of ALL. In other regions, all the short O’s and broad
A’s sound alike. Novices should learn only the sound that O
has in hot in their own speech, and be warned to be a little
flexible in any word where that sound seems a bit off-color to
them.
In the case of a word beginning with a vowel, O is short if it
has a consonant after it in the same syllable, as in
on, off, of-fice, ob-sta-cle, oc-to-pus, op-tion-al
2. O is long and sounds like the name of the letter O —
a.When it is the last letter in the syllable, as in
go, ho-ping, o-pen, to-tal, mo-tion, ex-plo-sion
(But in the Latin style of spelling, these O’s are often short,
as in pro-duct, to-nic, as-tro-no-my.)
b.In the spelling pattern O__E, asin
hope, tone, pole, more, re-mote, ex-plode
c.In the vowel teams OA, OE and OW, as in
toe, grow, blow, at the end of the root, yellow, window,
when OW is a suffix, and boat, groan, coal, load, roar,
within the root
 Letter O / 183

d.When the short sound of O is changed by final R, by final

LL, or by R or L before a different consonant sound as in
or, for, sort, fork, sor-did, for-tune, con-tor-tion, roll, old,
cold, jolt, folk, hol-ster, sol-dier, re-vol-ting
But if the next sound after the R or L is a vowel, it will cap-
ture the R or L sound, and leave the O unchanged, as in
sor-ry, bor-row, hor-rid, fo-rest, bo-ring, em-po-rium, hol-
ly, fol-low, so-lid, to-le-rate, ho-ly, de-fo-li-ate
And on the Latin side of English, the O sometimes remains
short even before L plus a different consonant, as in solve,
re-vol-ver, vol-ca-no.
To many people, the O of OR does not seem truly long. But
it is as close to long O as we can come when the next sound
is R, as witness the fact that for rhymes with more, store,
chore, etc. In any case, using the long O sound for OR
words seems to be the most useful approach for novice
readers attempting to decode a word which looks unfamiliar.
3. O frequently has a short U sound when the spelling would nor-
mally suggest either a short O or a long O sound, as in
son, ton, front, month, mo-ther, com-pa-ny, o-ven,
co-lor, ho-ney, sho-vel, dis-co-ver, come, some, none,
done, love, glove, does
This seems to occur mainly before M, N. TH and V, but we
also have many cases of O’s which are truly long or short
before these letters, as in home, pond, bone, cloth, clo-thing,
o-ver, drove. Students should be prepared to try a short U
sound whenever an indicated long or short O sound fails to
make sense.
Unstressed O
Like the sounds of most English vowels, the sounds of O are
muffled beyond recognition in the syllables which are the most
hurried, and are therefore the least stressed. This happens mainly
to the sounds spelled by the simple letter O, as in
po-ta-to, dem-o-crat, in-so-lent, oc-cur, com-bine,
184 / Letter O be

and to OR as a suffix, as in
doc-tor, sai-lor, di-rec-tor, ge-ne-ra-tor, de-no-mi-na-tor
Schwa* is usually used by dictionaries to respell the vowel sounds
of these unstressed syllables.

O in Teams for Special English Vowel Sounds.

1.0Y / Ol, as in boy, boil

a.OY is used at the end of the root as in
toy, joy, an-noy, em-ploy, de-stroy, oy-ster, loy-al
b.Ol is used within the root as in
toil, coin, point, hoist, mois-ture, an-noint, sir-loin

2. OO as in too and took.

a.OO is long both at the end of the root, and within the root,
as in
moo, food, tool, room, spoon, loop, poor, boot,
bal-loon, pa-poose
b.OO is short within the root especially before K, as in
look, cook, shook, brook, good, foot, for-sook
There is no way to predict whether an OO will be long or
short. However, novices need only learn the long sound,
since this will bring them close enough to the correct sound
to get the meaning even when the OO turns out to be short.

3. OW/ OU as in how and house.

a.OW spells this sound at the end of the syllable, before final
L and N, and sometimes before final D, as in
cow, prow, tow-er, tow-el, cow-ard, al-low, howl, down,
brown, crowd, pow-der
OW also spells long O, as shown above. There is no way
to predict which sound an:OW will spell. Novices must be
prepared to try both sounds to see which one makes sense.
* In dictionaries, schwa looks like this: 9.
 Letter O / 185

b.OU spells the vowel sound of how and house within the
word, as in
loud, pound, count, sour, pout, a-rouse, pro-nounce

OU also spells a variety of other vowel sounds within the

word, as in
four, soul, though; jour-nal, cou-rage; young, fa-mous,
e-nough; soup, youth, through; bought, fought
Much has been made of the great variety of sounds that
OU can have. But in practice, this variety is not of much
importance to students. They should learn only the sound
of OU in house, and let the context lead them to the cor-
rect variation whenever a different sound occurs.
The vowel sounds of boy, too, took and how are all special
vowel sounds in English. See ‘‘Vowel Sounds and Vowel Letters,”
page 29.
186 / Long O
See also:
OF pal sz

O as in open O, p. 188

Exceptions:

Unstressed to
do
no rosy also who
so ago zero two
going hoping hero (long OO)
broken over policeman
pony nowhere automobile

Unstressed
program woven tomato
story joker violin
hello social society
holy notion aristocrat
total local professional

Unstressed
lo motive kilowatt
noble global introduce
locate notary Opinion
robot overburden production
trophy mobilize history

O is a vowel letter. It is long in a syllable that ends in O. When

there is a single consonant letter between vowels, the first vowel
is long before the native English suffixes, and certain Latin suf-
fixes. The vowel is often long in Latin words when there is an
R-blend between vowels, as in program.

580 words have long O in a stressed syllable, where the

vowel sound is clear.

1088 words have long O in an unstressed syllable, where the

vowel sound is often muffled.

This count excludes words like hoping, where the native

English suffix simply changes the word’s form.
 Short O / 187
See also:
O, p. 86
-OLD, p. 193 .
WO.,'p. 274 O as in octopus or often
Exceptions:
. Unstressed
0 a
Aon’t hot stopping wagon
won't dog hottest lemon
only fox softer carrot
post not floppy million
pos ae
aes off along addition
ghost
both Unstressed
ay slot sorrow freedom
as lost coffee ballot
gross cloth respond confess
chaperon boss hospital collect
cognac dodge geography decision
ohm
peng :°) Unstressed
“es flog chronic official
(long OO) pod operate idiot
: bronze democracy objective
oon toss alcohol commander
(silent 0)
grog moderate personnel

O is a vowel letter. It is short in a syllable that ends with a con-

sonant letter. When there are two consonants between vowels,
the first vowel is almost always short. In many of the long Latin
words, the first vowel is short even when there is only one con-
sonant between vowels, as in operate.

If you notice that you or your students use different sounds for
the short O’s in hot and dog, see ‘‘The Letter O,” p. 182.

1531 words have O before a consonant in a stressed syllable,

where the short O sound is clear.

1710 words have O before a consonant in an unstressed

syllable, where the vowel sound is often muffled.
188 / 3rd sound of O
See also:
Long O, p. 1
Short O, p. 1
O as in oven ORE pais9

Exceptions:
come nothing above
some money something one
once
won monkey mother (The O has
does become brother short U sou
love among color but with an
written W.
sound bef
ton monthly covering
it.)
sponge comfort accompany
tongue sonny government
shove wonder colorful
gloves shovel discovery

monk undone covenant

dove affront covetous
stomach twelvemonth
twopence discoloration

O is the least reliable vowel letter in English. In all these words

the spellings indicate either a long O or a short O sound. But
these words have the third sound of O, which is short U. The
reader must be prepared to try a short U sound whenever the
normal O sound does not make sense.

139 words have O with a short U sound in a stressed syllable

where the spelling indicates that the O should be either
long or short.

These words are not counted under long O, p. 186, short O,

Dae 107 OL OLE aD aos:
 O_E / 189
See also:
Silent E, p. 110

O_E as in rope
_ong O, p. 186
Foreign O, p. 208

Exceptions:
home hoped alone
gone more clothes before
forehead
nose broke suppose
pomegranate
(short O) stone rode tadpole
those wrote
move
lose
whose whole compose purpose
prove bone spokesman envelope
(long OO) throne hopeless foresee
vote enclose foretell
sore microscope telephone

chore impose antelope

cope ignore carnivore
grove threescore casserole
stoke invoke bellicose
yoke diagnose

Vowel-consonant-silent-E is a special long vowel spelling pat-

tern. The silent E makes the O ‘‘say its name.” The E remains
silent when a syllable beginning with a consonant is added to
the word.

424 words have O__E for long O.

Purpose is the only word where the long O sound of O__E is

severely muffled.

These words are not counted under long O, p. 186.

190 / OA
Exceptions:
broad
(OA = AW)
OA as in boat wets
(final OA)

road soapy blackboard

coat roaring motorboat
coal toaster rowboat
goat coated oatmeal
board foamy railroad

throat bloated boardinghouse

roast moaning petticoat
coarse loathing reproachful
soar approach coachman
hoax unload toadstool

boar encroach uproarious

toad inroad hoarfrost
shoal scapegoat
poach coastal

OA is a vowel team for long O. It is used within the root. OA

is a native English spelling. In a few Latin words, the team breaks
up, as in co-a-gu-late.

132 words have OA within the root.

These words are not counted under long O, p. 186.

 -OE / 191
See also:
E©. pb) 120
also, p. 295 5
OE as in toe
Exceptions:
does hoe toes tiptoe
(short U) goes
shoe
canoe - doe foeman mistletoe
(long OO) foe oboe

woe woeful
throes roebuck
roe aloes

OE is a vowel team for Long O at the end of the root.

This is the entire list of words with -OE.

These words are not counted under long O, p. 186.

192 / Ol ~

See also:
OY rpr207,
Foreign O, p. 208
Ol as in point
Exceptions:

noise noisy choir

boil pointer (long:t)
join joining
choice

voice appoint tortoise

oil avoid porpoise
coin rejoice typhoid
joint poison
spoil disappoint

hoist ointment paranoid

broil moisture asteroid
loin embroider sirloin
toil sequoia exploitation
poise reconnoiter

Ol is a letter team for the special English vowel sound heard

in boil. It is used within the root instead of OY. In a few Latin
words the team breaks up, as in he-ro-ic.

109 words have the team OI as in point.

Tortoise and porpoise are the only words where the Ol

sound is severely muffled.
 -OLD / 193
See also:
-OLLY, p. 194
-ORRY, p. 198
-OLD as in cold
Exceptions:
wolf gold told tollbooth
(short OO)
hold sold goldfish
doll colt folded soldier
golf
roll golden
loll
solve “scold rolling
involve
dolphin bold holster polka
volcano jolt folklore revolt
solder
polls moldboard smolder
doldrums
solstice folk molten upholstery
(short O) yolk threefold voltage
control
patrol bolt bolster gentlefolk
(single knoll freehold manifold
final L) scroll behold embolden
Stroll enroll

In these words the root ends in -OLL or in OL plus a different

consonant. O in the middle of the syllable is usually short, but
the L changes it to long O. Before final K, the L goes silent, but
it still makes the O long.

84 words have O changed by L.

These words are not counted under long O, p. 186. Those in

which the L sounds are also counted under L, p. 173 or -LL,
p. 176. Those in which L is silent are also counted under
silent L, p. 174.
194 / -OLLY
See also:
-OLD, p. 193

OLL- as in holly

_Unstressed_
jolly solid collect
dolly polish collapse
hollow holiday collide
follow lollipop
dollar

folly politics biologist

pollen colony abolish
column polygon volunteer
volume molecule
olive collar
Long O
stolid ideology oleomargarine
soluble theology polar
tolerant archaeologist folio
pollination zoology resoled
corollary cryptology poling

In these words, the L goes off with the next syllable. As a result,
the O is short except where the L is single and the suffix makes
the O long.

165 words have QL or OLL in a stressed syllable before a vowel

letter. In these words the O sound is clear.

19 words have OL or OLL in an unstressed syllable, where

the vowel sound is often muffled, as in corollary.

These words are also counted under long and short O, pp.
186 and 187.
 Long OO / 195
See also:
OO, p. 196

OO as in moon
Exceptions:
brooch
(long O) ZOO soonest balloon
boo roomy rooster
broom choosing moonlight
food blooming afternoon
school foolish kangaroo

loop moody foolhardy

pool booster waterproof
loose drooping gloominess
proof bamboo baboon
stoop bridegroom boomerang

boon lagoon foodstuffs

loom pasoon soothsayer
festoon aloof gooseberry
cocoon heirloom anteroom
reproof offshoot freebooter

OO is a letter team for the special English vowel sound heard

in moon. This is the long sound of OO. It is used both within
the root and at the end.

OO also has the short sound heard in book. There is no way

for the eye to tell which sound is spelled by a given OO. The
reader must be prepared to use whichever sound makes sense
in the context in which the OO appears.

187 words have long OO.

196 / Short OO

See also:
OO, p. 195

OO as in book
Exceptions:
door
look cooking cooky floor
hook took football (long O)
foot stood goodness blood
poor wooden childhood flood
good hooded neighborhood (short U)

brook crooked bookkeeper

crook foothold barefooted
nook hoodwink pocketbook
shook woolen brotherhood
soot cookbook understood

moor betook hardhihood

rook partook livelihood
falsehood underwood

OO is a letter team for the special English vowel sound heard

in book. This is the short sound of OO. Like other short vowel
sounds, it occurs within the root. Notice how many of these words
have K at the end.

OO also has the long sound heard in moon. There is no way

for the eye to tell which sound is spelled by a given OO. The
reader must be prepared to use whichever sound makes sense
in the context in which the OO appears.

116 words have short OO.

 -OR / 197
See also:
-ORRY, p. 198
WOR.-, p. 275
OR as in fork
Exceptions:
attorney Unstressed
(OR = UR) or torn color
horde
(silent E) for stormy forget
corn shorter doctor
porch forty actor
horse morning razor

Unstressed
nor northward tabor
born reform junior
force record record
pork important projector
chord fortify comfortable

Unstressed
morn abhor escalator
fiord abortion calculator
stork portable incubator
torque formula counselor
dormant distortion prosecutor

In these words, the R is at the end, or is followed by a different

consonant. O in the middle of the syllable is usually short, but
the R changes it to long O. (Notice that for rhymes with O__E
words like more and store. This is as long as an O can be before
an R sound. Only or, nor and for have OR at the end of a one-
syllable word.)

352 words have O changed by R in a stressed syllable, where

the vowel sound is clear.

366 words have OR in an unstressed syllable. In most of these

OR is a suffix, as in doctor.

These words are not counted under long O, p. 186. They

are counted under R, p. 219.
198 / -ORRY
See also:
Short O, p. 187
-OR, p. 197
ORR.- as in sorry -ARRY, p. 82
-ERRY, p. 122
-IRRI-, p. 165
-OLLY, p. 194
sorry story tomorrow
forest porridge
borrow orange Exceptions:
thorough
moral minority correspond (OR = UR)
sorrow superiority horrible
torrent authority authority
horror horizontal priority
foreign historical boring

Unstressed
coral correlate history
coroner corrugated original
orator incorrigible correctional
forage orifice corrosive
horrify corrupted

In these words, the R does not make the O long, because the
R sound goes off with the next syllable. As a result, the O is
short unless the R is single and the suffix requires a long vowel
before it.

88 words have OR or ORR in a stressed syllable before a vowel

letter. In these words, the O sound is clear.

13 words have OR or ORR in an unstressed syllable before a

vowel, where the O sound is often muffled.

These words are also counted under long O, short O and

R, pp. 186, 187, and 219.
 OU / 199
See also:
OU, pp. 200
to 202.
OUGH, p. 203
OUR-, p. 204
OU as in shout
OW, p. 205

round found about

Exceptions: ground houses outside
could Our mouthful mountain
should ouch cloudy without
would mouse louder thousand
(short OO)
you noun doubtful boundary
thou foul southwest accountant
(OU at the end
flour proudly counterfeit
of the root)
couch amount outstanding
hour profound announcement

bout astound countermand

snout scoundrel counterpart
clout bounty fountainhead
grouch devour encounter
pouch dugout outrageous

OU is a letter team for the special English vowel sound heard

in shout. It is used within the word instead of OW.

Although only five exceptions are shown here, OU is our most

variable spelling. It can also stand for five other vowel sounds.
See the references to other pages.

279 words have OU as in shout.

200 / OU
See also:
OU, p. 199
OUGH, p. 203
OU as in four OW, p. 206

fourth fourteen
pour shoulder
course although

court boulder resource

dough courthouse soulless
mourn fourscore downpour
soul poultry resourceful
cantaloupe

gourd poultice pompadour

mould concourse courtier
discourse thorough

In these words, OU represents the long O sound. Notice how

many of them have R or L after the OU.

37 words have OU spelling long O.

These words are not counted under long O, p. 186, or

under OU, p. 199.
 OU / 201
See also:
OU, p. 199
OUGH, p. 203
Foreign O, p. 208 OU as in soup
Exceptions:
you your boulevard
buoy youth group through
buoyant
buoyancy
(UO, not OU) ghoul cougar acoustics
wound coupon souvenir
rouge goulash camouflage
tour routine

sou tourism courier

coup gourmet contour
troupe bouquet bourgeois
carrousel
caribou

In these words OU represents the long OO sound. This is the

normal sound of OU in French, and many of these words are
borrowed from French.

37 words have OU spelling the long OO sound.

These words are not counted under OU, p. 199.

202 / OU
See also:
OU, p. 199
OUGH, p. 203
OU as in young
touch younger country
tough touching enough
rough trouble
famous

youngster couplet countryside

double gorgeous southerner
couple jealous tremendous
cousin joyous envious
nervous luscious ridiculous

couplet raucous southerly

zealous bilious curvaceous
callous heinous strenuous
pious dubious superstitious

In these words, OU represents the short U sound.

26 words have OU spelling short U in a stressed syllable.

350 words have OU spelling short U in an unstressed syllable.

Aside from doubloon, all of these are words like famous,
with the suffix -ous.
.

These words are not counted under short U, p. 258 or

OU, p. 199.
 OUGH / 203
See also:
OU, pp. 199
be OUGH is a wild letter team
though brought although
through fought doughnut
cough thought thoughtful
ought rough enough
bought tough toughen

dough borough thoroughbred

drought furlough thoroughfare
bough thorough roughen
sought thoughtless afterthought
forethought throughout

nought doughty overwrought

wrought besought thoroughgoing
e slough (ow) bethought
slough (uff)

OUGH is a letter team that represents many different sounds.

Students should not attempt to learn anything specific about the
sound of OUGH. Instead, they should be advised to sound the
consonants of the word before them accurately, and allow the
context to suggest the appropriate vowel sound.

This is the entire list of words containing OUGH.

Where appropriate, these words are also counted on pages 200,

201 and 202 for OU, and pages 140 and 141 for GH.
204 / OUR- *
See also:
OU, pp. 199

OUR- as in journey
courage

flourish encourage
journal adjournment
nourish discourage
glamour undernourish

adjourn journeyman
courteous

In these words OU is changed by R to the special English vowel

sound of ER. They are all French words, but they have been
English longer than the French borrowings listed on page 208.

49 words have OU changed by R.

These words are also counted under R, p. 219.

 OW / 205
See also:
OU, p. 199
OW, p. 206
OW as 1in cow
how bowing downwards
now growling cowboy
down crown flower
brown brownie eyebrow
owl clown towel

plow allow gunpowder

howl shower towering
frown vowel horsepower
crowd chowder downpour
drown township downstream

fowl renown cowardly

gown cower dowager
prowl trowel endowment
scowl dowry howitzer
vow browser cauliflower

OW is a letter team for the special English vowel sound heard

in cow. OW is used at the end of the root, and before final L,
N or D. Before other consonants, OW becomes OU, as in couch.
OW is mainly a native English spelling.

OW is also a team for long O. There is no way for the eye to

tell which sound is spelled by a given OW. The reader must be
prepared to use whichever sound makes sense in the context
in which the OW appears.

122 words have OW as in cow.

206 / OW
See also:

OU, p. 200
OW, p. 205
OW as in snow

know known yellow Exceptions:

blow grown arrow knowledge
slow thrown window (short O)
show snowed Halloween
low throwing follow

flow bowling pillow

own below fellowship
bowl crowbar shadowy
tow stowaway arrowhead
bow overthrow widower

stow bellow barrow

disown gallows bungalow
bestow sparrow foreshadow
escrow narrow unhallowed
elbow sorrowful

OW is a vowel team for long O. OW is used for long O at the

end of the root or before final L or N. Most of the words ending
in N are past forms of verbs ending in OW. OW is mainly a native
English spelling.

OW is also a team for the special vowel sound heard in cow.

There is no way for the eye to tell which sound is spelled by
a given OW. The reader must be prepared to use whichever
sound makes sense in the context in which the OW appears.

74 words have OW spelling long O in a stressed syllable, where

the vowel sound is clear.

56 words have OW as a suffix with a long O sound.

These words are not counted under long O, p. 186.

 OY / 207
See also:
Ol, p. 192

Exceptions:
OY as in boy
coyote
(long |) toy toys cowboy
bouy joy toying enjoy
(OO, -Y) royal
OY within the
syllable: annoy alloy annoyance
gargoyle destroy boycott employment
loyal convoy destroyer
employ voyage disloyal
royalty

coy viceroy boysenberry

deploy foyer flamboyant
Troy oyster corduroy
clairvoyant

OY is a letter team for the special English vowel sound heard

in boy. It is used at the end of the root. Within the root, OY
becomes Ol, as in boil.

52 words have OY as in boy.

208 / Foreign O ~

In foreign words, O combines

with other letters in unusual ways.

ee Ol) a

boudoir memoir chamois

bourgeois repertoire connoisseur
bourgeoisie reservoir

The first 6 words here have the normal French sound of Ol, which
is like our WA in wasp.

BED
s|f) =

The normal French sound of OU is like our long OO. See page
201, where many French words appear.

— O plus a final consonant —

apropos depot

The final consonant is silent in these French words.

— O E —

apostrophe anemone hyperbole

catastrophe epitome synecdoche

In these Greek words, the O is in one syllable and the E in

another.

Words of this kind are English enough to be included in the

Hanna listing, but much of their phonics harks back to their
languages of origin.

These words and the 37 words counted on page 201 account

for all the foreign O sounds in English.
‘
 Letter P / 209

The Letter P

In English, the letter P has one basic sound, the first sound in
pack.
1. On the English side of the language, P behaves like any or-
dinary consonant, as in
pan, plan, price, spit, split, spring, tap, tape, tarp, help,
Crisp, tapping, taping, happy, apple, maple
2. On the Latin side of English, there are two types of special P’s.
P is the first member of the consonant team PH, which always
has the sound of F, as in
phone, sphere, graph, photograph, alphabet, physical,
dolphin, trophy
This team was used by the Romans to represent a Greek sound
which they could only approximate with an F sound. But in
order to retain the Greek flavor of borrowed words containing
it, they used the PH team. Notice the Y within the word in
physical. This is another remnant of Greek spelling.
The Greeks were also able to pronounce the consonant blends
PS, PN and PT at the beginnings of words. When the Romans
borrowed such words, the P’s went silent because the Romans
could not pronounce them. They have remained silent ever
since, as in
Psalms, psychology, pseudonym, pneumonia, ptomaine
Notice again the Y’s within the word, CH sounding like K, and
EU for long U, which are other remnants of Greek spelling.
Students should be informed that silent P exists, and advised
that when they see a P in an unpronounceable position, they
should skip the P and start sounding out with the next Ietter.
210/P
See also:
PH, p. 213
Silent P, p. 21
P as in pig
Exceptions:

park picked paper cupboard

put stopping important raspberry
receipt
keep kept open corps
jump sleeper happy clapboard
spend soapy asleep coup
comptroller
pace passage turpentine iene)
pep report speculate
depth impulse perpetual
spill accept interrupt
swamp polka suspicious

pact eclipse despondent

plight appraise optional
spawn capsule incipient
lapse stipend perpendicular
strop repulse typographical

P is aconsonant letter for the first sound in pig and the last sound
in drop.

3573 words have P as in pig.

 Silent P / 211

P as in psychology
Psalms

psalm psychic pneumatic

pneumonia
psychiatrist

pseudo pneumococcus
psyche pterodactyl
ptomaine psychical
parapsychology
pseudonym

P is silent at the beginning of the word before N, S or T. These

are Greek spellings. Notice the examples of Y within the word,
EU, and CH sounding like K.

23 words have silent P at the beginning.

These words are also counted under N, S and T, pp. 179,

226, and 244.
212 / P Blends .
See also:
-LE, p. 175
P as in pretty and please
plant planting airplane
plus pressed April
proud playing plenty
price printer present
spring splashing program

praise improve completion

prowl complain represent
pleat supply diploma
splint splendid probable
sprout outspread waterproof

plague plaza predatory

plea plural reprimand
spleen premise impromptu
prey diplomat replica
prime sprocket predestined

PR- and PL- are consonant blends. These blends sometimes

split up between vowels as in represent and diplomat. If the
blend splits, the vowel before it is short. Otherwise, the vowel
before it is long as in April and reply. SPR- and SPL- are triple
blends.

526 words have the blend PR-.

222 words have the blend PL-.

24 words have the blend SPR-.

12 words have the blend SPL-.

These words are also counted under P, p. 210, and under

L, R and S, pp. 173, 219, and 226.
 PH / 213
See also:
F, p. 129

No exceptions
PH as in photograph
humph nephew elephant
phone telephone
geography
alphabet
telegraph

phrase photon emphatic

phase dolphin symphony
graph hyphen phobia
nymph prophet hemisphere
sphinx physician paragraph

phlegm physics sophistry

lymph phosgene amphibian
phial naphtha philosophical
seraph phraseology
zephyr

PH is a letter team for the sound of F. This is a Greek spelling.

Notice the examples of Y within the word. Once in a while, P
and H belong to different root words, and retain their normal
sounds, as in loophole.

239 words have the team PH.

214 / QU- ‘
See also:
WA, p. 271
¢ WAR, p. 272
QU as in queen QU, p. 218
quick quickly quiet
quite squeaky squirrel
quack squeezing question
squeeze quacked earthquake
squeak quarter

quit quarrel equipment

quartz equal quality
quail require adequate
squad liquid consequently
square conquest quotation

qualms tranquil quantify

quire quantum loquacious
squab quasi querulous

QU- is the way we spell the consonant blend CW-. The blend
sometimes splits up, as in liquid. If the blend splits, the vowel
before it is short. Otherwise, the vowel before it is long, as in
equal.

This is the Latin style of spelling this blend. It has replaced all
the CW-’s of Old English.

220 words have the blend QU-.

 Foreign QU / 215

In foreign words,
QU sounds like K
bouquet mosquito

clique conquer mannequin

mosque lacquer etiquette
antique liquor picturesque
marquee croquet oblique
burlesque turquoise technique

quay coquette coquetry

brusque marquise exchequer
torque baroque statuesque
casque critique
pique piquant

These are French spellings. Words of this kind are English

enough to be included in the Hanna listing, but many of their
letter sounds reflect their French origin. The French use QU for
the same purpose we use the letter K, to spell a hard C sound
before E, | or Y. Notice that the UE’s at the ends of these words
are silent. Notice also that in conquest the QU- has taken on
the normal English pronunciation.

40 words have QU sounding like K.

216 / Letter R $

The Letter R
R is a consonant letter for the first sound in rabbit. The sound
of R in American English is a very sophisticated sound, and as
a result, the letter R is especially difficult for reading students.
When one says that our R has a sophisticated sound, one
means that it is quite a lot more difficult to pronounce than the
spontaneous R sound that occurs in the babbling of infants.
Children take a long time to master the trick of saying R in the
adult American way. Most of them are still pronouncing R ina
babyish way during the first year of school. It is very hard for them
to combine the R sound with other consonant sounds, as in brick
and grass. As a result, they become especially confused about
such words when they have to learn them as whole words in word-
memorization classrooms.
The spontaneous R sound of infant babbling is a voiced conso-
nant which is pronounced quite far forward in the mouth. The adult
R of American English is pronounced farther back in the mouth,
and is much more heavily voiced than the infant R. Before a vowel
sound, R behaves like any other consonant. Compare hat, mat,
and rat. The R blends with the A sound in the same way as the
H or M. But we voice an R sound after the vowel especially heavi-
ly, So much so that the voice remains almost as unrestricted while
the R is being pronounced as it is during the vowel sound, as in
our, more and sure. This can confuse remedial spelling students
very seriously.
R after the vowel is even harder for children to pronounce than
R before the vowel, so they become confused about these words,
also, when they begin trying to read, unless they are having very
careful phonics instruction. In fact, R can cause so much confu-
sion that children soon begin to build up a block against reading
these words. Then, at the first glimpse of a word containing R,
they begin to guess wildly, which causes more trouble, which
causes even wilder guessing, and so on. By the time such children
become remedial students, the problem can be severe.
As far as speech goes, most people eventually master the
American R, and can handle it after the long vowel sounds without
 Letter R / 217

very much distortion of the vowels. But all the short vowel sounds
are normally distorted when R follows them in the same syllable
(as in car, for, her, sir, fur; see below). This, of course, only
increases the confusion of children who are having trouble with
reading.
The letter R is used in the following ways.
1. R Before the Vowel
a. R is the first letter in the syllable in words like
red, ride, room, round, re-mind, e-rase, un-ru-ly
b. R is the last member of a consonant blend in words like
brick, creep, drop, fright, grass, print, scratch, shred,
spring, street, three, trace
2. R After the Vowel. (See ‘‘ ‘Long’ and ‘Short’, ’’ page 31.)
a. R after long vowel sounds, and special vowel sounds that
behave like long vowels. Examples are
pair, fear, tire, core, pure, sour, poor
In these words, the long vowel sound closes the mouth
before the R is pronounced. The result is often much like
a two-syllable word. Students must be warned to give the
vowel sound its full length before adding the R sound. The
words containing long O do not seem so much like two-
syllable words as the others do. But even these are most
successfully decoded by students who give the O its full
length before sounding the R. After identifying the word,
the student can then repeat the word with a more normal
pronunciation.
b. Ror Randa different consonant sound after a vowel within
the syllable. Examples are
car, cart, carton; her, term, person; sir, bird, circle;
for, fort, fortune; fur, turn, purpose
Vowels within the syllable are normally short. But the R
sound in these syllables changes each vowel sound in a
special way. It changes the A sound to the sound of short
O as in hot. It changes the O sound from short to long (com-
pare the sounds of for and more). And it changes short E,
218 / Letter R *
S

| and U to the special English vowel sound ER. The sound

of EA is also changed to this sound by R and a different
consonant sound, as in learn and early.
c. R between vowel sounds. When the next sound after R is
a vowel sound, the R sound goes off with the next syllable,
leaving the vowel sound unchanged, as in
car-ry, car-rot, nar-row; ber-ry, her-ring, er-ror; mir-ror,
ir-ritate; sor-ry, bor-row, hor-rible; da-ring, cohe-rent,
ti-ring, sto-ry, pu-rest
Only the short sound of U continues to be affected by the
R when the next sound is a vowel, as in hurry. Remedial
students are often baffled by the unchanged sounds of
vowels before -RR- and -R-.
3. R is a member of two consonant teams, WR and RH.
a. WR is a native English spelling for the sound of R at the
beginning of the word, as in
write, wrist, wrench, wrap, wrestle, wrinkle
Notice that all these words have meanings connected with
the idea of twisting. At one time these W’s were pronounced.
b. RH is a Latin team for the sound of R. It occurs in a very
few words the Romans borrowed from the Greeks, as in
rhyme, rhythm, rhrumatism, Rhodes
Notice the Y’s within the word, which are also remnants of
Greek spelling.
 R/ 219
See also:
-AR, p. 81
-ER, p. 121
-IR, p. 164 R as in rabbit
-OR, p. 197
-UR, p. 265
run rainy wonderful
Exceptions: hair carry remember
tree driven interesting
iron
(i-ern) girl brightest important
street warmer strawberry
forecastle
worsted
(silent R) rake carton remainder
rich reduce tradition
fort relic prevention
dwarf courthouse preference
crouch protect translation

rook furrow derivative

fray ruffian incorrigible
chord frenzy obstetrician
herb berserk decipher
dire beaker interception

R is a consonant letter for the first sound in rabbit and the last
sound in hair.

R changes the sounds of all the short vowels when it follows

them at the end of the word, or before a different consonant,
as in car, jerk, thirty, fork, fur.

When R follows a long vowel, it is often pronounced almost like

an extra syllable, as in fire. The reader must be careful to give
the vowel sound its full length before sounding the R.

R is the second member of the consonant blends BR-, CR-,

CHR-, DR-, FR-, GR-, PR-, PHR-, SHR-, TR- and THR-.

9388 words have R as in rabbit.

220 / -RE :
See also:
-LE, p. 175
-RE as in ogre
Exception:
padre
acre (RE = R,E

acreage
massacre
mediocre

lucre
timbre

-RE after a consonant sounds like the suffix -ER. This is the
French version of this suffix.

This is the entire list of words with -RE in American English. The
British use -RE more than we do, as in theatre.
 RH- / 221
No exceptions

RH as in rhythm
rhyme rhinoceros

myrrh rhomboid rhapsody

Rhode rhubarb rhetoric
(Island) rhythmic rheumatism
rhinestone rhythmical

catarrh rhododendron
rhizome rheostat
rhetorical
rheumatic

RH is a team for the sound of R. This is a Greek spelling. Notice

the examples of Y and EU within the word.

This is the entire list of words with RH.

222 / Letter S

The Letter S
S is aconsonant letter for the first sound in sail. This is its basic
sound, and it is unvoiced. However, S is often voiced, and then
it sounds like Z. (See Unvoiced, Voiced and Nasal consonants,
p. 48.)
1. Unvoiced S
a. S is always unvoiced at the beginning of the word, as in
sat, same, sell, seal, sit, sight, sop, soap, such, suit,
saw, sound, soil, soot,soon, sir
b. S is unvoiced when it is the first member of a consonant
blend, as in
scar, school, skim, slip, smoke, snake, spin, split,
spring, squeak, stick, street, swing, desk, crisp, must
c. S can be unvoiced between vowels, as in
case, basin, besides, isotope, dosage, usage, house,
goose
d. Sis unvoiced when it is spelled SS between vowels, as in
assault, essence, missile, possible, russet, tassel
2. Voiced S.
a. S between vowels is often voiced, having a Z sound as in
raisin, easy, rise, risen, nose, rosin, music, pause,
housing, noisy, bosom
b. Sis voiced when it is the first member of the final consonant
blend -SM, as in
chasm, prism, baptism, communism
3. S as a Native English Suffix
A single S is the most actively used of all the native English
suffixes. It forms the plural of nouns, and the third person
singluar of the present tense of verbs (as in: two home runs;
he runs, she runs, it runs). Regardless of whether it is added
to a noun or a verb, the sound of this suffix is determined by
the voicing of the sound immediately before it.
 Letter S / 223

a. The suffix -s is unvoiced after unvoiced consonants, as in

cuffs, looks, tops, hits, rakes, types, notes
b. The suffix -s is voiced—
1) After vowel sounds, as in
days, bees, ties, shows, news, laws, cows, boys, boos
2) After voiced consonants, as in
rubs, heads, tags, tales, hums, pans, stars, dives,
leaves
3) When E is inserted before the S so that the added S can
be heard distinctly after S, Z, CH and SH sounds, as in
passes, buzzes, catches, coaches, rushes, leashes
These differences in the sounds of the suffix -s do not
usually cause problems. Since context usually leads the
reader to expect the suffix in its normal place, we tend to
give the S its correct sound spontaneously, just as we do
in speech.
But students do sometimes have trouble with this suffix
when it takes the form of -es, as it does in the third group
above. This difficulty arises because the students have
learned to leave the E silent in forms like rides, homes,
lanes, and gates, where the S can be heard perfectly well
without any extra help. But many words ending in S, Z and
J sounds end with silent E’s which must be sounded when
the suffix is added, as in
cases, rises, gazes, pages, bridges
Students must be helped to see why the E sounds in some
words and not in others before they can begin to overcome
this problem.
4. S as the Last Sound in the Root.
Since a single S at the end of the word is a suffix, this spelling
is not available to represent the sound of S when the root word
ends with an S sound. We have four solutions for different
aspects of this problem.
224 / Letter S ‘e

a. Right after a short vowel sound in the root, we use -SS to

represent a final unvoiced S sound, as in
mass, mess, miss, moss, Muss
We also use -SS at the end of the native English suffixes
-less, -ness, -ress and -ess, as in
needless, helpless, lameness, sadness, actress,
princess
The -SS in these words shows that the S itself is not the
entire suffix as it is in—
needles, princes, acres
b. Right after a short vowel sound in the root, we use -ZZ to
represent a final voiced S sound, as in
jazz, fizz, buzz
c. After long vowel teams, special vowel teams, and con-
sonants in the root, we use SE to represent a final S sound,
as in
crease, geese, goose, house, else, false, sense, lapse,
glimpse, sparse, horse, nurse
praise, please, cheese, cruise, cause, noise, choose,
rouse, cleanse
Notice that in the first group of examples the S is unvoiced,
and in the second group it is voiced. In a few cases,
the voiced S sound is represented by -ZE instead of -SE,
as in
maize, freeze, gauze, booze, bronze
The -SE and -ZE spellings enable the eye to distinguish
between such pairs as
laps/lapse, dens/dense, pleas/please, frees/freeze,
boos/booze
d. When the root word ends in a KS blend, we use -X to repre-
sent the entire blend, as in
tax, sex, fix, box, coax
The -X spelling enables the eye to distinguish between such
pairs as
tacks/tax, cokes/coax
 Letter S / 225

5. S in Latin suffixes
Single S does occur, however, at the ends of the Latin suffixes
-OUS, -aS, -iS, -os and -us. In these suffixes, the S is unvoiced,
as in

famous, tremendous, canvas, basis, tonsillitis, cosmos,

focus, cactus, apparatus, bacillus
6. S before Latin suffixes containing unstressed | before another
vowel, or before unstressed long U.
a. If the S has a vowel, or an R before it, the voiced S sound
is distorted to a ZH sound, as in
occasion, amnesia, vision, explosion, confusion, version
pleasure, leisure, enclosure, usual, visual
b. If the S is doubled, or has a different consonant before it,
the unvoiced S sound is distorted to an SH sound, as in
passion, session, mission, concussion, compulsion,
tension, tissue, pressure, censure
Letter Teams Containing S
1. Sis the first member of the consonant team, SH, which repres-
ents the first sound in ship and the last sound in fish. Although
this sound occurs frequently in our Modern English pronun-
ciation of Latin words like passion, tension, pressure, nation
and special, it did not exist in Ancient Latin. Therefore, the
Latin alphabet which we use has no single letter to represent
it. The SH sound is a Germanic sound, which occurs frequently
at the beginnings or ends of native English roots. These are
the words for which the team SH is used, as in
shape, shed, shut, show, shrug, mash, mesh, leash, fish,
rush, marsh
2. Sis the second member of the consonant team PS-. (See “The
Letter P,’’ page 209.)
226/S
See also:
“Spaces
S as in sun
Exceptions:
island
see saying seven aisle
saw seemed baseball viscount
demesne
six singer
(silent S)
n .

re
possible
ask darkest
nest rested yesterday

search essay colossal

sift consult emphasis
wasp nestie diagnose
brisk distance humorous
roast focus serious

sage abscond transfigure

serf sinuous anthropologist
bask distasteful inconsistency
asp monastic obesity
grist desiccate surveillance

S is a consonant letter for the first sound in sun and the last
sound in focus. In these words, the S is unvoiced.

5219 words have S as in sun. This count does not include

words with the suffix -S, unless they have a special
meaning, as in mumps.
 -S- / 227
See also:
S, p. 226
-SE, p. 234
Z, p. 290 S as in music
Exceptions:
nose houses business
scissors those closing president
dessert
these noisy visitor
dissolve
possess choose user otherwise
brassiere rise risen thousand
hussar
hussy fuse expose compromise
(SS between
vowels = Z)
pose abuse easily
wise result advertise
lose husband enthusiasm
spasm baptism magnetism

muse tourism paraphrase

chasm mosaic pleasantry
prism physique romanticism
crimson euphemism
resolve pantheism

In these words, S is voiced and sounds like Z. S is often voiced

between vowels, or between a vowel and an Mor aB. It usually
takes doubled S to show an unvoiced S sound between vowels,
as in vessel, but a single S can also be unvoiced between
vowels, as in basin.

580 words have voiced S between vowels. These words are not
included in the count for unvoiced S, p. 226.
228 / Suffix -S
See also:
-ES, p. 123

S as a suffix
Exceptions:
as
(she) is (2) sunflowers us
(he) has (4) afternoons yes
this
(it) was (she) discovers bus
hers scissors gas
its sometimes lens
plus
biceps
upwards physics whereabouts
triceps
perhaps footlights amidships forceps
assets salesman unawares (-S not a suffi
skies series frontiersman
shelves soapsuds athletics

crimps hirelings demagogues

pods adjourns adjudicates
brigs crucibles medallions
glades cosmos tonsilitis
bias Curious apparatus

A single S at the end of the word is usually a native English suf-

fix. It may also be part of one of the Latin suffixes, -as, -is, -os,
-uS Or -ous as in bias, tonsilitis, cosmos, apparatus and
curious.

As a native English suffix, -s is voiced after a vowel or a voiced

consonant; it is unvoiced after an unvoiced consonant. At the
end of a Latin suffix, S is unvoiced.

No count is needed for these words. Those with Latin suffixes

are counted under unvoiced S, p. 226. The native English
suffixes are not included in the Hanna list because they change
the word’s form, but not its basic meaning.
 S Blends / 229
See also:
SC-, p. 232

S as in stop
stand scared story
stone spelling. instead
store starter station
spend skating spider
school spicy scarecrow

space escape telescope

skill schedule circumstance
sphere discard desperate
stem respond hemisphere
scarf monster especial

scow abscond despicable

scud despise barrister
spume bespeak ostensible
staid solstice schizophrenia
sphinx scapegoat conspiratorial

These are all consonant blends of unvoiced S with an unvoiced

consonant at the beginning of the syllable. SK, SP and ST can
also be blends at the end of the syllable. These blends often
split up between vowels. If the blend splits, the vowel before it
is short, as in desperate. Otherwise, the vowel before the blend
is long, as in microscope.

148 words have the blend SC-.

60 words have the blend SK.

266 words have the blend SP.

721 words have the blend ST.

12 words have the blend SCH-.

20 words have the blend SPH-.

These words are also counted under S, p. 226, and

under C, K, P, T, CH and PH, pp. 92, 168, 210, 244,
96 and 213.
230 / S Blends
Exceptions:
answer
® sword
S as in sled boatswain
coxswain
(silent W)
slow sliding asleep
smoke smaller snowball
snake snowed slipper
swim sweetest sweetheart
sleigh sweeper rattlesnake

slam slogan slanderous

smart smuggle smorgasboard
snip snapshot slavery
smudge coleslaw manslaughter
swamp switchboard persuade

suede slothful swastika

sluice smitten talisman
snide greensward persuasive
swathe slaked
swale assuage

These are all consonant blends of an unvoiced S with a voiced

consonant at the beginning of the syllable. These blends do not
often split up between vowels. SM can also be a blend at the
end of the word, but then the S is voiced as in prism. The blend
SW- is spelled SU- in words of Latin origin.

100 words have the blend SL-.

35 words have the blend SM-.

12 words have the blend SN-.

53 words have the blend SW-.

7 words have the blend SU-.

These words are also counted under S, p. 226, and under

L, M, N, W and U, pp. 173, 177, 179, 270 and 260.
 S Blends / 231

S as in splash
spring stronger squirrel
straight scratching sprinkler
scream squeezed scrapbook
squeak stranger strawberry
string spreading

scrub describe abstraction

split construct scrupulous
stray splendid strategy
stripe streetcar inscription
squirm disclaim demonstrate

sprig prescrioe sclerosis

script offspring scrutinize
splice strident strategic
squid squeamish strontium
strive abstract instrumental

These are all blends of unvoiced S with two other letter sounds.
They are triple blends. These blends do not often split up be-
tween vowels.

4 words have the blend SCL-.

73 words have the blend SCR-.

Ae words have the blend SPL-.

27 words have the blend SPR-.

29 words have the blend SQU-.

218 words have the blend STR-.

These words are also counted under S, p. 226, under L,

p. 173 and R, p. 219, and under C, P, QU- and T, pp. 92
210, 214 and 244, and under the component blends like
SP- and PRP-.
232 / Soft SC-
See also:

Crpso3

SC as in scissors Exceptions:
sceptic
science (C
= K)
muscle
scientist
corpuscle
scientific (silent C
before |)
scene descend disciple discern
scent obscene miscellaneous (SC z)
scythe scepter fluorescent
crescent adolescent
luscious fascinate

rescind ascetic
scion proscenium
nascent scintillate
miscible
ascertain

Before E, | or Y, the consonant blend SC- has a soft C, so that

the blend sounds like a plain S-. In Ancient Latin, where all C’s
were hard, these blends sounded like SK-. Like other blends,
this one can split up between vowels. If it splits, the vowel before
it is short, as in crescent. Otherwise, the vowel before the blend
is long, as in descend.

75 words contain the blend SC- sounding like unvoiced S.

These words are also counted under S, p. 226 and underC,

p. 93.
 -SE / 233
See also:

-SE, p. 234
“SS, p. 237
-SE as in house
Exceptions:
biceps horse horses horseback
triceps else nursed lighthouse
forceps
(no E at course worse playhouse
the end) mouse geese
goose

coarse collapse endorsement

grease increase horsepower
sense expense summerhouse
loose falsehood universe
pulse immense housekeeper

copse diverse recompense

corpse perverse intersperse
lapse concourse frankincense
crease disburse disbursement
glimpse tortoise remorseful

In these words, the root ends in an unvoiced S sound after a

consonant or a vowel team. The silent E shows that the S is not
being added as a suffix. This enables the eye to distinquish be-
tween (one) lapse and (two) laps, diverse and (3) divers.

143 words have roots ending in unvoiced -SE.

These words are also counted under S, p. 226 and -E,

p. 111.
234 /—SE ..
See also:
-SE, p. 233
-SS; p: 237
-SE as in cheese -ZE, p. 292

Exceptions:
please houses because
noise caused lens
(no E at
raise the end)
choose
tease

bruise applause mayonnaise

praise arouse praiseworthy
ease disease
pause

braise espouse polonaise

cruise causeway gooseberry
browse appraise
clause turquoise
cleanse

In these words, the root ends in a voiced S sound after a vowel

team. The silent E shows that the S is not being added as a suf-
fix. This helps the eye to distinquish between please and (two)
pleas, praise and (he) prays, pause and (4) paws. In many of
these words, there is double insurance against confusion,
because the word ending -SE contains a vowel team for the mid-
dle of a root, while the one with added -S has a vowel team for
the end of a root.

43 words have roots ending voiced -SE.

These words are also counted under -S-, p. 227 and -E,
ob, ah)
 SH / 235
See also:
-Cl-, p. 98
CH, p. 97
-SSI-, p. 238 SH as in ship
-SU-, p. 239
-Tl-, p. 250
she shoes English
Exceptions: show dishes finish
shall wished shadow
fashion
cushion
fish washing sunshine
(SH in Latin should shorter yellowish
spellings)
shade ashore foreshorten
shin shovel shareholder
shred ashamed shrubbery
march hardship battleship
leash threshold refreshments

shad banish partnership

shank shoddy worshipful
shrewd shrinkage accomplishment
mesh flourish establishment

SH is a consonant team for the special English consonant sound

at the beginning of ship and the end of fish. Notice that SH
sometimes forms a blend with R as in shred. Once in a while,
S and H belong to different roots, and retain their normal sounds,
as in grasshopper.

We use SH for this sound only at the beginning and end in native
English roots, and in the suffix -ish. When the SH sound occurs
before Latin suffixes, it is speiled -Cl-, -SCI-, -Sl-, -SSI- or -TI-,
as in special, conscience, tension, passion or nation; or else
it is spelled -S- or -SS- before unstressed long U, as in censure
or tissue.

406 Words have SH as in ship, of these, 21 have the biend

SHR-, and are also counted under R, p. 219.
236 / -SI-
See also:
-S-, p. 227
-SSI-, p. 238
-SI- as in television Tp. 186
-ZU-, p. 293

vision
division

fusion decision
confusion
invasion
excursion
explosion

lesion adhesion
version allusion
implosion
abrasion
ambrosia

In these words, S has the special consonant sound which is

respelled as ZH in dictionaries. S between vowels is often voiced.
Here, the unstressed | before a vowel changes the voiced S
sound to ZH. The S can have a ZH sound even when the vowel
before it is an ER vowel sound, as in version and excursion.
These are all words of Latin origin.

59 words have S changed to ZH by unstressed | before a vowel.

These words are not counted under -S-, p. 227.

 -SS / 237
See also:
-S, p. 228
-SE, p. 233
SS as in glass
Exceptions:
us grass classes across
yes
this
dress dressing address
bus miss crossed goodness
gas guess grassy careless
pus pass kisses princess
plus
thus
(single S) bless assess congress
boss blissful actress
crevasse
fuss confess business
finesse
fosse less dressmaker consciousness
impasse toss assessment embarrass
demitasse
(-SSE) lass abyss dispossess
bass (voice) cress cesspool distressful
(long A) stress caress harassment
gross truss obsessed
(long O) chess carcass

-SS is a consonant team for unvoiced S at the end of the root

after a short vowel. In these words, the root, or the last syllable,
ends in an S sound. The -SS shows that the S is not being add-
ed as a Suffix. This enables the eye to distinguish between his
(him’s) and (one) hiss, (one) princess and (two) princes, (two)
needles and needless.

280 words have SS at the end of the word.

These words are also counted once each under S, p. 226.

238 / -SSI-
See also:
-Sl-, p. 236
-SU-, p. 239
-SSI- as in procession “L, p. 186
expression

passion succession
mission profession
session dimension
mansion controversial
pension confession

fission accession
commission extension
secession emulsion
digression dissension

In these words the SS has an SH sound. SS between vowels

is unvoiced. Here, the unstressed | before a vowel changes the
unvoiced S sound to an SH sound. In some of these words, there
is one S after a different consonant. The | changes these S’s
in the same way. These are all words of Latin origin.

105 words have SS, or a consonant followed by S, changed to

an SH sound by unstressed | before a vowel.

These words are not counted under S, p. 226.

 -SU- / 239
See also:
esl; p: 236
-SSI-, p. 238 2
fool p< 287 -SU- as in treasure

sure surely usually

insure issue enclosure

assure pressure visual
tissue insurance
leisure exposure
measure casual

surety tonsure usurious

closure sensuous
fissure embrasure
sumac erasure
censure cynosure

In these words, SS between vowels has an SH sound. So do

S at the beginning of the word, and S after a different conso-
nant. Single S between vowels normally has a Z sound, but here
it has the special consonant sound which is respelled ZH in dic-
tionaries. The Y- element from the long U sound causes these
changes in the S sounds.

63 words have the sound of S or SS changed by long U.

These S’s and SS’s are not counted under S, p. 226 or under
-S-, p. 227.
240 / French S

S at the end of French words

is silent, as in rendezvous

corps chassis

chamois apropos
debris
bourgeois

Words of this kind are English enough to be included in the

Hanna listing, but many of their letter sounds reflect their French
origin.

This is the entire list of words ending in silent S.

 Letter T / 241

The Letter T

In English the letter T has one basic sound, the first sound in
top. T usually behaves like any ordinary consonant letter, as in
time, train, stain, strain, mat, mate, fast, lift, felt, kept,
tempt, cart, last, matting, mating, cotton, title, little

Letter Teams Containing T

1. T is the first member of the consonant team TH. This team may
be either voiced, as in this, or unvoiced, as in thing. The Latin
language did not contain either of these sounds. Therefore,
the Latin alphabet which we use has no single letter for either
of these sounds.
a. TH is voiced—
1) At the beginning of the pointing words, as in
the, that, these, there, then, they, them, thy
2) Between vowels in native English words as in
mother, feather, either, clothes, bathe, loathe,
teething, mouthing
b. TH is unvoiced—
1) At the beginnings of nouns, verbs and adjectives, as in
thief, thumb, thank, thump, thick, thin
2) When it is the first member of the consonant blend THR,
as in
through, three, thrifty, thread
3) At the end of the word, as in
path, death, health, moth, wreath, oath, youth, south,
north, cloth, bath, loath, teeth, mouth, fifth, twentieth
4) In ail positions on the Latin side of English. Even though
the Romans could not pronounce TH, they used this
team to preserve the Greek flavor of borrowed words in
which the Greeks used the unvoiced TH sound. On
242 / Letter T

entering English, these TH’s reverted to the ancient

Greek TH sound, as in
thorax, theory, therapy, author, ethics, cathedral,
sympathy, orthodox, myth
Notice the Y’s within the word. These, too, are remnants
of Greek spellings.
3. TCH is a team for the special English consonant sound of CH.
It is used to spell this sound right after a short vowel in the
root, as in
catch, etch, ditch, notch, clutch
These are words which can take the native English suffixes,
-ed, -ing, -er, -es, -y, -en, etc. When the suffix captures the
CH sound and runs off with it, we tend to use a T sound to
close our mouths at the end of the first syllable, as in cat-cher,
et-ching or dit-ches. This is natural, because CH has a complex
sound, which begins with the mouth in the normal position for
T. For this reason, the team TCH makes phonetic sense in
words of this kind.
Distortions of the T sound—
1. T before suffixes containing unstressed | before another vowel.
The unstressed | distorts the T to an SH sound, as in
nation, motion, condition partial, patience, quotient,
negotiate
2. T before unstressed long U. The Y- portion of the unstressed
long U distorts the T to a CH sound, as in
nature, picture, furniture, fortune, actual, century,
punctuate, virtue, virtuous
3. Silent T. T is silent in -stle, -sten and -ften, as in
castle, nestle, wrestle, fasten, hasten, listen, moisten,
often, soften
Notice that when the suffix is dropped, the T often sounds, as in
nest, wrest, haste, moist, oft, soft
Even fasten means ‘‘to make fast.”’
 Letter T / 243

T is the second member of the consontant team PT. (See ‘‘the

Letter P,”’ page 209.)
244/T
Exceptions:
mitt
putt
T as in top watt
butt
boycott
(double T)
take getting party boatswain
tell hunted mountain Christmas
taken government chestnut
not
mortgage
want later outside (silent T)
just brightest bucket

tame splutter consistent

stow waistcoat priority
blunt private tolerant
dealt rusty handicraft
fact fifteen undoubted

taut ornate treacherous

tier cobalt notorious
blurt hydrant inadequate
mute altar benevolent
chaste torrent alienate

T is aconsonant letter for the first sound in top and the last sound
in hat.

7345 words have T as in top.

 Silent T / 245

T as in castle

often
Christmas
listen
whistle
fasten

hasten nestle christening

hustle wrestler epistle
jostle chestnut mistletoe
soften mortgage thistledown

chasten forecastle
hostler boatswain
pestle apostle
gristle
moisten

In these words, the T is silent. Most of the words have T be-

tween S and the suffixes -le or -en. Notice that in related words
like Christ, nest, fast and soft, the T sounds.

39 words have silent T.

246 / T Blends
> See also:
-LE, p. 175
T as in twin and trains
Exceptions:
two
tree tried travel (silent W)
trip tricky trouble
truck stretching strawberry
street trader twenty
twice twelve between

treat treason astronomy

trout strengthen strategy
trail translate transistor
strike extreme contribute
twinkle twilight twentieth

trait distraught obstruction

truss abstract centrifugal
tripe transom tranquility
trek transcribe protractor
twinge symmetry arbitrator

TR- and TW- are consonant blends. These blends do not often
split up between vowels. The vowel before the blend is long,
as in retract and between. STR- is a triple blend.

Notice how many of the words with TW- blends have meanings
connected with the number two, or with on-and-off sights or
sounds (twinkle).

492 words have the blend TR-.

32 words have the blend TW-.
218 words have the blend STR-.

These words are also counted under T, p. 244 and under

R, S and W, pp. 219, 226 and 270.
 -TCH / 247
See also:
CH, p. 95

Exceptions:
TCH as in pitch.
which
much ditch watched hopscotch
such catch catcher kitchen
rich
watch matches hatchet
attach
detach witch scratching watchdog
bachelor
duchess “blotch bewitch switchboard
lecherous
clutch butcher stretcher
(T omitted)
hatch dispatch witchcraft
stitch patchwork kitchennette
sketch satchel

hutch ratchet crotchety

notch etching witchery
crutch wretched

-TCH is a letter team for the special English consonant sound

of CH. We use -TCH to show this sound right after a short vowel
in the root.

CH represents a complex consonant sound, which begins with

a T sound. When suffixes like -er, -es, or -ing are added to words
ending in a CH sound, the T sound tends to attach itself to the
first syllable, while ordinary CH begins the second syllable. Thus,
the -TCH spelling makes phonetic sense.

63 words have -TCH after a short vowel in the root.

These words are also counted under CH, p. 95. They are
not counted under T, p. 244.
248 / Voiced TH
. See also:
TH, p. 249

TH as in this and that

the these although

there those themselves
then theirs either
they clothes together
than with otherwise

thee northern nevertheless

thou farther trustworthy
thy breathing feathery
bathe heathen motherhood
smooth brethren fathomless

thence withal
thus therefrom
blithe forthwith
lithe hither
swathe thither

TH is a letter team for the special English consonant sound at

the beginning of this and in the middle of mother. In these
words, TH is voiced. Voiced TH is used at the beginning of the
pointing words. It also occurs between vowels in native English
words. The word with can end with voiced TH if the next word
begins with a vowel or a voiced consonant.

150 words have voiced TH.

 Unvoiced TH / 249
See also:
TH, p. 248

Exceptions:
TH as in thing
Thomas
thyme thimble thinking birthday
Thames
three thanked nothing
Gheta= 1)
throw seventh thirty
thumb threw Thursday
mouth thickest thousand

thorn thunder mathematics

oath thirsty authority
thread throughout anthology
north healthy thermostat
month athlete sympathy

thatch thorax ethnology

lath thymus monolithic
thwart zenith authentic
throes naphtha psychopathic
thresh ether diphthong

TH is a letter team for the special English consonant sound at

the beginning of thing and the end of north. In these words,
TH is unvoiced. Unvoiced TH is used at the beginning of nouns,
verbs and adjectives. It also occurs between vowels in the Greek
words, which come to us through Latin. After the reader goes
beyond children’s materials, all the TH’s in unfamiliar words will
be unvoiced TH’s.

Once in a while, T and H belong to different roots, and retain

their normal sounds, as in pothole.

Unvoiced TH blends with R and W, as in three and thwart.

468 words have unvoiced TH. Of these, 50 have R blends, and

are also counted under R, p. 219. Three of them have W
blends, and are counted under W, p. 270.
250 / -TI-
See also:
-Cl, p. 98
-SSI-, p. 238
Tl as in nation -I-, p. 156

Exceptions:
station question
equation
motion education
(ilg==Zia)
action direction
caution addition

section national constitution

option vacation circumstantial
patience condition recognition
partial completion intentional
initial migration suggestion

bestial cognition differential

quotient negotiate impartiality
diction deduction notification
ratio apportion proclamation
function probation dietitian

In these words, T has an SH sound. The unstressed | before

a vowel causes this change in the T sound. These are all words
of Latin origin.

866 words have T changed to an SH sound by unstressed |

before a vowel. Of these, 624 are -tion words.

These words are not counted under T, p. 244.

 -TU- / 251
See also:
-DU-, p. 103

Long U, p. 257 TU as in picture

-SU-, p. 239 s .

Exceptions:
nature natural
© cient 5 capture statue
) future furniture
fortune temperature
posture adventure

culture actual agriculture

gesture fortunate spiritual
feature eventual punctuation
moisture signature literature
virtue mutual situation

stature botulism ineffectual

creature ritual estuary
denture habitual infatuated
vulture saturated architecture
texture fluctuate picturesque

In these words, T has a CH sound. The Y- element of the

unstressed long U causes this change in the T sound. These
are all words of Latin origin.

173 words have T changed to a CH sound by unstressed long U.

These words are not counted under T, p. 244.

252 / French T

In French words final T is

silent, but a final silent E
makes it sound

-T -TE -TTE

beret route cigarette

bouquet suite kitchenette
buffet fete gazette
ballet forte roulette
croquet petite croquette
qourmet elite barrette
ricochet garrote gavotte
sobriquet artiste pipette
depot baptiste butte
petit debutante statuette
debut marquerite silhouette
mignonette
rosette
layette
palette
etiquette

Notice the French sounds of many of the vowels like |, E and

OU, and of the consonant team CH. Although these words are
English enough to be included in the Hanna listing, many of their
letter sounds reflect their French origin.

This is the entire list of words that have T affected by the French
style of spelling.
 Letter U / 253

The Letter U
In English, the letter U has three basic sounds, long, short and
the vowel sound of put.
1. U is short when it is within the syllable, as in
but, fun, drum, bulk, just, dump, mut-ter, bun-dle,
sub-ject, pro-nun-ci-a-tion
In the case of a word beginning with a vowel, U is short if
it has a consonant after it in the same syllable, as in
up, un-der, un-like
The short sound of U is changed to the special English
vowel sound of ER by final R, or by R followed by another
consonant, as in
fur, turn, burst, tur-key, pur-ple, ur-gent, hur-ry
But if the next letter is a vowel, it will capture the R and leave
the U unchanged, as in
pu-rest, fu-ry, se-cu-ri-ty
2. U is long, and sounds like the name of the Letter U—
a. When it is the last letter in the syllable, as in
u-nit, fu-el, tu-ning, stu-dent, hu-mor, con-fu-sion
flu, ru-mor, bru-tish, flu-ent, in-tru-sion, lu-bri-cate
The long sound of a vowel is exemplified by the name of
the vowel letter. The name of U begins with a consonant
Y sound. It could be respelled yoo. The Y- part of the long
U sound is the only thing that makes it different from the
long sound of OO, as in food. The Y- part of the long U
sound is quite striking in the words in the group beginning
with unit, above. But it is completely absent in the examples
in the group beginning with flu, because it is impossible to
pronounce a Y- sound after the American pronunciations
of L or R. The student should learn to use the full letter-
name for long U, and then be prepared to drop the Y- part
of it when convenient. However, it is the Y- sound which
distorts the S of sure and in-sure, turning it into an SH
sound.
254 / Letter U -

(In the Latin style of spelling, U at the end of the syllable

is sometimes short, as in stu-dy, pu-nish, ju-gu-lar. But even
in the Latin style, U is normally long if there is only one con-
sonant between the U and the next vowel, as in student,
accumulate, illuminate.)
b. Inthe spelling pattern U__E, as in
use, cute, tube, duke, for-tune, com-pute, in-sure,
rule, crude, flute, in-trude
The first line of examples contains words in which the Y-
part of the long U sound can be heard, and the second line
contains words where it is suppressed by R or L.
c. In the vowel teams UE and UI, as in
due, hue,
blue, true, con-strue, at the end of the root and in
suit, juice, nui-sance,
fruit, bruise, within the root
In each set of examples, the first line contains words where
the Y- part of the long U sound can be heard, and the
second line contains words where it is suppressed by R or L.
d. The long sound of U is also represented by the teams EW
and EU, as in
ewe, few, mew, pew, chew,
grew, flew, blew at the end of the root
feudal, deuce, neutral
rheumatism, within the root.
In each set of examples, the first line contains words where
the Y- part of the long U sound can be heard, while the
second line contains words where it is suppressed by L or
R. (See EU and EW, pp. 124 and 125.)
3. In a few words, U within the word spells the special vowel sound
of short OO. (Put rhymes with foot.) Examples are —
put, pull, full, bull, push, bul-let, bush-el, bul-wark
Unstressed U
1. When short U is unstressed, it is just as severely muffled
 Letter U / 255

as are unstressed A, E, and O, as in fi-nal, chan-nel, and pis-

tol. But the ordinary sound of short U is so much like schwa
that loss of stress does not seem to change short U as radical-
lv as it changes the other vowel sounds. Short U is unstressed
in
un-til, cen-sus, me-di-um, sub-scrip-tion, cir-cum-stance
. When long U is unstressed most of its sound is muffled beyond
recognition. But the Y- part of the long U sound is almost never
lost, even in the syllables that are the most hurried, and are
therefore the least stressed, as in
po-pu-la-tion, oc-cu-py, mo-nu-ment, in-so-lu-ble,
re-gu-late, fai-lure, vo-lume, fi-gure, te-nure
The Y- part of the long U sound is so persistent that it distorts
D, S, T and Z sounds when they are captured from roots by
syllables containing long U’s. D’s take on J sounds, S’s take
on SH sounds, T’s take on CH sounds, and Z sounds take on
ZH sounds, as in
e-du-ca-tion, ver-dure; is-sue, pres-sure; con-gra-tu-late,
na-ture; u-su-al, mea-Sure, a-zure
U in Teams for Other Vowel Sounds
U forms the second member of the vowel teams AU, EU and
OU. See ‘‘The Letter A,’”’ page 67; ‘‘The Letter E,’’ page 104; and
“The Letter O,”’ page 182.
U as a Consonant
The letter U sometimes behaves like the consonant W. U sounds
like the consonant W—
ke In the consonant blend QU, as in
quake, queen, quick, quo-ta-tion, con-quest
(But after Q, U is occasionally silent, in words borrowed from
the French, as in an-tique, plaque, con-quer.)
. When it occasionally forms a blend with other consonant letters,
especially G and S, as in
lan-guage, an-guish, per-suade, as-suage, pueb-lo
These are words of Latin origin.
256 / Letter U

Silent U
U does not form a consonant blend with G when the next letter
is E, lor Y. Instead, the U is silent, and serves to keep the G hard
before these vowels, as in
guess, guide, guil-lo-tine, guy
 Long U / 257
See also:
UE, p. 262 =
DU-, p. 103 U as in uniform
-SU-, p. 239
-TU-, p. 251
OO, p. 195 Unstressed
during bluish natural
Exceptions: music human united
Bisy Lulu stupid century
(short 1) sugar tulip usually
truly ruler education
bury
(short E)
Unstressed
victual .
(silent U) unit cruel supreme
humor ruin actually
tuna fury influence
bugle confusion formula
student curious graduation

Unstressed
fluid cucumber volume
plural lubricate visual
cubic insurance calculate
mural accumulate adventurous
duty endurance document

U is a vowel letter. It is long in a syllable that ends in U. When

there is a single consonant between vowels, the first vowel is
long. This is true for most of the U’s even in the Latin words.

It is uSually true that a long vowel ‘‘says its name.’’ But the name
of U begins with a consonant Y- sound which is often lost,
because it is so difficult to pronounce after certain consonants,
especially L and R. The Y- part of long U is clearly heard in unit
and music, but it is lost in truly.

438 words have long U in a stressed syllable, where the vowel

sound is clear.

521 words have long U in an unstressed syilable, where the Y-

part of the long U sound is often all that can be heard as
in volume.

This count excludes words like using, where the native

English suffix simply changes the word’s form.
258 / Short U
See also:
U;, Pp) 257

U as in up Exceptions:
Ruth
cutting hungry trutn
us
Duluth
duck lucky study impugn
fun funny number (long U)
jump runner under
judge hunted hundred

Unstressed
punch begrudge supposed
bluff bucket subscribe
thump chuckle unhealthy
crutch subway cactus
pulse upkeep product

Unstressed
blunt summary uphold
gust consumption apparatus
cull butler unstable
tuft destructive stadium
hunch punishable frustration

U is a vowel letter. U is short in a syllable that ends with a con-

sonant letter. When there are two consonants between vowels,
the first vowel is almost always short. In a few of the Latin words,
U is short even when there is only one consonant between
vowels, as in punish.

1027 words have U before a consonant in a stressed syllable,

where the short U sound is clear.

518 words have U before a consonant in an unstressed

syllable. In spite of being unstressed, the vowel sound
remains fairly clear.
 3rd sound of U / 259
See also:
OO, p. 196
U, p. 258
U as in put
push putting awful
full fuller beautiful
pull pulled careful
bush pussy bulldozer
bull pushing bullet

bullion pudding ambush

bully pulley fulfill
bushel pulpit forgetful
butcher output powerful
cuckoo cushion scornful

bullock artful unmindful

bulwark truthful worshipful
fulsome vengeful disdainful
pullet wistful remoresful
tactful pitiful

In these words, U is within the syllable, so that it appears as

though it should be short. But here the U has its third sound,
which is the same as short OO. (Put rhymes with foot.) Notice
that most of these words have the syllables bull, pull, full or
bush.

37 words have U with its third sound in a stressed syllable,

where the vowel sound is clear.

113 words have U with its third sound in an unstressed syllable.

Most of these are words like careful, with the suffix -ful.
260 / Consonant U
‘ See also:
G Blends, p. 1

U as in language QU., p. 214

S Blends, p. z

quilt squash quarter

penquin

quiz quiver acquainted

suite persuade linguistic
suave anquish distinguish
pueblo cuisine extinguish
LaGuardia

quell assuage equity

sanguine dissuade consanguinity
guano languid

There are only a few words where U forms a team with the vowel
letter which comes after it. In the words on this page, U has the
consonant sound of W. This is a Latin or Spanish spelling.

248 words have U with a consonant sound. Of these, 220

involve the consonant blend QU-.
 U_E/ 261
See also:
-E, p. 110
-UE, p. 262
-DU-, p. 103 U—E as in tube
-SU-, p. 239
-TU-, p. 251

Unstressed
Exceptions: sure cubes nature
butte use useful minute
(double T be- rule costume picture
tween U and cute excuse future
E) tune absolutely adventure

Unstressed
flute insure measure
cure exclude pressure
duke abuse enclosure
pure secure contribute
huge amusement furniture

Unstressed
dude assume volume
fume commute refuge
nude lukewarm schedule
tube mature misfortune
obscure agriculture

Vowel-consonant-silent E is a special long vowel spelling pat-

tern. The E makes the U “‘say its name.”’ The E remains silent
when a syllable beginning with a consonant is added to the word.
In many of these words the Y- part of the long U sound is prom-
inent, as in cube. In many others it is lost, as in rule. (See long U,
p. 257.)
153 words have U_E ina stressed syllable, where the long U
sound is clear.

179 words have U_E in an unstressed syllable. In these

syllables the vowel sound is often muffled, and the con-
sonant captured from the root is often changed in sound by
the Y-part of the long U.

These words are not counted under long U, p. 257.

262 / -UE
* See also:
U_E, p. 261
-UE, p. 263
-UE as in glue also, p. 295
No exception
blue dues bluebird
true statue blueberry
Sue avenue
value
argue

clue untrue barbecue

cue rescue continue
sue pursue revenue
issue tissue
virtue

flue accrue bluebottle

rue construe gruesome
hue fondue
subdue

UE is a vowel team for long U. It is used at the end of the root.

The Y- part of the long U sound is lost in many of these words.
(See long U, p. 257.)

44 words have -UE sounding like long U.

These words are not counted under long U, p. 257.

 Silent -UE / 263
See also:
-UE, p. 262
GU-, p. 143 .
QU. p. 215 -UE as in tongue
league

morgue colleague catalogue

plague intrigue synagogue
vague harangue dialogue
plaque unique
clique opaque

brogue grotesque analogue

fugue Critique pedagogue
vogue picturesque

Except in the word argue, UE is silent at the end of the word

after G or Q. These are French spellings. Since the U is silent,
the silent E can make the first vowel long, but the vowel often
has a French sound, instead.

43 words have silent UE at the end.

264 / Ul
: Exceptions:
build
2 2 guilt
UI as in fruit guitar
guild
guillotine
guinea
juice juicy suitcase (short 1)
suit guide
guile
cruise cruiser suitable guise
bruise fruitful unsuitable (long !)
pursuit nuisance (The silent U
lawsuit keeps the G
hard before
; : the I.)
sluice suitor

Ul is a vowel team for long U within the root. In most of these

words, the Y- part of the long U sound is lost. (See long U, p.
257.)

This is the entire list of words with UI.

These words are not counted under long U, p. 257.

 -UR / 265
See also:
-ER, p. 121
-IR, p. 164
UR as in fur
Exceptions:
purr turn nurses surprise
burr hurt curved hurry
(2 R’s) _church curly Thursday
burn burnt turtle
Saturday

blur suburb turpentine

curb return furthermore
turf surface survival
purge pursue frankfurter

knurl urban reimburse

burgh furlong appurtenances
nurture

In these words, the R is at the end, is followed by a different

consonant, or is doubled between vowels. U in the middle of
the syllable is usually short, but the R changes it to the special
English vowel sound of ER.

247 words have U changed by R.

These words are also counted under R, p. 219.

266 /V
See also:
-VE, p. 267

V as in valentine No Exceptions

five driving very

cave gave seven
leave given over
brave arrived evening
stove heavy everything

vine advance provision

voice flavor advocate
river oven overturn
never diver vacation
vote vivid behavior

verb alcove inveigled

vie average juvenile
vast vinyl adventurous
vein viola provisional
vile evolve conveyance

V is aconsonant letter for the first sound in valentine. Ordinari-

ly, it is necessary to double a consonant letter before a native
English suffix in order to keep the vowel of the root short. But
V is never doubled, because VV looks too much like W. Never
would look like newer. The reader must be prepared to use either
a long vowel or a short vowel, whichever makes sense.

1491 words have V as in valentine.

 -VE / 267
See also:
V, p. 266

No exceptions
VE as in have

give moved above

live living receive
love loving believe
twelve proved themselves
glove calves improve

carve resolve native

nerve approve active
groove forgive detective
sleeve outlive impulsive
shelves relieve talkative

cleave movement responsive

salve deserve productive
mauve revolve selective
waive bereaved comparatively
heave conceive subjective

-VE is a consonant team for V as the last sound in the word.

We never use V at the end without silent E. (To keep the V from
falling over?)

These are words where the silent E does not make the vowel
before it long. Notice that O in these words has either a short
U or along OO sound. See page 266 for words where a single
vowel before -VE is long.

287 words have -VE where it does not make the vowel before
it long. Of these, 185 have the suffix -ive. Most of the rest
have vowel teams or consonants before the V.

These words are also counted under V, p. 266.

268 / Letter W

The Letter W

Before the vowel, W is a consonant letter for the first sound in

win. After the vowel, W is always part of a vowel team.
1. W as a consonant letter.
a. W occurs before the vowel either by itself, or as the second
member of a consonant blend, as in
wax, wait, went, weed, wine, wish, want, won, warm,
word, swing, swarm, twelve, twist, dwarf
b. When W comes before A or O within the syllable, it changes
the vowel sound. It changes the short A sound to the sound
of short O and the short O sound to the sound of short U,
as in
want, wash, swap, swat, wander, swaddling, won,
wonder
lf the letter after the changed A or O is R or R followed by
a different consonant, it changes these vowels one more
step. The R changes the short O sound of the A to a long
O sound: and it changes the short U sound of the O to the
same sound as UR, as in
war, warm, warden, swarthy; world, worse, worthy
These changes do not seem surprising if we notice what
R normally does to short O and short U sounds:
fond/ford, wand/ward; fun/fur, won/word
But if the sound after the A or O is G, K or NG, the vowel
remains short, as in
wag, thwack, wax, twang, polliwog
Since the U in the consonant blend QU has a W sound, it
has the same effect on A that W has, as in
squad, squash, squander, quantity, quart, quack
O does not happen to occur after qu in any syllables where
it would normally be short:
 Letter W / 269

c. W is the first member of the consonant team WH, as in

what. This team occurs only at the beginning of the word,
as in
when, where, which, why, whip, wheel, whisper,
whine
In some regions, WH is an unvoiced version of the W sound.
But in many regions, it sounds exactly like W.
Before long O and OO sounds, WH sounds like H, as in
who, whom, whose, whole, whooping
d. W is the first member of the consonant team WR, as in
write. This team occurs only at the beginning of the word
or syllable, as in
wreck, wring, wrap, playwright

2. After the vowel, W occurs only as the second member of the

vowel teams AW, EW and OW, as in
jaw, paw, dawn, crawl, hawk, awkward,
new, few, chew, curfew
how, down, gown, howl, growl, shower, towel, allow
show, shown, growth, bowl, window, pillow, shallow
(See ‘‘The Letter A,” p. 67; ‘‘The Letter E,” p. 104; and ‘‘The
Letter O,” p. 182.)
270 / W- ™
Exceptions:

one
once
W as in wagon (the W sound
is not written
at all)

we waiting always two

answer
walk wished away sword
would windy between boatswain
with wider twenty coxswain
sweet wildest winter gunwale
(silent W)
wire awoke backwoodsman
twin beware wayfarer
waist highway interwoven
sweat entwine overweight
dwell likewise bewilder

wean waiver cottonwood

womb welter earthenware
wed wicket
wince aware
weld forthwith

W is aconsonant letter for the first sound in wagon. W is a con-

sonant letter only when it comes before a vowel letter. After a
vowel, W is always part of a letter team for a vowel sound.

578 words have W as in wagon.

 WA- / 271
See also:
Short A, p. 71
WAR-, p. 272 :
WO, p. 274 WA- as in wand
Exceptions: :
was swapping water
em want wanted waterfall
wax watch washer wander
swam squash squashy whatever
quack what
swagger
waxen
wigwag wad waffle waterproof
thwack wasp wallet breakwater
twang watt swallow qualify
aquatic squat quarrel quantify
(short A) swan squander quality

squad warrant swastika

swab waddle quadruped
swamp squabble kilowatt
wand equality quadrangle
washable

In these words, the A should be short, because it is in the mid-

dle of the syllable. But W before the A changes the short A sound
to broad A, with a sound like short O as in hot or dog. Since
it is the sound of W which has this effect, QU- also changes
short A to broad A.

Notice that most of the exceptional words have K, hard G or NG

sounds after the A.

92 words have WA- or QUA- with a broad A sound.

These words are also counted under W-, p. 270 or under

QU-, p. 214.
272 / WAR-
See also:
WA-, p. 271
WOR-, p. 275
WAR- as in warm -OR, p. 197

No exceptions
Unstressed
war warmer forward
warn warning backwards
swarm quarter afterwards
quart reward upwards

ward award headquarters

warp forewarn quarterback
wart warden quarterly
dwarf warfare

Unstressed
thwart warble bulwark
quartz wardrobe windward
wharf lukewarm leeward

lf warm did not have an R after the vowel, the W at the begin-
ning would give the A a broad sound, equivalent to the short
O sound of hot. But the R changes the broad A sound to a long
O sound. (Compare fond/for and wand/war.)

40 words have WA- changed by R in a stressed syllable, where

the long O sound is clear.

39 words have WA- changed by R in an unstressed syllable,

where the vowel sound is often muffled.

These words are also counted under W-, p. 270, and under
QU-, p. 214, and R, p. 219.
 WH- / 273
xceptions:
ho
hose
hole
hom
WH as in wheel
hoever
hoop
hore what whack whisper
(WH = H) when whale whisker
where wheat somewhere
which white whatever
why whip nowhere

while whether whereabouts

wheeze whimper anywhere
whew whirlpool whippoorwill
whiff whistle meanwhile
whiz whittle whirligig

whey wherefore whither

wharf whit wheresoever
whim whetstone wherewithal
whisk whinny whimsical!
whet whereupon whereby

WH- is a letter team for the special English consonant sound

in wheel. In many regions it sounds the same as plain W-. In
other regions it sounds like the consonant blend HW-. This is
the Old English sound of WH.

We use the team WH at the beginnings of question words. Most

of the other WH- words have meanings conected with whistling
or whining sounds.

91 words begin with WH.

274 / WO- ~
See also:

WA-, p. 271
WOR-, p. 275
WO- as in wonder O, p. 188
Exceptions:
won wolves wonderland P
wolf wonderful wobble
woman (short O)
saleswoman swum
swung

wondrous womanly (U after W

)
wolfish womanhood plea
washerwoman (short 1)
needlewoman

wont wonderment
unwonted
gentlewoman
womankind

In these words, W at the beginning changes the short O sound

to short U, as in nut or put.

This is the entire list of words with WO- having a short U sound.

These words are also counted under W-, p. 270.

Those where the O sounds like short U in nut are also counted
under O, p. 188,
 WOR- / 275
See also:
NAR-, p. 272
NO-, p. 274
WOR- as in worm
=xceptions:
vorn word worker workshop
sworn
work worry
(normal sound
of OR) world fireworks
iverwurst worse network
(U after W) worst silkworm
vorsted
(silent R) worth worship overwork
worthy unworthy
worthless workable
teamwork underworld
crossword handiwork

whorl cutworm worshipful

If worm did not have an R after the vowel, the W at the begin-
ning would give the O a short U sound. But the R changes the
short U sound to the special English vowel sound of ER. (Com-
pare fun/fur and won/worm.)

51 words have WO- changed by R to sound like WER.

These words are also counted under W-, p. 270 and under
Ry p29:
276 / WR-
No exceptions

WR as in write

wrist writer wrinkle

wrap written handwriting
wrong wrapper typewriter
wrote

wring unwrap writhing

wrench wrangle playwright
wren wrestle shipwreck
wreath wretched wreckage
wrath wriggle

wrack wry overwrought

wreak wrought
wrest writ

WR- is a letter team for the sound of R. It occurs only at the

beginning of the word. This is a native English consonant team.
Words beginning with WR have meanings connected with the
idea of twisting.

48 words have WR.-.

These words are also counted under R, p. 219.

 -X / 277
ee also:

X-, p. 278
-, p. 279
X as in fox
lo exceptions

box boxes except

fix fixed excuse
next mixing exciting
wax waxy expect
a sixth sixteen

ax axle oxygen
coax exile saxophone
Ox oxide experiment
relax exclude excursion
complex expert expensive

hoax exchange dexerity

lax exhale crucifix
lynx expend expansion
flax prefix extinguish
sphinx suffix inexperienced

-X is a single letter for the consonant blend -KS. When a word

ends in this blend, the use of -X prevents the word from looking
as though it had the suffix -s added to it. This enables the eye
to distinguish between (one) tax and (many) tacks. -X also occurs
at the end of the Latin prefix ex-.

Since -X represents two consonant sounds, it does not need to

be doubled before a native English suffix.

350 words have X sounding like KS.

278 / -X-
See also:
-X, p. 277
X-, p. 279
X as in example
exact exhaust
exactly

exempt exasperate
exert executive
exist examination
exult exhibit
auxiliary

exhort exemplary
exude exhilarate
exonerate
unexampled

When the syllable ending in X is unstressed, and the next syllable

begins with a vowel, or with silent H, the X is a single letter for
the consonant blend GZ. This is a voiced version of the usual
sound of -X, which is -KS. Compare the sound of unstressed
X in executive with the sound of stressed X in execute.

43 words have -X- sounding like -GZ-.

These words are not counted under X, p. 277.

 X- / 279
2e also:

ep. 277

X as in xenon
«ceptions:
ray
(We name Xerox xenophobia
the X) Xerxes xylophone

X is a consonant letter. At the beginning of the word, X sounds

like Z.

These words are so unusual that they do not figure in the word
study on which the numbers in this book are based.
280 / Letter Y *

The Letter Y
The letter Y serves both as a consonant and as a vowel.
Y is a consonant letter only when it is at the beginning of the
word or syllable, as in
you, yes, yard, yel-low, can-yon, law-yer
There are only 57 words where Y is a consonant.
In any other position, Y is a vowel letter. As a vowel, Y has the
same three basic sounds that | has. (See ‘‘The Letter |,”’ page
149.) Ordinarily, we use Y at the very end of the word, and | within
the word. If Y is within the word, it indicates a Greek origin. In
fact, in other languages, the letter Y has no separate name of its
own. Instead, it is called ‘‘Greek I,’ because there, too, Y within
the word indicates a Greek origin.
The three basic sounds of Y as a vowel are long |, short | and
long E.
1. Y is short within the syllable, as in gym and sym-bol.
The short sound of Y is changed to the special English vowel
sound of ER by final R, or by R followed by a different conso-
nant sound, as in myrrh and myr-tle. But if the next sound is
a vowel, it will capture the R sound, and leave the Y sound
unchanged, as in sy-rup and ty-rant.
2. Y is long, and sounds like the name of the letter | —
a. When it is the only vowel letter in the root of the word, and
is the very last letter of the word, as in
by, cry, fly, sky, re-ply, de-ny, sa-tis-fy
But before suffixes beginning with vowels, the Y changes
to |, as in
cries, cried, cri-er, tri-al, dri-est, de-nied, de-ni-al
However, if the suffix begins with |, the Y remains un-
changed, since we never have two |’s in a row in English:
cry-ing, fly-ing, try-ing, re-ply-ing
b. When it is the last letter in the syllable, as in ty-rant. But
 Letter Y / 281

in the Latin style of spelling, these Y’s are often short, as

in cy-nic.
c. In the spelling pattern Y__E, as in type, style, a-na-lyze.
d. In the vowel team YE, as in rye, bye, at the end of the word.
e. When it is stressed before another vowel, as in cy-a-nide,
hy-a-cinth.
3. Y spells the sound of long E—
a. When it is in a suffix, and is the very last letter in the word,
as in
can-dy, hap-py, quick-ly, ba-ke-ry, his-to-ry, li-bra-ry,
a-bi-li-ty, ge-o-lo-gy, ge-og-ra-phy, a-ca-de-my
But before a second suffix, the Y changes to I, as in
can-dies, can-died, hap-pi-er, his-to-ri-an, hap-pi-ness,
hap-pi-ly, merriment
However, if the suffix begins with I, the Y remains un-
changed, since we never have two I’s in a row in English:
Car-ry-ing, hur-ry-ing, ba-by-ish
The suffix -y is not changed to | in the middle of compound
words like anyhow, fairyland or clergyman
b. When it is unstressed before another vowel, as in
hal-cy-on.
Of all these spellings, the two involving final Y, as in by and
candy, are the only ones that need concern a beginner or a
remedial student. These are standard English spellings. All the
rest should be handled simply by sounding the Y exactly as one
would sound an | in the same position.
Unstressed Y
Stress is of great importance to the final Y spellings. When it
is stressed because of being in a root, Y sounds like long |, as
in cry and re-ply. When it is unstressed because of being in a suf-
fix, Y sounds like long E, as in can-dy.
Some linguists (and dictionaries) identify the long E sound of
Y as a short | sound. But using the iong E sound for these Y’s
seems to be the most useful approach for the novice reader who
282 / Letter Y >

is attempting to decode a word that looks unfamiliar. In any case,

the difference between unstressed long E and unstressed short
| is nearly undetectable to the layman’s ear, and the student reader
is most certainly a layman.
Y in Teams for Other Vowel Sounds
Y is the second member of the vowel teams AY, EY and OY. These
teams also have the alternative versions, Al, El and Ol. The ver-
sions which end. in Y are only used when the team is final in the
word or syllable, as in day, they and boy. (See “‘The Letter A,”’
page 67; ‘‘The Letter E,’’ page 104; and ‘‘The Letter O,” page
182.)
 Consonant Y- / 283
=xceptions:
(vonne
(Y is a vowel)
Y as in yellow
yard yelling yesterday
year yanked beyond
you yours farmyard
yes younger yourself
yet Yankee

yarn yelped yonder

yearn yielding lawyer
yeast youthful dockyard
yoke youngster canyon

yacht yearling
yam buoyancy
yore sawyer
yew vineyard

Y- is a consonant letter for the first sound in yellow. Y has this

sound only at the beginning of the word or syllable. Anywhere
else in the word, Y is a vowel letter.

Only 57 words have Y as a consonant letter.

284 / Long -Y
See also:
-l, p. 154
-IE, p. 158
-Y as in cry -IED, p. 161
-Y, p. 285

my lying good-by No Exceptions

try trying myself
sky flyer reply
why drying multiply
by tying

shy spyglass dragonfly

fry rely lullaby
pry dryness satisfy
deny supply terrify
defy apply magnify

ply hereby occupy

wry thereby amplify
sly ally certify
thy comply falsify
spry bylaw prophesy

At the end of the word or syllable, Y is a vowel letter. When Y

is at the end of the root, it is stressed and sounds like long I.

128 words have long Y at the end of the root.

 Suffix -Y / 285
See also:
-l, p. 154
-IE, p. 159
-IED, p. 161
-Y, p. 284
-Y as in puppy

No exceptions happy hurrying anyhow

baby carrying everything
country finally family
only suddenly nobody
pretty nearly fairyland

ninety icy heavyweight

envy baggy monopoly
hobby greedy ability
nasty dirty reality
angry namely oxygen

dreary agency abnormality

clergy geology visibility
victory infinity polygon
deathly scientifically sociability
jewelry prophecy radioactivity

At the end of the word or syllable, Y is a vowel letter. In these

words, the -Y is unstressed because it is the suffix -y or in the
suffix -ly. Suffix -y is pronounced like short | or long E, depending
on what region of the country the speaker is from.

1628 words have the suffixes -y or -ly.

286 / Long -Y- .
See also:
Long |, p. 152

Y as in motorcycle
No Exceptions

stylish bicycle

cyclone hydrogen hyena

thyroid dynamite psychologist
tyrant dynasty analysis
nygiene hyphen paralysis

zygote cyclotron myopia

thymus typographic hypothesis
stylus pyromaniac

In the middle of the word, Y is a vowel letter. It occurs in the

middle in words of Greek origin, and spells the same sound that
| would spell in the same position.

Y has a long | sound in a syllable that ends in Y. When there

is a single consonant letter between vowels, the first vowel is
long before the native English suffixes and certain Latin suffixes.
The vowel is sometimes long in Latin words even when the next
syllable begins with a consonant blend, as in hydrogen.

123 words have long Y within the word.

 Short -Y- / 287
See also:
short |, p. 153

Y as in gym
No exceptions

myth gypsy mystery

rhythm syrup

gyp crystal cylinder

hymn symptom hypnotize
lynch system physical
symbol synonym
pygmy syllable

nymph mystic hypnosis

cyst strychnine hysterics
lymph cynical symbolic
pseudonym
amethyst

In the middle of the word, Y is a vowel letter. It occurs in the

middle in words of Greek origin, and spells the same sound that
| would spell in the same position.

Y is short in a syllable that ends with a consonant letter. When

there are two consonants between vowels, the first vowel is
almost always short. In many of the long, Latin words, the first
vowel is short even when there is only one consonant between
vowels, as in cylinder.

162 words have short Y.

268: /-Y.E
See also:
LSE. pr 57,
-IE, p. 158
Y—E as in type
Exceptions:

rhyme typewriter eye

style typewriting (see p. 295)
bye
rye

dye enzyme stereotype

lye analyze
scythe paralyze

thyme electrolyte archetype

lyre prototype genotype
neotype
phenotype
proselyte

In the middle of the word, Y is a vowel letter. It occurs in the

middle in words of Greek origin, and spells the same sound that
| would spell in the same position.

Vowel-consonant-silent-E is a special long vowel spelling pat-

tern. The Y sounds like long |. The E remains silent when a
syllable beginning with a consonant is added to the word.

The words ending in -ye are the only ones which are not Greek.
These are Middle English spellings.

This is the entire list of words with Y__E.

These words are not counted under long Y, p. 286.

 -YR / 289
See also:
-IR, p. 164
-IRR-, p. 165
YR as in martyr
Exceptions:
myrrh YR at the end, or YR before
(double R before a different a vowel
and H) consonant
syrup

martyrdom lyric
pyramid
syringe
tyranny

satyr myriad
zephyr panegyric
myrtle porphyry
myrmidon lyrical

In the middle of the word, Y is a vowel letter. It occurs in the

middle in words of Greek origin, and spells the same sound that
| would spell in the same position.

In the words in the left-hand column, the R changes the short

| sound to the special English vowel sound of ER. In the words
in the right-hand column, the Y remains short because the R
sound goes off with the next syllable.

This is the entire list of words with Y changed by R, or with short

Y before R.

These words are also counted under R, p. 219.

Those in the right-hand column are also counted under short

VO [Os BAM.
290/Z
See also:
-S-, p. 227
Zapmevit
Z as in zebra
Exceptions

ZOO zipper zigzag rendezvous

(silent Z)
zone frozen dozen
blaze crazy memorize pizza
fuzzy recognize (first Z sounds
prize
like T)
size cozy magazine

daze puzzle realize

froze razor horizon
doze zero citizen
graze amaze organize
haze drizzle hazardous

zest baptize hypnotize

ZINC capsize antagonize
zeal trapeze visualize
czar analyze naturalize
maze gazette oxidize

Z is a consonant letter for the first sound in zebra and the last
sound in blaze. The sound of Z is the same as the sound of
voiced S, but S is never voiced at the beginning of the word.

274 words have Z as in zebra and blaze.

 -Z / 291

Z as in waltz

chintz howitzer quartzite

quartz eczema

In these words, Z has the sound of unvoiced S.

This is the entire list of words in which Z sounds like unvoiced S.

292 / -ZE
See also:
-SE, p. 234

ZE as in sneeze Exceptions:
Without E:
freeze freezer adz
squeeze squeezing

breeze wheeze
gauze bronze
maize breezy
ooze
seize

frieze

-ZE is a consonant team for the sound of Z at the end of the

root after a vowel team or a consonant letter. We never have
Z alone at the end of the word. This team is used by analogy
with the team -SE.

This is the entire list of words ending in ZE after a vowel team

or a consonant letter.

These words are also counted under Z, p. 290.

 -ZU-, -Zl- / 293
See also:
-SI-, p. 236
-SU-, p. 239
Zas in azure

glazier
brazier

In these words, Z has the special consonant sound which is

respelled ZH in dictionaries. The Y- element from the long U
and the unstressed |’s before a vowel cause this change in the
Z sound.

This is the entire list of words that have Z sounding like ZH.

These words are not counted under Z, p. 290.

294 / -ZZ .
See also:
-SS, p. 237

ZZ as in buzz
Exceptions:
quiz
fizz whiz
fuzz fez
(single Z)
jazz

-ZZ is a consonant team for the sound of Z at the end of the

root after a short vowel. This team is used by analogy with -SS.

This is the entire list of words ending in ZZ.

These words are also counted once each under Z, p. 290.

 VSW / 295
Exceptions:
are
you
(function
words with 3
Very Short Words
letters)
‘Very short words”’ are words which contain only one or two
jo speech sounds altogether. Some of them are main-idea words,
a
which can be pictured, acted out, or precisely defined. Main-
aX
x idea words must have at least three letters. When they are very
ad short, they must be padded with silent letters to attain the three-
>I letter minimum.
2m
d
(main-idea
Certain other very short words are function words, with vague
words with 2 or variable meanings. These words serve chiefly to show how
letters) the main ideas of a sentence are related to one another. These
function words need only enough letters to represent their
sounds. They contain only one or two letters.

Function Words Main-ldea Words

am of a oh add knee buy low
an on ah do egg see bye know
as or fa no eye die rye sew
at up la so sea lie hoe due
if us be to tea pie toe new
in he | bee tie owe knew
is me by
it we my

inn key doe tow

odd high foe cue
ore sigh bow sue
pea guy mow dew
tee dye row view

O ho ebb gee lye rue

ay lo err lee roe gnu
awe wee woe ewe
aye fie SOW pew
lea hie hue yew
fee vie

This is the entire list of very short words.

These words are also counted under the various vowel and con-
sonant spellings they contain.
ENE estes
© gh ae eae
Gers) el & aie eee

a Area Wc
te — ——,
<n ay Wess hitye ATH z
me ™ ow a gi We
e__ * _ a. ay oT
fe _ «il - ™“ a
aon - oy ’ < o@

7 = @& = e

6 —
i =

A (oe
® ait ts%
> v hs -

wr @ 6

Sita} no amet
od? ifnowe
 Dictionary Division of Syllables / 297

Appendix A
Dictionary Division of Syllables
If a word contains more than one syllable, there are two different
kinds of reasons for separating the syllables from one another.
First, the student reader needs to divide up unfamiliar words
so as to sound them out. For this purpose, we need a method
which will yield the correct vowel sound for the stressed syllable
as often as possible. A method of this kind is described in
“Syllables, Stress and Word Structure,’’ Appendix B.
Second, for the convenience of the skilled reader, printers need
a method of dividing the longer words so that they may be broken
with a hyphen at the end of one line of print, and carried on at
the beginning of the next line. This method needs to give the
reader accurate information about the vowel sound of the syllable
just before the hyphen, especially if it happens to be stressed,
and have a clear vowel sound when spoken. Since most of the
vowel teams can have only one vowel sound in any case, the prob-
lem is serious only in connection with single vowel letters.
For the Latin-based words, dictionaries divide after the vowel
if it has a clear long sound, as in pa-per, com-ple-tion, ti-ger, ty-
rant, pro-gram, stu-dent; and after the consonant if the vowel has
a clear short sound, as in pan-el, dem-o-crat-ic, tim-id, tyr-an-
ny, prod-uct, stud-ied. Dictionaries also divide right after the vowel
if the syllable is so lightly stressed that the vowel has no clear
sound, as in de-moc-ra-cy.
However, dictionaries violate this system if the final syllable is
a native English suffix added to a root word. Thus, the dictionary
gives bake/bak-er, pre-cede/pre-ced-ing, time/tim-ing, type/typ-
ist, joke/jok-ing, tube/tub-ing.
lf there are two consonants between vowels, dictionaries, in
general, divide between the two consonants, unless the first vowel
is clearly long in speech, as in ad-vance, A-pril, rep-re-sent, re-
place, blis-ter, vi-brate, bot-tom, pro-gram, tun-nel, lu-bri-cate.
But again, this system is violated before a native English suffix
added to a root word which ends in two consonants, as in
298 / Dictionary Divison of Syllables .

crack/crack-er, stiff/stiff-en, chill/chill-y, pass/pass-ing, buzz/buzz-

er; land/land-ing, romp/romp-er, dust/dust-er; rich/rich-es,
dash/dash-ing, etc., etc. If the consonant is doubled simply in the
process of adding the suffix, only then does the dictionary show
the division falling between the two consonants, as in hop/hop-
ping.
But if the native English suffix is an integral part of the basic
word, as in paper, then the dictionary follows the general pro-
cedure, and divides it pa-per. This is clearly a confusing system.
It yields identical spellings for the first syllables of tub-ing and tub-
bing, and gives the reader no warning that the U in tubing is long.
In order to read such words without stumbling, the skilled reader
must see them undivided.
If you, as a skilled reader, do not remember having been trou-
bled by this sort of problem, it is because you have been careful-
ly protected against these confusions by a convention of the
publishing and secretarial worlds. The convention dictates that
the native English suffixes must never be carried over from the
end of one line to the beginning of another. If the lengthened form
cannot be squeezed onto the upper line by crowding the type a
bit, then the entire word must be placed on the lower line, and
the letters or words of the upper line are spread out, if an even
right-hand margin is required. This solution of the problem is
universally incorporated into the style manuals of publishing
houses, and into the basic training of stenographers.
With the advent of computer type-setting, there was a period
of chaos in the process of dividing words at the end of the line.
The computer programmers who work on this problem are at pre-
sent restoring order to this process.
It is because the dictionary system of syllabication is so con-
fusing that we have devised our own system for students to use
in breaking down the unfamiliar words. Once students have fin-
ished learning how to read, they can learn how to divide words
which must be broken at the end of the line.
 Syllables, Stress And Word Structure / 299

Appendix B

Syllables, Stress and

Word Structure
A syllable is a vowel sound and all the consonants that are pro-
nounced along with it. A syllable may be composed of a vowel
sound alone, or of a vowel sound carrying one or more conso-
nant sounds, as in I, by, spy, spry; out, pout, spout; sprout,
sprouts; oil, boil, broil, broils; an, sand, stand, strand, strands.
In the last example, the short A sound is carrying six different con-
sonant sounds. Notice that each of these examples contains only
one vowel sound, even if it takes a team of two vowel letters to
spell that sound.

Meanings of Syllables
There are three kinds of syllables, roots, prefixes and suffixes.
The root contains the central idea of the word. A one-syllable word
is a root with nothing added to it. It can have a variety of mean-
ings, like tie, for instance. To tie is to make a knot, or to share
a victory with another contestant. A tie is something to make a
knot with, or an even score, or a beam holding railroad tracks
together.
Longer words are made by joining syllables together. In a com-
pound word two roots are joined for a very specific meaning, as
in necktie. But most words have only one root, while all the other
syllables are prefixes or suffixes. A prefix behaves like the root
of a compound. It makes the meaning of the root to which it is
added more specific, as in untie or retie. Suffixes usually change
the form of the root, fitting it for different uses in the sentence,
as in: one tie/two ties; | tie/he ties, he tied it/he is tying it; | drive
it/| have driven it/| am a driver; fast/faster/fastest; to sign/to make
a signal.
As was mentioned under ‘‘Two Styles of Spelling,’’ on page 22,
Modern English comes down to us both from Old High German
and from Ancient Latin. On the native English side of the language,
the roots and prefixes are almost all common, everyday words,
300 / Stress +
‘s

and the suffixes are so familiar that we respond to them

automatically, without having to analyze how they are changing
the word.
The roots on the Latin side of English, however, cannot usually
stand alone as common, independent words. The few that can
are rather technical, like duct or vent, and they are very narrow
in meaning. But -spect- means nothing to us until prefixes or suf-
fixes are added as in respect or spectacles. Even then, we need
a large collection of words with the same root, and some help from
the dictionary, in order to see what the root contributes to the
meaning of the familiar modern word.
But the Latin prefixes work just like the native English prefixes,
narrowing the central meaning. Thus, -spect- means look, and
respect means to look at again and again. Inspect means to look
into, and expect means to look out for. Likewise, the Latin suf-
fixes change the word’s form. Spectacles are lookers, and inspec-
tion is a noun made from the verb inspect.
By consulting the dictionary, you can usually find an indication
of the general meaning of a Latin prefix, or the usual function of
a Latin suffix. It is often possible to find, also, the basic meaning
of the Latin roots. One of the best dictionaries for this type of in-
formation is the paperback edition of Webster’s New World Dic-
tionary of the English Language. Such information can help to
make the Latin side of our language much less formidable to the
student than it is at first.

Stress
In English, we stress some syllables very heavily and hurry over
others. The vowel sound of a stressed syllable is strong and
distinct, while the vowel sound of an unstressed syllable is often
weak and muffled, no matter what letter or letter team happens
to be in use. For example, in the following words, the first syllable
is stressed, and the second is unstressed: final, cancel, pencil,
pistol; Satan, kitten, satin, cotton, mountain; pocket, credit,
carrot. In each word, the vowel of the first syllable is loud and
clear, while the vowels of the unstressed syllables all sound pretty
much alike. The technical term for this muffled vowel sound is
 Stress / 301

schwa. In dictionary pronunciation guides, it is represented by

an upside-down e.
Since we do not use accents or stress marks in our spelling
system, these extremes of heavy stress and light stress can cause
problems both for reading and for spelling. In reading, it is often
hard for the student to tell where to place the stress in a three
or four-syllable word; and in spelling, it is hard for many readers
to tell what vowel to use when the vowel sound is schwa.
The habit of stressing one syllable very heavily, and slighting
the rest, is characteristic of the German languages, and this habit
has taken over throughout Modern English. However, the heavy
stress is used in one way on the German (or native English) side
of the language and in a very different way on the Latin side.
On the native English side, we follow the German habit of using
stress to emphasize the point of what is being said. In asentence
the words that carry the main ideas are stressed, while the ‘‘little
words”’ are hurried over: ‘“‘The BOY was SICK.”’ Putting extra
stress on a ‘“‘little word’”’ gives the special meaning of that word
special significance: ‘‘The boy WAS sick.’’ Compare, also: “‘It
FELL on the BOX,” and ‘“‘It fell ON the box,”’ (not into it).
The same principle of stressing the main idea holds good for
individual words. Since the main idea is contained in the root, the
root is stressed no matter where it comes in the word: HAMmer-
ing, reMAKing, afterNOON, AFterwards, overTAKen, under-
STANDable. The roots of these native English words are fairly easy
to spot, so it is easy to place the stress correctly in words of this
type.
In Latin and its descendants, French, Italian and Spanish, the
stress pattern is entirely different. Instead of falling always on the
root, the stress shifts back and forth as the word changes form.
Compare poLlITical and POLitics. In the purely Latin languages,
the stress, wherever it falls, is fairly light, and the unstressed
syllables are spoken fairly clearly—enough so that the vowels of
the less-stressed syllables have maintained their characteristic
sounds throughout two thousand years of language development.
When such a word first begins to enter English, its spelling
reflects the original vowe! sound for each syllable, stressed or
unstressed. Moreover, the stress continues to shift in the Latin
302 / Stress, Two Styles %s

way as the word changes form. But now, wherever the stress falls,
it is the heavy English type of stress. This quickly causes the
vowels of the least-stressed syllables to become muffled.
Notice the varying vowel sounds in these sets: DEMocrat,
deMOCracy, demoCRATic; ACtive, acTIVity, actiVAtion;
MEDicine, meDICinal, mediCAtion; reSIDE, RESidence, resiDEN-
tial; Final, fiNALity; biOLogy, bioLOGical; and STAble, staBlLity.
Often the vowel of an unstressed syllable is still clear enough to
be identifiable. But just as often, it is so muffled that the ear can-
not tell what vowel letter to use in writing the syllable down.
Fortunately, we can often solve such spelling problems by think-
ing of a different form of the word. If we cannot remember what
letter to use in the second syllable of DEMocrat, we have only to
think of the form that tells what a democrat believes in—
deMOCracy. Suddenly, the O speaks out clearly, and the problem
is solved. If we don’t remember whether to use -ence or -ance
at the end of RESidence, we have only to think of the adjective
form, resiDENtial, to realize that -ence is what we need for the
noun form of the word. For the noun SUBstance, the adjective
form, subSTANtial, solves the problem in the same way.
These two different types of stress pattern—stressed roots on
the native English side, and shifting stress on the Latin side of
the language—are closely connected to the two different spelling
styles of Modern English.
On the Latin side of Modern English, we use the style of spell-
ing that the words had in Ancient Latin, or in whatever modern
form of Latin we took them from (most often, French, Italian or
Spanish). On the native English side, we have a whole new style
of spelling. Nowadays, this style may not seem so ‘“‘new.”’ In fact,
it bears many traces of old-fashioned pronunciations which are
long lost, like the K in knot or the E in house or bite. All of these
silent letters represent sounds which once were in active use. But
the ‘‘new’”’ style was new when it became fully established some
four or five hundred years ago.
In many ways, the two spelling styles are the same. All the con-
sonant letters and consonant teams have the same sounds in both
styles (except CH, which has three sounds on the Latin side, as
in approach, character, and machine). The vowel teams work the
 Native Style / 303

same in both styles as in caught, applaud; meat, repeat; her,

perfect. So do AR and OR, as in far, carnation; for, fortune. The
difference between the two styles shows up in different ways of
using consonant doubling. The basic features of both systems are
explained in the following pages.

Native English Style of Spelling

A. One-syllable words.
1. A vowel letter within the syllable is short:
tap, pet, bit, gym*, not, cut
2. A vowel letter at the end of the syllable is long:
he, hi, by“, no, flu, ta-ping, Pe-ter, bi-ting, ty*-ping,
no-ted
The letter A, however, is broad when it is the very last let-
ter in the word, as in fa, la, la, soda
3. The pattern vowel-consonant-E:
tape, Pete, bite, type*, note, cute
Here the vowel sound is actually within the syllable, since
there is a consonant sound at the end. But the final silent
E cancels the effect of the consonant letter, and warns us
to take the vowel as long.
B. Compound Words
Compounds are made up of two independent words. Each one
is spelled the same way it would be spelled if it stood alone:
milkman, housework, mailbox, teammate, fireplace,
buttercup
In both parts of a compound, the roots are stressed enough
so that their vowel sounds remain clear.
C. Words with prefixes.
The native English prefixes are usually syllables that can also
serve as ordinary independent words. There are two groups
of them:

* Y spells the same sound that | spells, depending on its position.

304 / Native Style $ ‘ss

1. a-, be-, for-, to- and with-, as in across, become, forget,

tonight and withstand.
As prefixes, these syllables do not mean the same thing
that they mean as independent words. But the words they
appear in are so familiar that there is no real need to specify
exactly what meanings the prefixes add to the roots. In
words of this kind, the root is heavily stressed, and the prefix
carries very little stress. That is why the a in across has
such a muffled sound.

2. in-, out-, up-, down-, under-, after-, etc., as in income,

outgo, upstairs, downstairs, underneath, afternoon, etc.
These prefixes, and many others like them, usually bring
to the lengthened word the same meaning that they have
as independent words. As a result, the lengthened words
are very much like compounds, and the vowels of the
prefixes retain their usual sounds.
Fore-, mis- and un- as in forecast, mistake and untie are
native English prefixes which work like these, even though
fore is used very little nowadays as an independent word,
and neither mis- nor un- can stand alone.

D. Words with suffixes.

1. Suffixes beginning with consonants:
These suffixes are: -s, -ly, -less, -ful, -ness, -hood, -dom
and -ward. They are added without any change to the root:
cats, lately, careless, careful, sadness, manhood,
dukedom, upward
The reader must understand that a silent E in the root re-
mains silent in these words.
2. Suffixes beginning with vowels.
On the native English side of the language, these are: -es,
-ed, -ing, -er*, -est, -en, -et*, -ish*, -ow, -y*. These are
added in different ways to roots of different types.

* As will be seen below, -et is originally a French suffix and -ish, -y and -er
are often Latin suffixes, as well as being native English.
 Consonant Doubling / 305

a. If the root ends in two consonant letters, the suffix is

added without any change to the root:
lasted, bending, pitcher, window, tosses, fuzzy
b. If the root contains one vowel letter, and ends in one
consonant letter, that consonant is doubled:
tapping, reddish, bitten, gypping, hopping, cutter
c. If the root ends in silent E, the E is dropped before the
suffix is added:
taping, ceded, widen, typing, hoping, cutest, danc-
ing, larger, senses, delving, pleasing, pausing
The vowels of the roots in these words obey the same
rule that governs the vowels of one-syllable words—the
vowel is short within the syllable, and long at the end of
the syllable. The suffixes are added according to the
single/double consonant rule, which is central to the native
English style of spelling: One consonant between vowels
makes the first vowel long; two consonants between vowels
keep the first vowel short.
This rule works when the suffixes are added to one-
syllable words, as above, and also when the simplest form
of a word includes a suffix which cannot be dropped without
changing the meaning, or making the word lose meaning
altogether: lady, ladder; meter, better; tiger, dinner; token,
bonnet; duty, buggy.
On the native English side of our language, we have a
great many pairs of contrasting words like taping, tapp-
ing, hoping, hopping, cuter, cutter, where the meaning
can be distinguished only by the sounds of the vowels in
the roots. The single/double consonant rule is the device
we use to solve this problem. It is important to understand
what makes this device work.
The single/double consonant rule works because spoken
English syllables ordinarily begin with consonant sounds,
as in he, be-gin, pa-per, pat-ter, de-moc-ra-cy. Therefore,
suffixes beginning with vowels are not complete as
syllables. They become complete syllables only by captur-
ing a consonant sound from the root to which they are
306 / Consonant Doubling ‘
‘S

added, and running off with it, as in han-ding and loo-ted.

In ordinary speech, we pronounce the consonant at the
beginning of a syllable quite clearly, but we slight any con-
sonant at the end. It takes deliberate effort to make a final
consonant sound come out distinctly. But a vowel at the
beginning of a suffix will pick up that consonant, and then
the whole picture changes. Now, the last consonant of the
root speaks out clearly, because it sounds with the second
syllable, and has become the first consonant in that syllable.
Evidence that this is really so can be obtained by notic-
ing the confusions of non-readers. Many of them are not
even aware of the last consonant sound in a word like hand,
for instance. It is necessary to prove the existence of the
D to them by having them repeat phrases containing
lengthened forms like handy or handing. Then they can
hear the D in the second syllable, and see that it really
comes from the original word.
The same kind of consonant-capture takes place when
the root has only one consonant sound at the end. Com-
pare hope and hoping. Notice that the P of hope can be
severely slighted without loss of meaning; but in hoping,
the P sound is much clearer, because here it begins the
second syllable. If, in writing the word down, we place the
P with the suffix, where it really belongs, then the O is left
as the last letter of the first syllable, and is therefore long.
(The final silent E of hope can be considered as a sort of
false suffix, which takes the P far enough away to keep it
from making the O short. If the E is a suffix, it is only natural
to remove it before adding other suffixes that begin with
vowels.)
It is fine for the last consonant to go wandering off like
this, leaving a bare vowel letter at the end of the first
syllable, if that vowel is supposed to be long. It works well,
too, when the root ends in two different consonants, as in
hand. Even when the D runs off with a suffix, as in han-dy,
the N stays behind, keeps the A within its own syllable, and
therefore keeps the A short. But in a word like hop, which
ends with a single consonant letter, we have a problem.
 Consonant Doubling / 307

The suffix will surely capture that final P. So we have to

insert an extra P to stay behind with the first syllable and
keep the O short. This is why we have to double the con-
sonant when lengthening a short-vowel word that ends in
a single consonant letter.
3. There is one more English suffix, -le, as han-dle, sad-dle
and ta-ble. It begins with a consonant, but we pronounce
it like the suffix -el, as in bar-rel, fun-nel and ves-sel.
Because of this pronunciation, -le works like a suffix begin-
ning with a vowel. It captures the last consonant from the
root and runs off with it, and we use the single/double con-
sonant rule in adding it to roots as in bab-ble/ta-ble. (The
suffix -el is really just another version of -le. Of the two ver-
sions, -le is much more common than -el.)
4. Two native English suffixes in succession.
a. If the first suffix is -y or -ly, we change the Y to | before
adding a second suffix, whether or not the second one
begins with a consonant:
likelihood, happiness, merriment; candies, candied,
happier, happiest
b. If the first suffix is -le, we keep the E before a second
suffix beginning with a consonant:
settlement, handleless, gentleness
But we drop the E if the second suffix begins with a vowel:
straggling, straggled, straggler, straggly
The reader must realize that there is an -le suffix
buried within the second syllable of each of these words.
c. In all other combinations, the second suffix is added
without any change to the first suffix, regardless of how
the second one begins:
upwards, carefully, bitterly, carelessness,
brotherhood, handedness
hammering, maddening, pocketed, feverish,
slanderer —
in hammering, etc., it is not necessary to double the
308 / Latin Style ‘
S

consonant when adding suffixes beginning with vowels,

because they are being added to unstressed syllables
which have no definable vowel sounds, in any case.
There is no need to use a doubled consonant to insist
on the specific sounds for these vowels.
The Latin Side of English
It is possible to analyze the Latin style of spelling in some detail.
An analysis of this kind is given in the next section. Anyone work-
ing with a student who is having problems with adult reading
materials or with terms introduced into social studies or science
readings, should become familiar with it, so as to be able to point
out relevant features of it as they arise in the student’s reading.
But for those who are teaching beginning or basic remedial reading
such a detailed analysis is unnecessary.
Fortunately, there are some simple rules-of-thumb which
students can apply to the Latin side of the language until they are
confident enough about the long words to become able to handle
a more detailed understanding of them.
Students need to know better, however, than to try to force the
native English tricks of consonant doubling and stress pattern onto
the Latin side of English. Therefore, they need to know that the
two styles of spelling exist, and they need to know the native
English style of spelling very well. They need to master the
single/double consonant rule very thoroughly; and they need to
know the entire list of native English suffixes backwards and for-
wards, with special emphasis on the suffixes beginning with
vowels.
Then they need to know three special things about the Latin
side of the language:
First, stress is unpredictable on the Latin side of the language.
Second, a single vowel letter is usually short on the Latin side,
even if there is only one consonant between vowels, as in
magic, metal, clinic, robin; paragraph, general, visible,
probable
Third, even on the Latin side of English, the single/double
consonant rule applies to any syllable that comes immediately
before a native English suffix, as in
 Latin Style / 309

generalizing, separated, permitted and combatting

The student needs to know at a glance, of course, which style
applies to a given word. Fortunately, it is quite easy to tell, chiefly
by the length of the word, as follows:
a. Words of one syllable present no problem. They are all
spelled by the native English style, regardless of origin.
b. Words of two or three syllables may be either native English
or Latin. If the word has a native English suffix, the native
English style applies; but with any other suffix, the Latin style
applies, and the first vowel is very likely to be short even
if there is only one consonant between vowels. (Com-
pounds, and words with prefixes, are generally easy enough
to read so that the student need not learn anything special
about them, at first.)
c. Words of four or more syllables are almost all Latin, and
use the Latin style of spelling.
There remains the problem of what the student should do about
the unpredictability of stress on the Latin side of English. The
stress is unpredictable chiefly because it shifts back and forth
within the same word as the word changes form, as in deMOCracy
and DEMoCRATic. This often prevents students from recogniz-
ing words which are in fact extremely familiar in ordinary speech.
Students should approach the long words by stressing all the
syllables equally, using short vowels throughout, and starting
each syllable with a consonant, or consonant blend, even
though this type of syllable division often violates the dictionary
method of dividing words. (Even on the Latin side, however, U
is often long before a single consonant and a vowel.)
An easy way to master this technique is to copy the syllables,
one below the other, in a vertical column, and read them Off like
the separate items on a shopping list. After reading each syllable
accurately, the student should repeat them, in order, accurately,
getting the feel of them in the mouth. A few repetitions of this kind
will soon bring to mind any familiar word which the letters repre-
sent. For unfamiliar words, it will produce a fairly accurate ap-
proach to the true pronunciation, which can then be checked with
a dictionary.
310 / Long Latin Words .

Here are some words divided in this way:

de "dev eon tra pa In re vul sig
mo mo ti ni ra di pre ne na
cra cra nue mal graph an sen ra_ to
ey wirtic ta bi ry
tion li
ty
This device works because most of the long vowels in Latin are
in unstressed syllables, and the long vowel goes short when the
stress shifts onto it, as in produce, product and reside, residence.
To English speakers, the stressed syllable is the heart of the word.
By using equal stress and short vowels, we can be sure of get-
ting a good feel for the heart of the word, while the other syllables
soon fade out of focus, and take on their ordinary sounds.
Obviously, however, a short vowel pronunciation will not help
the student if it is forced onto the -ta- syllable in representation.
But in copying off a word of this kind, the student will spot the
familiar -ation element at the end, and be unable to stick to the
short-vowel strategy for that particular syllable. Thus, no harm is
done by treating these words like the rest.
This approach to the long Latin words has a further advantage.
Students who have listed the syllables of a word and pronounced
each one clearly have heard a definite vowel sound in each
syllable. When they need to spell that word, these sounds tend
to come back to mind, especially if the students have been given
some practice in writing the words they have recently decoded
in this way. They soon find that it is possible to spell any Latin
word by ear, if they have taken time to sound it out by the syllable
while they had it before them on the page.
As they become less hesitant about the long Latin words,
students can benefit by another kind of exercise. Let the student
keep a notebook with one set of pages devoted to Latin prefixes,
another set devoted to Latin suffixes, and a third set devoted to
Latin roots. Have the student set up one page for prefixes con-
taining A, another for prefixes containing E, and so on, one page
for each vowel letter. Then let the student select words with
prefixes from whatever reading material is in use, and place them
on the correct lists.
 Word Collections / 311

When the longest list on the prefix pages reaches about halfway
down the page, let the student set up the pages for suffixes, again
devoting a whole page to those containing A, another to those
containing E, and so on. Have the student collect words with Latin
suffixes to place in lists on these pages. When one of the lists
on these pages reaches halfway down the page, have the student
take words from the prefix pages and place them where they
belong on the suffix lists; and have the student transfer words from
the suffix pages to the correct lists on the prefix pages.
As the lists grow, have the student look up the prefixes in the
dictionary, and write the basic meaning of each one at the head
of the list for that prefix. (An excellent dictionary for this purpose
is Webster’s New World Dictionary of the English Language, in
paperback. The prefixes and many of the suffixes can be found
listed among the regular entries there.) Help the student to see
how the meaning of the prefix contributes to the modern mean-
ing of the word. For the suffix lists, have the student look up the
suffixes and note at the head of each list whether the suffix makes
the word into an adjective, noun or verb, and write down any basic
meaning for the suffix that the dictionary suggests. Help the stu-
dent to decide whether the words on the list really do belong to
the indicated part of speech, and how the meaning of the suffix
contributes to the modern meaning of the word.
After this much work with Latin prefixes and suffixes, the stu-
dent will begin to be able to spot the Latin roots, the syllables which
are neither prefixes nor suffixes. Then it is time to set up pages
for roots, this time segregating the words according to the vowel
letters contained in the roots. Have the student transfer to these
pages all the words already entered on the prefix and suffix lists.
Then continue to build up all the sets of lists, entering each new
word on each list where it belongs.
As the lists grow, certain roots will begin to turn up repeatedly.
Then have the student select one root that occurs frequently, and
make a special list of words with that root. See what the dictionary
says about that root, and help the student to see the connection
between the root, the various prefixes and suffixes it has acquired,
and the modern meanings of the resulting words. Do this kind of
thing for each root that occurs frequenily.
312 / Latin Style *

‘Ss

As the lists grow, one more thing will happen. Regularities in

the way stress patterns change from word to word will begin to
become apparent. When one list contains reside, resident,
preside, president, and another contains refer, reference, defer,
deference, confer, conference, it begins to look as though the
suffixes -ent and -ence have a specific effect on the stress pat-
terns of the words to which they are attached.
Then it is time to begin sharing with the student the detailed
analysis of the Latin style of spelling which is presented in the
next section.
The Latin Style of Spelling

This analysis of the Latin style of spelling parallels the analysis

of the native English style of spelling, which was given in the sec-
tion on ‘‘Syllables and Stress,’’ beginning on page 299. The
analysis begins with one-syllable words like robe, and goes on
to words combining two roots, like astronaut. Next, it treats the
Latin prefixes, dealing first with prefixes ending in vowels, like de-,
and then with prefixes ending in consonants, like ab-. Finally, it
treats the Latin suffixes, dealing with the different ways in which
different suffixes affect the stress patterns and vowel sounds of
the words to which they are attached.
Teachers may employ this analysis most effectively by using
the following plan.
First, read the analysis through, simply for your own informa-
tion, picking up-items that happen to be of special interest to you
as an individual, but not trying to master the analysis as a whole.
Then, from your own reading in other materials, pick out words
that exhibit features which violate the native English style of spell-
ing in one way or another. Practice referring to the different parts
of the analysis to find out what features of the Latin style are
affecting these words. At the end of the analysis are a few ex-
amples of such words, with suggestions on where to look for the
particular feature of the Latin style which is affecting each one.
Finally, whenever you notice that one particular type of Latin
word is continually tripping your student up, you can share with
the student the special part of the analysis that is helpful in
decoding that particular type of word.
 Combined Words / 313

Latin Spelling
A. One-syllable words.
The Latin style of spelling does not affect words of one syllable.
The native English style governs them all, regardless of origin.
B. Compounds (combined words)
Strictly speaking, the term compound refers only to native
English words like milkman and housework, where two native
English roots are joined without change. But on the Latin side
of English, also, there are many words formed by joining two
roots, words like astronaut, star-sailor; automobile, self-
mover; geology, earth-science; geometry, earth-measure-
ment; geophysics, earth-physics; and pseudonym, false-
name. In such words, the two roots are joined by a vowel which
is short if it happens to be stressed. The joining vowel is
very often an O.
This type of word formation is still very active in Modern
English. It is even used to join native English roots to Latin
roots, as in speedometer, where the first root is native English,
and astroturf, where the second root is native English.
The stress shifts back and forth in these words, as it does
throughout the Latin side of English. The shifts are in response
to the various suffixes that are attached to the end of the
second root. These shifts of stress will be considered under
the heading ‘‘Latin suffixes,’’ below. But if the combined word
has no suffix, the heaviest stress tends to fall on the first
syllable:
AStronaut, DEMocrat, Isotherm, THERmostat, PSEUdonym
Notice that the vowel of the stressed syllable can be short even
when there is only one consonant letter before the next
vowel, as in democrat.

C. Words with prefixes.

The Latin prefixes are syllables which cannot stand alone in
English as common, ordinary words. But to the ancient
Romans they often did stand alone, and they meant the same
kinds of things that our native English prefixes mean when
314 / Prefixes Like de- +
‘a

standing alone. They were the Latin words for to, with, down,
under, for, out, in and so on. The basic meaning of each
one can be found in the dictionary.
As they affect English spelling, the Latin prefixes fall into four
classes:
1. Prefixes ending with vowels: de-, pre-, pro-, re- and se-,
as in
demand, predict, produce, remain, secede
These prefixes are added to the root without any change,
and their vowels can be counted on to be long if the stress
falls on the root. It usually does fall on the root if the words
are verbs, like the examples above. But if the word is not
a verb, the stress often shifts back onto the prefix, as in
decent, prefix, program, reflex, secret
In these particular words, the vowel of the prefix remains
long, even when the root begins with a blend of two con-
sonants. But, quite often, the stress falling on the prefix
makes its vowel go short, without any doubling of the con-
sonant that begins the root, as in
deluge, presence, promise, relic
We have many words that function as verbs part of the time,
and as nouns or adjectives the rest of the time. When they
are verbs, they normally have the stress on the root; when
they are nouns or adjectives, the stress often shifts back
onto the prefix, and makes the vowel short, as in
to desert someone on the desert
to present a present
to progress with good progress
to record a record
to rebel like a rebel
These shifts of stress do not cause any problem to the
reader, because the context prepares us for verbs or nouns
before we reach them. If the sentence has prepared us for
a verb, we automatically respond by stressing the root;
while if we have been prepared for a noun, we tend
 Prefixes Like ad- / 315

automatically to treat the first syllable like a root and stress

it, even if it does happen to be a foreign prefix.
But the tendency of the vowels in these stressed prefixes
to go short can be a problem for students who have just
mastered the single/double consonant rule and learned how
essential it is on the native English side of the language.
Fortunately, this shortening occurs mainly in the Latin words
that are most common in ordinary English speech. Students
have only to learn to switch to a short vowel sound, which
will reveal the word as a familiar item of their own speak-
ing vocabulary.
. Prefixes ending in consonants: ab-, ad-, con-, dis-, ex-,
in-, ob-, per-, sub- and trans-, as in
abstain, advance, contain, dispute, expect, invite,
observe, persuade, submit, transmit
In these words the prefix is added without any spelling
change because there is no difficulty in pronouncing the
last consonant of the prefix right before the first consonant
of the root.
But it is often difficult to pronounce the complete prefix
before the first consonant of the root. Then we drop the last
consonant of the prefix, and double the consonant that
begins the root, as in
affect, allow, announce, appear, arrest, assist, attend,
collide, command, correct, diffuse, effect, essence,
immense, occur, offend, oppose, suffix, summons,
suppose
This is one of the chief sources of doubled consonant let-
ters on the Latin side of English. They also occur occa-
sionally when the prefix happens to end with the same con-
sonant that begins the root, as in
addict, connive, dissect, innate
But when trans- is added to a root beginning with S, the
two S’s merge, as in transcript.
When a doubled consonant follows an A in words like
316 / Prefixes Like ad- ‘

affect, the original prefix is always ad-, meaning toward.

The word ab, meaning away, could also be plain ain Latin
speech, whenever that made for easier pronunciation. They
did the same thing when it was a prefix, adding a- directly
to the root when that was more convenient, as in avert. Very
few words of this kind have come down to us, however.
We have a few words where there is only one consonant
between the vowel of the Latin prefix and the vowel of the
root, as in
abuse, adopt, disarm, exact, inert, obey, peruse, suburb
And in
avert, digest, dilate, edit, elect, emit, omit
In the first group of these words, the prefix has its original
form. Here, the prefix has been added to a root beginning
with a vowel. In the second group, the last consonant of
the prefix has been dropped altogether for ease of
pronunciation.
Other examples of prefix alteration for the sake of conve-
nience occur in these words:
acquire, suspend, sustain, combat, compose, impress,
embrace
(E sometimes takes the place of | in the prefix in-, as in
entire.)
Finally, when con- is added to a root beginning with a
vowel, the N is dropped and the O becomes long, as in coed
and coerce.
The stress pattern for words with prefixes ending in con-
sonants is the same one that applies when the prefix ends
with a vowel. The stress normally falls on the root if the word
is a verb. But if the word is a noun or an adjective, the stress
can move back onto the prefix, as in
assets, contents, district, extra, instinct, oblong,
perfume, suburb, transit
Likewise, the stress can shift in the same word, as it
switches from a verb to another part of speech, as in
 Longer Prefixes / 317

to annex an annex to discard onto the discard

to combat in combat to object to an object
to export an export to perfect something and
to import an import make it perfect
to suspect a suspect
3. Prefixes with two syllables: circum-, contra-, extra-, inter-,
para-, peri-, super-, tele-, as in
circumstance, contradict, extradite, interfere,
paragraph, periscope, supervise and telephone
In these words, the stress falls on the first syllable of the
prefix, with another stress on the root. The first A in para-
is always short and so are the first E in tele- and the E in
peri-. But the U in super- is always long.
With these prefixes, the only peculiarity concerns super-
Many of the words that contain it came to us after a long
stay in France, where super- was slurred into sur-, as in
surprise and surround. Otherwise, these prefixes are
added directly to the root without change. Of course, this
sometimes produces a doubled consonant, as in interrupt.
4. Numerical prefixes: hemi-, semi-, mono-, bi-, tri, quadr-,
quint-, dec-, cent-, milli-, poly- and omni-.
The first two mean half, as in hemisphere and semicircle.
Examples of the rest are: monocycle (one wheel), bicycle
(two wheels), tricycle (three wheels), quadruplets (four
children at one birth), quintuplets (five children at one birth),
decade (ten years), century (one hundred years),
mitlipede (a thousand-legger) polysyllable (a many-
syllabled word) and omnipotent (all-powerful).
We have some other numerical prefixes which also come
down through the Latin. But most of them go back to the
Greek, and occur only in very technical terms. These are
best learned in connection with the technical subjects to
which they belong. An example is hexagon, a six-sided
figure in plane geometry.
5. Two prefixes in succession.
We have many words that begin with two Latin prefixes.
318 / Latin Suffixes +
%

The first prefix is added to the second as usual, in accord-

ance with convenience of pronunciation, as in
decompose, reinforce, disregard, improvise, predigest,
interrelate, superimpose
In these words the stress sometimes moves back onto the
first prefix, as in compromise and represent.
D. Words with suffixes.
We have a great variety of suffixes that come down to us from
Ancient Latin, so many that here it is possible to deal only with
the most important ones. But all of them are easily identified
by anyone who can recognize the native English suffixes
beginning with vowels (-ed, -en, -er, -es, -est, -et, -ing, -ish,
-y, -le, -ow). Any other suffix beginning with a vowel belongs
to the Latin side of English, and is added to the root accor-
ding to the Latin style of spelling. The only Latin suffix that
begins with a consonant is -ment. The suffix -tion is not really
one beginning with a consonant, as will be seen below.
The Latin suffixes resemble the English suffixes in one
important respect. All those that begin with vowels capture a
consonant from the end of the root in order to become com-
plete syllables, as in fa-tal. Furthermore, if the root ends in two
consonants, the first consonant stays behind with the root, and
keeps the vowel of the root short, as in plas-tic and cot-ton.
But there the resemblance ends. In fact, it is the way these
suffixes behave that makes the chief difference between the
two styles of spelling.
The Latin suffixes fall into three main groups.

The first group consists of suffixes containing A, E, O or U.

In this group, the most familiar suffix is -al, as in total and
general. These suffixes have a particular influence on the
stress patterns and vowel sounds of the words to which they
are attached. The other suffixes that work like -al are listed
below, at the end of the section on -al.
A second group of suffixes has unstressed | before another
vowel. Familiar examples are -ial and -ion, as in serial and
union. These suffixes influence the stress patterns and vowel
 Suffixes Like -al / 319

sounds of words differently from the way the -al suffixes do.
They are identified in the section on -ial.
Finally, another group of suffixes contains | by itself. The
most common of these is -ic, as in comic and exotic. These
suffixes have a third type of influence on the stress patterns
and vowel sounds of the words to which they are attached.
These suffixes are listed in the section on -ic.
1. Suffixes like -al.
In two-syllable words, -al usually takes a long vowel in the
root, if there is only one consonant between vowels, as in
fatal, penal, final, total and brutal. But there are some very
familiar words where the root vowel is short, even though
there is only one consonant between vowels, as in metal
and pedal.
This is a very important feature of the Latin style of
spelling—the first vowel is often short even when there is
only one consonant between vowels. Examples of this came
up earlier, in connection with nouns like desert and record.
There will be many more examples of the same thing as
the analysis of the Latin words proceeds.
The stress in all these two-syllable words is heavy on the
root. Even in the rare case of a suffix containing a vowel
team, as in certain or tortoise, the stress is heavy on the
root, so heavy that the vowel team of the suffix loses all
its character. A word like canal, where -al is heavily stressed
is extremely unusual.
In longer words, however, the stress pattern has little to do
with the root. It depends more on the length of the word
and on what the suffix is.
With suffixes like -al, the stress usually depends on how
many consonants there are before the suffix. If there are
two consonants before -al, the stress is drawn to the syllable
before the -al, as in external, paternal, autumnal and
colossal. Notice that in autumn, the stress is on the first
syllable. It is the addition of the suffix that draws the stress
onto the -tum, and makes the N sound at the beginning
320 / Suffixes like -al ‘
‘%

of the last syllable. In three-syllable words like this, the

stress is on the middle syllable.
In four-syllable words with two consonants before the suf-
fix, the stress still comes right before the -al, as in
horizontal, continental and monumental. In these words,
there is also a secondary stress on the first syllable, and
the first vowel is normally short, even if there is only one
consonant before the next vowel.
But if -al has only one consonant before it, the stress moves
back onto the first syllable in three-syllable words, and onto
the second syllable in four-syllable words, as in hospital,
arsenal, terminal; intestinal, municipal and original. The
three-syllable words of this kind are very common, and a
great many of them have only one consonant between the
first vowel and the second. In those words, the first vowel
is short, as in animal, general, physical and natural. Only
a U tends to stay long in this position, as in funeral. (In
general, U has much less tendency to go short before a
single consonant than any of the other vowel letters.) Notice
that the A which is long in nature goes short in natural. This
tendency of vowels, to flip from long to short as a word
changes form, is a very common feature of the Latin side
of English.
There are quite a few suffixes containing A, E, O or U that
work like--al. The ones most frequently used are -ant, -ance,
-ent, -ence, -ate, -age, -or, -ar, -ure, -a, -uS, -umM, -O, -an,
-on, -ous. Three- and four-syllable words with these suf-
fixes tend to display the same stress pattern as the three-
and four-syllable words with -al. Words ending with the suf-
fix -ment, the only Latin suffix beginning with a consonant,
also tend to conform to the same stress pattern.
This stress pattern is illustrated in the lists below. The first
word in each list has the stressed syllable for that list in bold.
3 syllables 4 syllables
animal eternal original continental
elegant defendant significant disinfectant
elegance abundance significance
 Suffixes Like -al / 321

resident dependent equivalent correspondent

reference dependence circumference correspondence
delicate consummate inadequate
average percentage disadvantage
creditor director solicitor malefactor
popular particular caterpillar
furniture adventure expenditure agriculture
camera vanilla anathema propaganda
stimulus consensus Sarcophagus streptococcus
minimum = momentum aluminum memorandum
domino contralto inuendo
pelican suburban American
unison abandon automaton
barbarous tremendous monotonous ambidextrous
document apartment development readjustment

Gaps in these lists correspond to gaps in the language. We

do not have any words to put in those places. For exam-
ple, we have no three-syllable word ending in -ate and
stressed like eternal.
In words like disappearance, however, the stress is on the
root. Syllables with vowel teams in them tend to draw the
stress in words with all these suffixes, just like the syllables
that end in two consonants. In words like fragrance and
algebra the consonant blends GR and BR behave like
single consonants. The GR has a long A in the syllable
before it, and the BR allows the stress to move back to the
first syllable. This is because these blends can be used to
begin syllables, as in grand and brand. Such biends often
go off with the suffix in the Latin style of spelling, leaving
the vowel before them long, if it is stressed, or muffled if
its unstressed. The consonant teams TH, PH and CH
sounding like K, all of which occur frequently on the Latin
side of the language, also behave like single consonants
in the Latin style of spelling.
Words with the suffix -age sometimes violate the usual
stress pattern quite sharply, taking a heavy stress on the
suffix, as in garage and sabotage. This is because these
words were borrowed relatively recently from the French,
322 / Suffixes Like -al ‘
‘“

where there is a tendency to stress all final syllables. In such

words, the vowels retain their French sounds, and have
nothing to do with English spelling of any style. The suffix
-age violates the -al pattern in another way also. It almost
always takes a short vowel in two-syllable words that have
only one consonant between vowels, as in manage and
damage. It usually takes a vowel team to show a long vowel
before -age, as in drainage and leakage. Notice also that
the Latin suffix -age is often added to a native English root.
Finally, the suffix -ment, unlike the other Latin suffixes,
begins with a consonant, and it can be added to roots which
contain long vowels shown by the pattern vowel-consonant-
E, as in basement. The reader must realize that the E
remains silent in these words, just as it does before the
native English suffixes beginning with Consonants, as in
lately and careless. The suffix -ment is included here
because it has the same effect on the stress pattern that
-al has.
2. Suffixes like -ial.
We have a great many suffixes like -ial, as in serial. All of
these are two-syllable suffixes formed by inserting an
unstressed | before a suffix like -al. The | sounds like the
Y in happy and the | in happiest. In a few cases these forms
are actual examples of the suffix -y changing to | before
a second suffix, as in enyy, envious and fury, furious. But
ordinarily, we do not have -y forms corresponding to the
words that have these suffixes. Thus, we have native and
nation, but no such word as ‘‘naty.”’
If there is only one consonant between vowels, these suf-
fixes make the vowel before them long, unless it is an |,
in which case it is always short, as in radio, previous, idiot,
phobia and studious. This is a very reliable pattern. Among
hundreds of words with these suffixes, there are no words
with long | before the unstressed |, and only a handful of
words where A or E is unaccountably short, as in
companion. ‘
These suffixes have another striking, and very reliable
 Suffixes Like -ial / 323

feature. They always draw the heaviest stress onto the

syllable right before the unstressed |. This is true regardless
of whether the syllable taking the stress is a prefix, as in
previous; a root, as in infuriate, or a suffix, as in solarium.
It is also true regardless of the length of the word, as in
radiant, malaria, planetarium, totalitarian; serious, interior,
inexperience, encyclopedia; trivial, recipient, equilibrium;
opium, custodian, auditorium; dubious, enthusiasm.
It is helpfultoremember that the unstressed | in these suf-
fixes is equivalent to a Y. In the above examples, it has the
same sound that -y has as a suffix. After certain consonants,
however, it sounds more like consonant Y in canyon. Ex-
amples are: alien, region, bilious, million, junior; behavior,
convenient, familiar and communion.
Understanding that the unstressed | can sound like a con-
sonant Y helps one to see where we get the SH sound in
a word like racial. Experiment with this word as follows:
First, pronounce it very slowly as race-yal. Then Say it the
same way several more times, stepping up the pace at each
repetition. You will end with the normal sound of the Cl in
racial. There are many words where this process has pro-
duced SH sounds when the spelling would ordinarily sug-
gest a plain S sound, as in gracious, passion, tension,
crucial; financial, delicious, atrocious, unconscious,
compulsion.
With other consonant sounds, the same process produces
slightly different results. On the Latin side of English, a Z
sound is most often spelled by a single S between vowels,
as in refusal and divisor. Before suffixes like -ial, these Z-
sounding S’s go to a special sound which is respelled ZH
in dictionaries, as in confusion and division. Other examples
are: occasion, amnesia, decision, erosion and conclusion.
Simpler forms of the same words often end in D sounds,
as in divide, decide, erode and conclude.
A similar process makes -tion sound like shun. Try the
same experiment with nation that you did with racial. Say
nate-yon very slowly, but use a special version of the T
324 / Suffixes like -ial ‘
‘“s

sound. We usually pronounce T by touching the tip of the

tongue to the spot where the roof of the mouth meets the
upper teeth. For this experiment, touch the backs of the
upper teeth a trifle lower down than usual. This will make
it easy to get quickly to the Y sound. It will also make the
T approach fairly close to an S sound. We have plenty of
evidence that the Latin vocabulary must have used this type
of T for along period at some time in the past. The evidence
is provided by pairs of modern English words like politics,
policy; agent, agency; delicate, delicacy, etc.
Using this special T sound, then, pronounce nate-yon slow-
ly, and repeat it slowly a few times until you have the special
T sound under good control. Then begin speeding it up at
each repetition until you come out with the normal sound
of nation.
As was mentioned earlier, -tion is not a suffix beginning
with a consonant. Rather it is the suffix -ion combined with
a T which it has captured from the end of a root, as in pro-
duct, production; contort, contortion; ignite, ignition;
demonstrate, demonstration; constitute, constitution. This
is why -tion is not added to words in the same way as -ment
and -less, which really do begin with consonants.
There are many words, however, where there does not
seem to be any T in the root for -ion to capture, words like
admire, admiration, and compose, composition. In such
words, the inserted AT’s and IT’s are left over from lost
forms of the Latin verbs. The Latin for admired is admiratus,
so to make admiration, the Romans dropped the -us and
added -ion. The Latin for composed was compositus, and
to make composition, they made the same substitution of
suffixes. Even in such words, therefore, the T of -tion is
really a captured consonant, and not the beginning of a
special suffix. This is why it behaves the way all the other
suffixes like -ial do, as in nation, motion; vacation,
completion, tradition, devotion, pollution; concentration,
repetition, contribution; acceleration, recombination,
centralization.
 Suffixes Like -ic / 325

Finally, it should be noticed that most of the suffixes like

-al can also form suffixes like -ial. Thus, we have the suf-
fixes -iant, -iance, -ient, -ience, -iate, -ior, -iar, -ia, -ius,
-ium, -io, -ian, -ion and -ious, as in radiant, radiance,
convenient, convenience, appropriate, savior, peculiar,
pneumonia, radius, radium, radio, physician, caution and
curious.

. Suffixes like -ic.

The suffixes containing | without a second vowel, like -ic,
almost always take a short vowel in the syllable before them,
even when there is only one consonant between vowels,
as in static, panic, epic, critic, civic, logic and comic. In
two-syllable words, the stress is heavy on the root, as usual.
In longer words, the stress pattern is the same as the stress
pattern for words with suffixes like -ial. Regardless of how
long the word is, -ic normally draws the heaviest stress onto
the syllable just before it, as in organic, athletic, atomic;
automatic, epidemic, paralytic, alcoholic; aristocratic,
capitalistic. Notice how reliably the vowels go short, even
when the original word had a long vowel in the last syllable,
as in athlete and paralyze.
It is only in the most commonly-used three-syllable words
that the main stress moves back onto the first syllable, as
in politics, heretic and catholic. (Nowadays, we may not talk
much about heretics. But there were at least two centuries
during which heretics and the Catholic Church were
discussed just as widely, and even more passionately than
politics is discussed today.)
Other suffixes that work like -ic are -id, -in, -il, -it, -ice, -ile,
-ine, -ite, -ive, and -ize, as in rapid, frigid, solid; cabin,
robin; peril, civil, vigil; habit, credit, visit; novice, sterile,
famine, respite and baptize.
In longer words, the suffixes -id and -it usually draw the
stress onto the syllable before them, as in inhabit, inherit,
exhibit, deposit and insipid. But the stress can sometimes
move back onto the first syllable, as in benefit.
326 / Suffixes Like -ic ‘ ,

In three-syllable words with the remaining suffixes of this

class, the stress pattern is like the one for suffixes like -al,
as in aspirin, accomplice, prejudice, juvenile, determine,
masculine, definite and organize. Notice that the | is long
in organize, and that it may be either long or short in
juvenile. But in the rest of the examples given here, the |
is short.
However, in suffixes spelled with |__E, the sound of the |
is quite variable. In -ive, it is normally short, and in -ize,
it is always long. In most of the -ile words, long or short
| is equally correct. With the others, it all depends on the
individual word, as in sacrifice, armistice; canine, doctrine;
valentine, discipline; termite, dynamite, favorite.
Furthermore, most of the |__E suffixes occur at least once
with a long E sound, which usually goes with a heavy stress
on the suffix, as in naive, police, automobile, magazine,
elite. These are Latin words that came to us through the
French. By using the French sound of |, and by stressing
the suffix, we retain their French flavor. In English, -ine is
much more likely to behave in this way than any of the other
|__E suffixes. But the student should be warned of the
variability of these | sounds.
And again, no rule about the length of vowel sounds is en-
tirely reliable on the Latin side of English. Suffixes like -ic
occasionally take long vowels before them, as in basic,
music, tunic, humid, unit, notice, profile and finite.
Finally, there is an important two-syllable suffix that works
like -ic.
It is the suffix -ity, as in charity, capacity, reality, serenity,
publicity, timidity, divinity, civility, festivity, commodity;
relativity, electricity, university, insipidity; municipality,
instrumentality, and reproductivity.
Notice that -ity always draws the heaviest stress onto the
syllable just before it, even when that syllable started out
as a Suffix like -ic; that the vowel before it is always short;
and that there is never a doubled consonant between the
vowel of that syllable and -ity. Even when the vowel was
 Suffixes with Long U / 327

long in the original word, as in serene and divine, it goes

short when -ity is added.

. Suffixes containing long U spellings.

The most familiar of these is -ure, as in figure, failure,
tenure, nature, picture, adventure, signature, manufacture,
temperature, measure, disclosure, pressure and fissure.
Notice that the end of the root in figure, failure and tenure
is followed by a prominent Y- sound that is not reflected
in the spelling. There is no need for a Y letter because the
sound of long U is the full name of the letter, which might
be spelled yoo. In an unstressed syllable like a suffix, much
of the long U sound is muffled, but the initial Y- component
of this sound is never lost. It is this Y- sound which con-
verts the T’s into CH sounds, S’s into ZH sounds, and the
SS’s into SH sounds in words of this kind. This happens
through a process very much like the one that distorts the
T and S sounds in words like nation, musician and vision.
Other suffixes like -ure are -ule, -une, -ue, -ual and -uous,
as in schedule, fortune, statue, continue, usual and con-
tinuous. Again the Y- part of the long U sound is clearly
heard after certain consonants, and acts to distort the T’s
and S’s. In schedule, it tends to distort the D sound into
a J sound.
The vowels before the long U suffixes are often short.
. Suffixes that are Latin as well as being native English.
These suffixes are: -ish, -et, -le, -y, -er and -able.
As a native English suffix, -ish makes the word into an
adjective meaning ‘‘like a ,’ with the root filling
in the blank. Slavish means, “‘like a slave,’’ and mannish
means “‘like a man.”’ But if the root is not a familiar native
English word, -ish is a Latin suffix which shows that the
word is a verb or a noun. It works like -ic, taking a short
vowel in the syllable before it, as in vanish, relish, finish,
polish and punish. In long words, it continues to work like
-ic, drawing the stress onto the syllable before it, as in
establish, replenish, diminish and astonish.
328 / Suffixes Like -et *

The suffix -et must be considered native English because

so many of the words containing it, like bonnet and pocket,
became thoroughly English so early that they were fitted
into the native English spelling style when it was first
established. But -et is really a French suffix, and it has con-
tinued to enter English throughout the modern period, bring-
ing with it patterns that fit the Latin style of spelling, as in
facet, tenet, rivet, comet, cabinet and omelet. In these
words, all the vowels are short, regardless of the single con-
sonants. The stress pattern in the three-syllable words is
the one that goes with suffixes like -al.
Words that have come into English more recently than those
above may have some stress on the suffix, in imitation of
the French fashion, as in bayonet and epaulet. In certain
other words, we stress the -et heavily and pronounce it like
AY, in an effort to retain the full French pronunciation, as
in ballet, crochet, gourmet and Chevrolet. In such words,
all the vowels, and the consonant team CH, retain their
French characteristics.
The suffix -le is also really a Latin suffix. But again it came
into common English use very early. Still, there are a few
two-syllable words where consonant doubling is not used
after a short vowel, as in treble and triple. In long words,
-le behaves like the Latin suffix -al, as in example, bicycle,
capable and chronicle.
The suffixes -y and -er came to us both by the Germanic
route and by the Latin route. When the root before the suf-
fixes -y and -er is not a common English root, these suf-
fixes are Latin, as in navy, duty and meter. As a Latin suf-
fix, -y often takes a short vowel without consonant doubl-
ing, as in vary, very, city, copy and study. The suffix -er
sometimes does the same thing as in proper. In long words,
-y and -er have less effect on the stress pattern of the
original word than other Latin suffixes. The stress tends to
stay where it was before the -y was added, as in injury,
bankruptcy, certainty and adultery. Notice, however, how
easily extra consonants creep into these words before the
y.
 -Y As Latin Suffix / 329

We also have longer suffixes ending in -y. Two of them are

-ary and -ory. In three-syllable words, these tend to throw
a heavy stress onto the first syllable, as in summary, history
and factory. But often, the A or O of the suffix is also slightly
stressed, and has a long sound, as in library, contrary,
necessary, literary, voluntary, imaginary, vocabulary;
category, dormitory, territory and laboratory.
The suffixes -y and -er are often added to combined words
like photograph, drawing the stress onto the vowel that
joins the two roots, and resulting in words like photography,
telegraphy, calligraphy, photographer and telegrapher. All
the -ology’s work the same way. The root -log- means
““science,’’ so that biology, geology and psychology mean
“the sciences of life, earth and mind.” The root -crat-
means “‘rule by,’’ so that democracy means ‘‘rule by the
people,”’ and aristocracy means “‘rule by the noblemen.”’
Keeping in mind the habits of -y, -er and -ic, and remember-
ing that the combined words stress the first syllable if they
have no suffix, one can make sense of the shifting stresses
in such sets as photograph, photographer, photographic;
democrat, democracy, democratic; telegraph, telegraphy,
telegraphic; biology, biological; geography, geographic;
geology, geological; astrology, astrological, astrologer.
The suffix -able must be considered as a suffix which is
native English as well as Latin because the suffix can stand
alone as an independent English word, and because it
leaves the stress undisturbed in most words, but behaves
like -al in quite a few others.
This suffix is often added to native English words, as in
laughable and understandable, and in such words the
stress remains on the root as is required by the English style
of spelling. The stress also frequently remains undisturb-
ed when -able is added to familiar Latin verbs, as in
debatable, presentable, recognizable and imaginable. But
there are a few words made from familiar Latin verbs where
-able throws the stress back onto the prefix, as in preferable
and comparable. And then, there are words where the root
330 / Multiple Suffixes Y

is less recognizable, as in capable, probable and

vulnerable. Here again, we tend to stress the first syllable.
Such words often have this suffix spelled -ible, especially
after S, Z and J sounds, as in possible, flexible, sensible,
forcible, visible, legible; accessible, divisible and dirigible.
Sometimes, this spelling also occurs after other sounds, as
in terrible, incredible and convertible.
6. Multiple suffixes.
In the native English style of spelling, we often have two
English suffixes in a row, as in carelessly or hammering.
On the Latin side of English, it is possible to pile up even
more suffixes.
a. Native English suffixes added to Latin words.
Almost any word from the Latin side of English can take
one or another of the native English suffixes, as in
secrets, finally, purposeless, purposeful,
consciousness; prefixes, producing, committed and
defender. These suffixes are added strictly according
to the English spelling style—maintaining silent E’s
where necessary, and adhering strictly to the
single/double consonant rule if the suffix begins with a
vowel. And, true to the native English style, they leave
the stress pattern and vowels of the original word
undisturbed.

b. Multiple Latin suffixes.

It is possible to have a series of three of four Latin suf-
fixes added one after the other to a Latin root, as in act,
active, activate, activation; victor, victory, victorious;
history, historic, historical; sentiment, sentimental,
sentimentality; artifice, artificial, artificiality; human,
humanity, humanitarian. As each successive suffix is
added, it has its own special effect on the stress pat-
tern of what was there before. But the additions make
no difference to the spelling of what went before.
However, when -ity is added after -able or -ous, it does
affect the form of the previous suffix. Adding -ity to the
 Multiple Suffixes / 331

simple word able yields ability, with an extra | thrown

in between the B and the L. When the suffixes -able or
-ible are lengthened by -ity, the same thing happens,
as in capable and capability, and possible, possibility.
When -ity is added after -ous, the U is lost, and the O
goes short, as in generous, generosity, curious, and
Curiosity.
Finally, no matter how long or fancy the Latin word has
become, a native English suffix can often be added at
the end on top of everything else, as in victoriously,
historically, mysteriousness, and artificialities. But in
these longer forms, there is one feature that should be
noted. The native English suffix -ly is almost never
added directly after the Latin suffix -ic. As shown above,
it can be added after -ic plus -al, as in historically. But
if we have no -ical form of the word, and we want to add
-ly, we must throw in -al between the -ic and the -ly.
Thus, we have emphatic and emphatically, but not
emphatical; we have athletic and athletically, but not
athletical. We often suppress the inserted -al in pronoun-
cing such a word, but when the word is written, the -al
must put in a due appearance.
This concludes the analysis of the Latin style of spelling. It can
be summarized very briefly as follows. When there is only one con-
sonant between vowels, the first vowel is long only in three
circumstances:
1. In many of the two-syllable words with suffixes like -al.
2. In the stressed syllable before suffixes like -ial, except that in
this position, the letter | is short.
3. If the vowel letter is U.
Otherwise, stressed vowels are short, and the placement of the
stress depends on what the suffix is.
This analysis can seem overwhelming when it is taken all in one
dose. It is likely to prove more digestible when one uses it as a
resource for the solution of specific problems, like the following.
1, Why is the first syllable stressed in cosmonaut when the
332 / Specific Problems
‘a

second syllable is stressed in cosmology?—See combined

words, p. 313, and -Y as a Latin suffix, p. 327.
. Why does the prefix re- have a short vowel in refuge? Why
is the prefix stressed? Why are there not two F’s to show that
the E is short?—See prefixes like de-, p. 314.
. Why are there two F’s in affect when afar has only one?—
See prefixes like ad-, p. 315; and remember that far is an
ordinary English word.
. Why is the first syllable stressed in elephant, when the second
is stressed in reluctant? Why is the first E of elephant
short?—See suffixes like -al, pp. 319-321.
. Why is the E in completion long when the | in rendition is
short?—See suffixes like -ial, pp. 322-324.
. Why are the E and O in Ethiopia both stressed so heavily?
—See suffixes like -ial, pp. 322-324.
. Why does the SI in tension sound like SH?—See suffixes
like -ial, p. 324.
. Why is the O stressed in prophet when the E is stressed in
prophetic?—See suffixes like -ic, p. 325.
. Why is the A stressed in totality when one can hardly hear
it in total?—See suffixes like -ic, p. 326.
10. Why does banish have only one N when mannish has two?—
See suffixes that are both native English and Latin, p. 327.
 Remedial Reading / 333

Appendix C
Remedial Reading
In many schools where phonics is taught in first grade, each
of the later grades includes a few pupils who have transferred in-
to the school. Many of these children cannot keep up with the class
because their former school favored word-memorization instruc-
tion. They cannot read well enough to manage the work which
your regular pupils can do. They need special remedial work to
bring their reading skills up to par.
As was mentioned in the foreword, To The Teacher, these
children need different types of remedial handling, because poor
readers go through distinct developmental stages in their attitudes
toward reading and its problems. The one constant which unites
these different stages is that the children are profoundly fright-
ened by their reading problems.

Primary School Pupils

The second and third graders are still frankly facing the fact that
reading is hard for them. If you simply use with them the same
materials, you ordidnarily use in first grade, they can usually catch
on quite quickly. Start at page one, and go straight on through
the program. They will probably know quite a few of the conso-
nant sounds already. But the vowels will be hard for them. So you
need to work slowly at first, strengthening whatever they already
know, and straightening out whatever misconceptions they have.
You need to be very careful in helping them to learn how to blend
sounds and how to sound out successfully. But once they can real-
ly sound out, they will gobble up the rest of the phonics lessons
at a terrific pace. Their relief about being able to learn to read will
work a remarkable reform in their general behavior, and will make
the teacher realize how profoundly frightened they were before.
In addition to the special phonics lessons, these children need
to be treated very gently at home. Parents, relatives and friends
of the family often think these children are stupid, since they did
not learn to read in first grade. But these children are almost never
stupid. On the contrary, they are usually extra bright. They are
334 / Remedial Reading "

bright enough to know that society has somehow broken its prom-
ise to teach them how to read. They are smart enough to know
what a disaster this broken promise is. They will learn just as soon
as someone shows them what the letters are for and how they
work.
In the meantime, they must be encouraged at home, and praised
for every bit of progress they make. Parents need to help them
with reading of homework assignments from their regular classes
until they get far enough along to manage the homework by
themselves. Parents must refrain from ridiculing them or punishing
them for their reading problems. They must also be careful to pre-
vent other adults and older children from ridiculing them.
Similar precautions must also be undertaken in the regular
classrooms where remedial readers are spending most of their
day. Teachers must be supportive and encouraging, and they must
lead the other children in the class to take the same attitude. The
teacher must not call on the remedial readers to read out loud
in class until she knows they can do it. In the meantime, she needs
to help them read directions and written problems in math work;
to let them work only on whatever spelling words they have already
learned how to handle, and give them all the help they need with
any reading work that is part of the daily activity. When other
children are doing written work in class, the remedial readers
should be working on phonics practice exercises.
Sometimes it is possible to have a classmate give a remedial
reader the needed extra help. But if this is done, a careful eye
must be kept on the relationship, to make sure that helper is really
helping and is not making the remedial reader feel discouraged
or defensive.

Older Children
The transfer children who come in at the fourth, fifth, sixth or
early high school levels are quite another matter. They have
already resigned themselves to being poor readers. They have
convinced themselves that their reading skills are good enough
for them, that reading is not really very important, and that they
do not want to be boring, goody-goody bookworms, anyway. These
children are likely to resist all offers of help with reading.
 Remedial Reading / 335

Nevertheless, there is one chink in their armor. They may be

very snooty about reading. But they would like to be relieved of
the bad spelling which is always getting them into trouble. For this
age group, you should not even mention reading, or require special
reading classes. No, not reading: spelling. Special help with spell-
ing is something they can accept. Teach them what the letter-
sounds, letter-combinations and letter-interactions are, and how
to use this information for writing words down according to their
pronunciation.
Then, once they are beginning to feel good about their spell-
ing, you can get them to use their spelling knowledge to help
themselves with reading. When they are stumbling in an effort to
read a word you know they can spell, simply ask, ‘“‘What would
those letters spell if you had written them down?” Some consis-
tent leadership of this kind will get them to transfer their spelling
knowledge to reading. Then, in a few months, or a year, you can
turn around and Say, ‘‘See, you are not such a bad reader, after
all, and reading has a lot of advantages.”’
How should you go about teaching spelling to these pupils?
Where should you start, and what order of presentation should
you use? The answer is easy. Use exactly what your school uses
for first grade reading.
But don’t let them know it is baby work. Use the first grade text-
book as your source of spelling words, but keep it in your desk
with a jacket which hides the book’s own cover. Take one other
precaution, also. Do not have them memorize spelling words. In-
stead, teach spelling as a process, as a matter of putting down
the letters that show what the writer pronounces in order to say
the word.
Like the younger remedial readers, these students will need help
with reading for a while, both at home and at school. And again,
they should be protected from riducule both at home and at school
until they have learned to spell and read independently.

High School Transfer Students

Transfer students who enter a good school in the upper years of
high school arrive with a great variety of reading levels, and a vari-
ety of attitudes toward reading. Some of them will be completely
336 / Remedial Reading x

illiterate, and the rest will be able to score at anywhere from a

third to a sixth grade reading level on a paragraph-meaning test.
Those reading at a 0 to 3.0 grade level have often matured
enough to abandon the middle-childhood bravado about reading.
They have gone back to facing the fact of their reading disability
and are as pathetically anxious for help as the second-grade non-
readers. With them, you can use the regular first-grade materials
in the regular way. Just tell them frankly that they need baby
materials because, when they were first-grade babies themselves,
they were presented with a different kind of material which only
confused them.
But do not expect these students to go through the first grade
materials as fast or as easily as the second and third-graders can.
The older students have been struggling for years to read by
means of their misconceptions about words and letter-sounds.
They will make the same types of errors over and over again, not
because they are not trying, but because their erroneous habits
are so deeply ingrained.
It takes these students a long time really to begin to believe in
the reliability of letter-sounds. It takes along time for them to learn
how to sound words out, and even longer for them to form the
habit of using sounding out for word-identification. Nevertheless,
they will see themselves making progress; they will stick to the
lessons with remarkable stubbornness; and they will learn to read,
especially if, at every stage, you have them using their new
knowledge for spelling as well as for reading.
But while they are in the process of learning to read, these
students need the usual kind of special help to keep up with their
regular classes. They need someone to read their textbooks aloud
to them. They must not be called upon to read out loud themselves
in ordinary classes. They should be excused from all writing
assignments, and encouraged instead to answer questions orally,
and to make reports orally. And all this must be done in a way
which is not belittling to the student. All concerned, including the
student, must realize and respect the fact that this student needs
special help because he or she did not get the kind of reading
instruction in first grade that your school gives.
Some of the older high school students who transfer to a good
 Remedial Reading / 337

school while reading at a 0 to 3.0 level are still at the developmental

stage of the fourth-grade non-readers. They are still pretending
complete indifference to reading, but are sufficiently embarrassed
about spelling to take special work in spelling. They should be
taught by way of spelling, like the fourth-graders. But while they
are learning to spell and read by this approach, they need the
same kinds of special help and priveleges as the 0 to 3.0 remedial!
students who are frankly working on reading.
Finally, there are the high school students who enter a good
school reading at levels from 3.0 to 6.0. Like the fourth-grade non-
readers, these students usually do not want any help with reading,
only with spelling. But you cannot help them with a spelling pro-
gram based on the very earliest work of the first grade. They real-
ly can read and spell a lot of the simple, short-vowel words. In-
stead, you should work on their spelling by beginning at a slightly
higher level. Their grasp of the sounds for single consonant let-
ters is usually quite good, and they have some sense of the short
vowel sounds, but need a great deal of practice with short vowels.
With these students, you should work on spelling by starting
with words which contain short vowels only, but vary in the number
of consonant sounds at the beginning and end of the word. Once
they are able to handle short-vowel words with all the consonant
blends at the beginning or the end, you should work on the con-
sonant teams, SH, CH, TH, WH and NG. Then you can begin us-
ing the first grade text as a guide for presentation of the remain-
ing phonic material.
Again, these students need special help to enable them to keep
up with their regular classes while their spelling and reading skills
are being dealt with. They need exactly the same types of special
privileges as the non-readers, being allowed to answer questions
and give reports orally, instead of doing written work. They should
not be called on to read aloud in the regular classes. In dealing
with their reading assignments for the regular classes, however,
they need different handling, depending on their entering reading
scores.
Those scoring at a 3.0.or 4.0 reading level should probably have
someone read their textbooks aloud to them, and help them keep
notes to use for reciting in class. Those reading at higher levels,
338 / Remedial Reading ~*

should also have constant help. But the helper, instead of reading
the textbooks aloud to them, should have the remedial student
read aloud. The helper should follow the text, and straighten out
the mistakes the student makes. In this way, the remedial student
will get practice in reading, but will be prevented from becoming
confused about the book’s contents as a result of inadequate
reading skills.
Finally, you should be warned that remedial students from
fourth-graders on up will need more than a simple once-through
journey on the plan of the first-grade reading course. After they
have been through this, they need review. The review can be
based on the spelling textbooks that your school uses for its
regular classes, from second grade on up. This will give them mix-
ed review of all the phonic elements. It will help the teacher see
what they have really mastered, and what items still need extra
work.
While this review is going on, remedial students should also be
given lots of easy-reading, high-interest stories and biograpies to
read. By this time, their reading will be good enough so that they
can enjoy books of this kind. But they still need lots of practice
with enjoyable reading because in earlier years they missed out
on all the usual, recreational reading that makes good readers
of the children who begin with phonics in the first place.

Remedial Students of all Ages

One general'comment about remedial reading needs to be em-
phasized. The remedial teacher must keep one thing constantly
in mind. The teacher must remember that it is not the fault of the
students that they did not learn to read the first time around. They
failed because they were not taught the things you are teaching
them. They were not stupid or lazy or recalcitrant. They probably
did not have any brain dysfunction. Their problem is first, that they
were not taught how to use the letters for reading, and second
that they were terrified by their failure.
They are still terrified whenever they make a mistake, no matter
how suave their manner may be. You dare not let their mistakes go
unnoticed, for any further confusion will cripple them completely.
But each mistake must be handled in a positive and constructive
 Remedial Reading / 339

way. Whatever the error, always mention first the one or two things
that they did right. Then, point out the mistake, and help them
understand which of their old habits crept in to cause that error,
why it doesn’t work to do it that way, and how to guard against
that type of error in the future.
You need to combine the greatest firmness with a great deal
of tender, loving care. Not ‘‘kindness,’’ not condescension, not
making excuses for tee student. But true firmness and truly tender,
truly loving care.
With this kind of treatment, the pupil who at first appears stupid,
lazy, careless and scatter-brained will blossom into a bright, eager
and industrious student.
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 Hanna List / 341

Appendix D
The Hanna Research Project

In 1963, an educator interested in the problem of spelling in-

struction decided to use computer technology to examine enough
of our words so as to settle the question of alphabet reliability once
and for all. With the support of the United States Department of
Health, Education and Welfare, the educator, Paul R. Hanna, of
Stanford University, led the project. In 1966, Hanna and his col-
leagues presented their results in a massive tome entitled
Phoneme-Grapheme Correspondences as Cues to Spelling
Improvement.* The data set forth in this report form the basis for
the word counts in the ABC’s and All Their Tricks.
The words selected for the Hanna study were drawn mainly from
the Thorndike-Lorge Teacher’s Word Book of 30,000 Words. This
listing had been a standard source of school reading vocabulary
for many years. Thorndike and Lorge compiled their list by deter-
mining how often each word occurred in the King James version
of the Bible, and in a large selection of children’s literature, school
textbooks, children’s magazines and magazines for the home. The
Teacher’s Word Book includes a list of 19,440 words which oc-
curred one or more times per million running words in these
sources. In a separate listing, it included an additional 10,560
words which occurred less than once per million running words
in their source materials. The Hanna group used the 19,440-word
list as their starting-point.
The list, however, had disadvantages as a basis for the Hanna
study. For one thing, it was rather dated. Thorndike and Lorge
completed their research in 1944. Several years of work were
necessary between the choosing of source materials and final
completion of the data, so that the list is based on books and
magazines published considerably earlier than 1944. Scientific and
social developments since that time have added many new words
to our work-a-day language, and have pushed many others into
342 / Hanna List *

the ‘‘rare’’ category. The Hanna group eliminated as irrelevant

or unusable the Thorndike words belonging to the following
categories: proper names, contracted, hyphenated, or abbreviated
forms, slang, obsolete words, trade names, foreign words and
words for which no pronunciation was provided in the dictionary
chosen for the research. These operations reduced the list to
15,284 items.
They next culled the sixth edition of the Merriam-Webster’s New
Collegiate Dictionary for new words which the researchers could
agree were sufficiently used to belong in the vocabulary of
educated Americans. In this way, they selected 2,026 words to
add to the basic list, yielding a grand total of 17,310. A close study
of the final list would, | believe, convince most people that this
research examines an adequate sample of English words.
The Hanna group then analyzed the words in detail. They used
a computer program to compare the spelling of each word with
the dictionary respelling that indicates how it is pronounced. This
study produced lists showing (1) how many times each speech
sound occured in syllables bearing primary or secondary stress,
(2) how many times it occurred in unstressed syllables, (3) how
many times it occured at the beginning, middle, or end of a
syllable, (4) how many different spellings corresponded to the
sound, and (5) how many times each separate spelling of the
sound appeared in the various types of syllables and in various
syllable positions. The lists thus generated are contained in the
published results of the study.
The word counts given in the present volume are based on a
detailed study of these lists.

* By Paul R. Hanna, Jean S. Hanna, Richard E. Hodges, and Edwin H. Rudorf,

Jr., U.S. Government Printing Office, 1966.
 More Phonics and Spelling Help
A Measuring Scale for Ability in Spelling by Leonard P.
Ayres. An old classic, now republished. One thousand frequently used
words are arranged according to grade levels so that you can test any
pupil and determine his or her level of spelling. The research and
validation procedures are described in the book, as well as directions
for testing. You may also use the lists for weekly spelling in your
class or with your student. Pupils who can spell the thousand most
common words are ready for most of the writing they need to do.
Phonics Made Plain by Michael S. Brunner. This set consists of
flashcards and a wall chart. On one side of each card is a phonogram
to display to your student(s) and on the reverse side is teaching
information for you. The correlated wall chart does indeed make
phonics plain, as you see everything organized into ten manageable
groups. You CAN teach them. Your children CAN learn. Instructions
included.
The Three R’s by Ruth Beechick. This down-to-earth guidebook
takes the mystery out of teaching the early grades. The book is divided
into three sections which are tabbed for easy reference. The Reading
section tells how and when to begin phonics, and how to develop
comprehension skills. The Language section shows how to develop
written language skills naturally. The Arithmetic section explains how
to teach understanding of math concepts, and not just memorization
of facts.
McGuffey’s Progressive Speller by Alexander H. McGuffey.
Called “Progressive” because it begins with basic phonics and
progresses to advanced vocabulary worthy of a graduate student. As
such, it can be the heart of your spelling program for all grade levels.
Mrs. Silver’s Phonics Workbook and Mrs. Silver’s
Phonics Teacher’s Guide by Claudine Silver. This course is for
beginners who need to learn consonant sounds and short vowel sounds.
In the McGuffey system, it is used before the Primers. The teacher’s
edition contains complete instructions for using the workbook and for
enriching the lessons with additional activities. With phonics, children
can build a wide knowledge of words and ideas. To help with this, Mrs.
Silver gives words for science, music, Bible, and other curriculum areas,
and ideas for correlating them with each phonics lesson.
Phonics in Song by Leon V. Metcalf. Delightful, catchy melodies
teach each letter of the alphabet and the most important digraphs—
ch, sh, th, and wh. A sing-along tape is also available.

These books are available from:

Mott Media (www.mottmedia.com)
4 iP eeeighwes
. pus
 About the Author

Margaret M. Bishop, graduate of Columbia

University, was a specialist in languages and had long
experience in teaching children by the phonics method.
She also used her method with juvenile and adult ex-
offenders who were illiterate or nearly so, and started many
of them on the road to a more successful life. She trained
reading tutors and found that both professional teachers
and volunteers can successfully use the phonics approach
to reading.
Bishop’s earlier writings include two series of
phonics workbooks.
The ABC’s and All Their Tricks
By Margaret M. Bishop

Phonics, Spelling, Pronunciation and More

No teacher or parent of a school-aged child should
be without this reference book.

Here at lastis...

e The book to end all books on phonics. A true encyclopedia of

information.

e A main section arranged alphabetically, allowing for quick reference

use. Find answers to questions in a jiffy.

¢ A book-within-a-book telling what to do for remedial reading pupils.

¢ Other mini-books telling how English came into its present form,
what you want to know about root words, syllables, vowels,
consonants, and much, much more.

e An answer to any phonics question. For instance, why does the ch in

Christ have the k sound? Look on page 96 for the answer. Or, what
should you teach about ough? See page 203.

ABC's and All Their Tricks

ISBN-13: 978-0-880be-140-3
ISBN-10: O-880b2-140-0

4 780880'621 A ti:
4 |
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90000