Phonics refers to an instructional method for teaching children to read English.

Phonics involves teaching children to connect the sounds of spoken English with letters or groups of letters (e.g., that the sound /k/ can be represented by c, k, or ck spellings) and teaching them to blend the sounds of letters together to produce approximate pronunciations of unknown words.

Alphabetic principle rom a linguistics perspective, English spelling is based on the alphabetic principle. !n an alphabetic writing system, letters are used to represent speech sounds, or phonemes. or example, the word pat is spelled with three letters, p, a, and t, each representing a phoneme, respectively, /p/, /"/, and /t/.#$% &he spelling systems for some alphabetic languages, such as 'panish, are relatively simple because there is nearly a one(to(one correspondence between sounds and the letter patterns that represent them. English spelling is more complex, because it attempts to represent the )*+ phonemes of the spoken language with an alphabet composed of only ,- letters (and no accents). .s a result, two letters are often fused together into groups that represent distinct sounds, referred to as digraphs. or example /t/ and /h/ placed side by side are used to represent a third sound /th/ (!P.0/1/ or /2/). English has absorbed large amounts of words from other languages throughout its history, without changing the spelling of those words. .s a result, the written form of English includes the spelling patterns of five languages (3ld English, 4anish, 5orman rench, 6lassical 7atin and 8reek) superimposed upon one another.#,% &hese overlapping spelling patterns mean that in many cases the same sound can be spelled differently and the same spelling can represent different sounds. 9owever, the spelling patterns usually follow certain conventions. #:% &he result is that English spelling patterns vary considerably in the degree to which they follow the stated pattern. or example, the letters ee almost always represent /i/, but the sound can also be represented by the letter y. 'imilarly, the letter cluster ough represents /f/ as in enough, /o/ as in though, /u/ as in through, /f/ as in cough, and /a/ as in bough. .lthough the patterns are inconsistent, when English spelling rules take into account syllable structure, phonetics, and accents, there are do;ens of rules that are <=> or more reliable. #)% . selection of phonics patterns is shown below. Vowel phonics patterns

Short vowels are the five single letter vowels, a, e, i, o, and u when they produce the sounds /"/ as in cat, // as in bet, // as in sit, // as in hot, and // as in cup.

&he term /short vowel/ does not really mean that these vowels are pronounced for a particularly short period of time, but they are not diphthongs like the long vowels. Long vowels are synonymous with the names of the single letter vowels, such as /e/ in baby, /i/ in meter, /a/ in tiny, /o/ in broken, and /?u/ in humor. &he way that educators use the term /long vowels/ differs from the way in which linguists use this term. !n classrooms, long vowels sounds are taught as being /the same as the names of the letters./ Schwa is the third sound that most of the single vowel spellings can produce. &he schwa is an indistinct sound of a vowel in an unstressed syllable, represented by the linguistic symbol . /@/ is the sound made by the o in lesson. 'chwa is a vowel pattern that is not always taught to elementary school students because it is difficult to understand. 9owever, some educators make the argument that schwa should be included in primary reading programs because of its importance in reading English words. 6losed syllables are syllables in which a single vowel letter is followed by a consonant. !n the word button, both syllables are closed syllables because they contain single vowels followed by consonants. &herefore, the letter u' represents the short sound //. (&he o in the second syllable makes the /@/ sound because it is an unstressed syllable.) 3pen syllables are syllables in which a vowel appears at the end of the syllable. &he vowel will say its long sound. !n the word basin, ba is an open syllable and therefore says /be/. Diphthongs are linguistic elements that fuse two ad?acent vowel sounds. English has four common diphthongs. &he commonly recogni;ed diphthongs are /a/ as in cow and // as in boil. our of the long vowels are also technically diphthongs, /e/, /a/, /o/, and /?u/, which partly accounts for the reason they are considered /long./ Vowel digraphs are those spelling patterns wherein two letters are used to represent the vowel sound. &he ai in sail is a vowel digraph. Aecause the first letter in a vowel digraph sometimes says its long vowel sound, as in sail, some phonics programs once taught that /when two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking./ &his convention has been almost universally discarded, owing to the many non(examples. &he au spelling of the // sound and the oo spelling of the /u/ and // sounds do not follow this pattern. Vowel-consonant-E spellings are those wherein a single vowel letter, followed by a consonant and the letter e makes the long vowel sound. Examples of this include bake, theme, hike, cone, and cute. (&he ee spelling, as in meet is sometimes considered part of this pattern.)

Consonant phonics patterns

Consonant digraphs are those spellings wherein two letters are used to represent a consonant phoneme. &he most common consonant digraphs are ch for /t/, ng

for /B/, ph for /f/, sh for //, th for /1/ and /2/, and wh for // (often pronounced /w/ in .merican English). 7etter combinations like wr for /r/ and kn for /n/ are also consonant digraphs, although these are sometimes considered patterns with /silent letters./ Short vowel+consonant patterns involve the spelling of the sounds /k/ as in peek, /d/ as in stage, and /t/ as in speech. &hese sounds each have two possible spellings at the end of a word, ck and k for /k/, dge and ge for /d/, and tch and ch for /t/. &he spelling is determined by the type of vowel that precedes the sound. !f a short vowel precedes the sound, the former spelling is used, as in pick, judge, and match. !f a short vowel does not precede the sound, the latter spelling is used, as in took, barge, and launch.

&he final /short vowel+consonant pattern/ is ?ust one example of do;ens that can be used to help children unpack the challenging English alphabetic code. &his example illustrates that, while complex, English spelling retains order and reason.

Sight words and high freq enc! words

&here are words that do not follow these phonics rules, such as were, who, and you. &hey are often called /sight words/ because they must be memori;ed by sight. &eachers who use phonics also often teach students to memori;e the most high freCuency words in English, such as it, he, them, and when, even though these words are fully decodable. &he argument for teaching these /high freCuency words/ is that knowing them will improve studentsD reading fluency. &here are ways to aid in the memori;ation of sight words through the use of multi(sensory activities such as arm(tapping.

"istor! and controvers!

Aecause of the complexity of written English, more than a century of debate has occurred over whether English phonics should or should not be used in teaching beginning reading. 4espite the work of $Eth century proponents such as Febecca 'mith Pollard, some .merican educators, prominently 9orace Gann, argued that phonics should not be taught at all. &his led to the commonly used /look(say/ approach ensconced in the /4ick and Hane/ readers popular in the mid(,*th century. Aeginning in the $E=*s, however, phonics resurfaced as a method of teaching reading. 'purred by Fudolf leschDs criticism of the absence of phonics instruction (particularly in his popular book, Why Johnny Can't Read) phonics resurfaced, butIowing to leschDs polemical approachIthe term /phonics/ became associated with political ideology.

Jhen two or more letters appear together and you hear each sound that each consonant would normally make, the combination is called a blend. or instance, the word blend has two consonant blends0 bl, for which you hear the sounds for both b and l, and nd, for which you hear the sounds for both n and d.

#wo-Letter $lends

bl, which blends the /b/ and the /l/ sounds together to make the /bl/ sound as in blend and blight br, which blends the /b/ and the /r/ sounds together to make the /br/ sound as in break and brown cl, which blends the /c/ and the /l/ sounds together to make the /cl/ sound as in cluster and class cr, which blends the /c/ and the /r/ sounds together to make the /cr/ sound as in crash and cross dr, which blends the /d/ and the /r/ sounds together to make the /dr/ sound as in drive and drab fl, which blends the /f/ and the /l/ sounds together to make the /fl/ sound as in flu and flake fr, which blends the /f/ and the /r/ sounds together to make the /fr/ sound as in freedom and frost gl, which blends the /g/ and the /l/ sounds together to make the /gl/ sound as in glad and glory gr, which blends the /g/ and the /r/ sounds together to make the /gr/ sound as in green and gravy nd, which blends the /n/ and the /d/ sounds together to make the /nd/ sound as in blend and send pl, which blends the /p/ and the /l/ sounds together to make the /pl/ sound as in play and plow pr, which blends the /p/ and the /r/ sounds together to make the /pr/ sound as in prime and prowl sl, which blends the /s/ and the /l/ sounds together to make the /sl/ sound as in slogan and sloppy sm, which blends the /s/ and the /m/ sounds together to make the /sm/ sound as in small and smart

sn, which blends the /s/ and the /n/ sounds together to make the /sn/ sound as in snail and snore sp, which blends the /s/ and the /p/ sounds together to make the /sp/ sound as in special and spackel st, which blends the /s/ and the /t/ sounds together to make the /st/ sound as in stop and start

#hree-Letter $lends

shr, which blends the /sh/ digraph and the /r/ sound together to make the /shr/ sound as in shroud spl, which blends the /sp/ blend and the /l/ sound together to make the /spl/ sound as in splash and spendid spr, which blends the /sp/ blend and the /r/ sound together to make the /spr/ sound as in spring and spray squ, which blends the /s/ sound and the /sq/ digraph together to make the /squ/ sound as in squid and squelch str, which blends the /st/ blend and the /r/ sound together to make the /str/ sound as in struggle and strap thr, which blends the /th/ digraph and the /r/ sound together to make the /thr/ sound as in throw

Jhen a vowel is followed by a consonant, the vowel is short. &he diacritical %ar& for a short vowel is called a breve (K), which is in the shape of a downturned arc. . vowel is usually short when there is only one vowel in a word or syllable, as in cat, bed, and hot. 9owever, there are exceptions to this rule, such as with irreg lar vowels. &here is both a long and short sound to LooM. &he short sound appears as in the words book, booth, and took. &he following is a list of short vowel sounds, shown along with their diacritical marks0

Short a () sound as in at, taxi, anniversary, laboratory, and tackle Short e () sound as in elm, elevator, jellyfish, pentagon, and dentist

Short i () sound as in it, gift, inflate, spinach, and cereal Short o () sound as in hop, camouflage, garage, chop, father, paw, and binoculars Short u ( ) sound as in up, cut and subtract

or a complete list of long, short, and other sounds, see letter so nds

. long vowel sound is the same as its name. &he diacritical %ar& for a long vowel is called a macron (N), which is in the shape of a line above the vowel. Jhen a single vowel letter is in the end of a word (or syllable), it usually says its long sound (or its name), as in go and be. Jhen two vowels go hand in hand in the same word (or syllable), the first vowel is usually long, and the second vowel is usually silent. e.g., bake makes the /ay/ sound (long a) and the e is silentO goal makes the /oh/ sound (long o) and the a is silent. 9owever, there are many exceptions to this rule, such as with irreg lar vowels. Jhen there are two ad?acent vowels in a word, the first one is long and the second one is silent. &he first vowel is marked with a long line and second one is crossed out. Examples of this rule are in coat, ride, and read. &here is both a long and short sound to LooM. &he long sound appears as in the words boo, food, smooth, and moose. &he following is a list of long vowel sounds, shown along with their diacritical marks0

!ong a (") sound as in ape, snail, ache, explain, and reindeer !ong e (#) sound as in eat, agony, needle, pianist, and electricity !ong i ($) sound as in eye, cry, tightrope, tile, and violin !ong o (%) sound as in oh, domino, ghost, pillow, and stethoscope !ong u (&) sound as in you, salute, toothbrush, goose, boot, and costume

or a complete list of long, short, and other sounds, see letter so nds

Consonant So nds

6onsonants are the letters which stop or limit the flow of air from the throat in speech. &hese are the sounds, or phonemes, of single consonants0

/b/ sound as in bonfire, black, bathtub, and balcony /d/ sound as in dr', draw, design, and duet /f/ sound as in fossil, fail, frame, and fingerprint /g/ sound as in greeting, grill, goose, and grapefruit /h/ sound as in hail, hierogl'phics, hostage, and hit /(/ sound as in magician, s'ringe, (eep, and message /k/ sound as in ke', knock, kangaroo, and ka'ak /l/ sound as in li)ard, learn, lamp, and librar' /m/ sound as in mug, mone', ma)e, and mechanical /n/ sound as in night, newspaper, nightmare, and noodle /p/ sound as in panda, pie, pen, and potato /r/ sound as in rose, restaurant, run, and reporter /s/ sound as in safe, sunset, sand, and seat /t/ sound as in tile, thermometer, tongue, and to' /*/ sound as in *iolin, *olcano, *accination, and *ote /w/ sound as in waterfall, wagon, windmill, and watch /'/ sound as in 'oke, 'awn, 'acht, and 'oga /)/ sound as in )ebra, )oo, and )ipper

'ometimes the vowel u takes upon itself the consonant sound of w, as in quick or suave. &his is usually the case when q is followed by u, as in quiet and quaint.

Vowel So nds
. vowel is a sound made by the relatively free movement of air through the mouth, usually forming the main sound of a syllable. &he vowels are a, e, i, o, and u. Each vowel has two sounds0 a long so nd and a short so nd. &he long sound is the same as its name. Every vowel also makes a third sound0 the schwa. &his is the sound of a vowel that is unstressed in an unstressed syllable. &here are also some more advanced vowel sounds besides the long, short, and schwa. or instance, the a in father is different than the a in cat. Jhen a single vowel letter is in the middle of a word (or syllable), it usually says its short sound (e.g., got, bed.) Aut there are many exceptions to this rule, such as irregular vowels. Jhen a single vowel letter is in the end of a word (or syllable), it usually says its long sound (or its name), as in go and be. Jhen two vowels go hand in hand in the same word (or syllable), the first vowel is usually long, and the second vowel is usually silent.

e.g., bake makes the ay sound (long a) and the e is silentO goal makes the oh sound (long o) and the a is silent. Aut there are many exceptions to this rule, such as irregular vowels. &he following is a list of vowel sounds, shown along with their diacritical %ar&s0

!ong a (") sound as in ape, snail, ache, explain, and reindeer !ong e (#) sound as in eat, agony, needle, pianist, and electricity !ong i ($) sound as in eye, cry, tightrope, tile, and violin !ong o (%) sound as in oh, domino, ghost, pillow, and stethoscope !ong u (&) sound as in you, salute, toothbrush, goose, boot, and costume Short a () sound as in at, taxi, anniversary, laboratory, and tackle Short e () sound as in elm, elevator, jellyfish, pentagon, and dentist Short i () sound as in it, gift, inflate, spinach, and cereal Short o () sound as in hop, camouflage, garage, chop, father, paw, and binoculars Short u ( ) sound as in up, cut and subtract Schwa (+) sound as in about, item, gallop, and circus

&he letter y sometimes substitutes for i and is a vowel when it does so. 7ikewise, the vowel w sometimes substitutes for u and is considered a vowel when it does so. 9owever, y sometimes appears as the only vowel in a syllable, such as in gym and why, whereas w never appears as a vowel all by itself. Jhen w acts as a vowel, it always follows a (as in paw), e (as in new), or o (as in grow).

&he English alphabet is a set of ,- letters, each of which roughly represents a phone%e. &he word /alphabet/ comes from alpha and beta, the first two letters of the 8reek alphabet. &he ,- letters of the alphabet are0 ., A, 6, 4, E, , 8, 9, !, H, P, 7, G, 5, 3, P, Q, F, ', &, R, S, J, T, U, and V. Each comes in both an upper and lower case. &he letters of the alphabet in lower case are a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, ?, k, l, m, n, o, p, C, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, and ;. 3f these ,- letters, there are two kinds0 consonants and vowels. &he consonants of the alphabet are0 b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y, and . &he vowels are a, e, i, o, and u. 5ote that the letter y is classified as a consonant, but sometimes acts like a vowel.

Each letter is like an animal. Each has a name, but also makes a certain so nd. or example, a cat says /meow./ &hese sounds are called phonemes.

6onsonants are letters that are not vowels. 'pecifically, consonants are speech sounds (phone%es) made by partially or completely blocking the vocal air stream, and letters (graphe%es) that represents such sounds. Jhen y is not acting as a vowel, it is a consonant. Gost consonants have only one sound, but a few have multiple sounds. or instance, c can make both the /k/ and the /s/ sound. . comprehensive list of consonant sounds follows0

b makes the /b/ sound as in bat, also, when b follows m in the same s'llable, it is silent as in lambc makes the /k/ sound as in cat and the /s/ sound as in cease.see Spelling /ith C and Gd makes the /d/ sound as in dogf makes the /f/ sound as in fatg makes the /g/ sound as in get, and the /(/ sound as in gem.see Spelling /ith C and Gh makes the /h/ sound as in hat, also, sometimes h is silent, as in honestyj makes the /(/ sound as in jamk makes the /k/ sound as in kitel makes the /l/ sound as in lap, and the /l+/ sound as in glad and cyclem makes the /m/ sound as in madn makes the /n/ sound as in napp makes the /p/ sound as in parkr makes the /r/ sound as in race- /hen r follows a *owel, it makes a special sound0 see 123ontrolled 4owelss makes the /s/ sound as in sit, and the /)/ sound as in hast makes the /t/ sound as in tap, also, sometimes t is silent, as in whistlev makes the /*/ sound as in vanw makes the /w/ sound as in wet- w placed before a single *owel will usuall' modif' its sound, as in wash-

x makes the /ks/ sound as in box, the /gs/ sound as in exact, and the /)/ sound as in xylophoney makes the /'/ sound as in yet- y can also act as a *owelz makes the /)/ sound as in zip-

5ote that the consonant q is almost always followed by the vowel u. &he u in this case takes on the /w/ sound, so qu together make the /kw/ sound. !n some rench(derived words, (Cue makes the /k/ sound as in torque and plaque.

. vowel co%bination is a combination of two or three vowels, or of a vowel and at least one consonant, that is associated with one or more specific single sounds. or example, ea has the sounds /long e/ and /long a/O ay has the sound /long a/, and igh has the sound /long i/. &hese vowel combinations are sometimes called digraphs, diphthongs, trigraphs, and triphthongs. Sowel combinations occur in three different forms in written English0 5- 4owels often appear in clusters within a single s'llable- 6his is the most common form7- 4owels often appear in combination with a particular consonant or consonants which, together, represent a sound unit that is different from what 'ou would e8pect if 'ou didn9t know the specific combination- :or e8ample, the o in old has the /long o/ sound, but if 'ou didn9t alread' know that alread', 'ou would think that the o in cold was short;- <nother common combination in =nglish is one or two *owels followed b' gh- 6he gh is usuall' silent- >t is usuall' easier to decode the whole unit (igh, eigh) than to process the *owel and the gh seperatel'-

A Vowel Co%binations
ai/ay
&ogether, ai or ay make a /long a/ sound. Example words0 aim, rain, braid, paint, ray, say, stay, tail, twain, praise, stain, and main

Other a vowel combinations

ay as in day, sa', pla', spra', and tray au as in fault, gaunt, fraud, launch, pause, and sauce aw as in saw, paw, claw, dawn, and crawl augh as in caught, taught, daughter, naughty, haughty, and slaughter wa /w?/ as in want, wash, swamp, squash, squat wa /w/ as in wax, wag, swam, and quack all as in ball, tall, hall, and small ald as in bald, scald, and alder alk as in talk, walk, chalk, and stalk alm as in alms, calm, palm, and psalm alt as in halt, malt, and salt

E Vowel Co%binations
ee and ea
&ogether, ee or ea make a /long e/ sound. 'ometimes, ea together makes a /short e/ sound or a /long a/ sound instead. Example words (ee)0 peek, see, queen, sleep, cheese, street, meet, and team Example words (ea /long e/)0 eat, sea, each, leaf, peach, mean, team, ease, and please Example words (ea /short e/)0 dead, head, spread, health, and meant Example words (ea /long a/)0 break, great, steak, and yea

Other e vowel combinations

eu/ew as in sleuth, deuce, few, new, and shrewd ei/e'/eigh /long a/ as in *eil, beige, the', whe', eight, and weigh ei/e'/eigh /long e/ as in sei)e, ke', mone', *alle' ei/e'/eigh /long i/ as in heist, e'e, ge'ser, height

I Vowel Co%binations

ie /long e/ as in brief, field, grie*e, and piece ie/'e /long i/ as in die, tie, d'e, and r'e igh as in high, thigh, night, flight, and wright ign as in sign, align, assign, and benign ind as in bind, kind, mind, grind, and behind

O Vowel Co%binations

oo as in boo, food, smooth, and moose oo as in book, look, good, and stood oa /long o/ as in oat, loam, groan, loathe, and loa*es oe /long o/ as in doe, and hoe oi/o' /'/ as in oil, coin, *oice, bo', and plo' old/olk/olt /long o/ as in gold, scold, folk, 'olk, bolt, and *olt oll/ost /long o/ as in roll, knoll, scroll, ghost, most, and post oll/ost /short o/ as in doll, loll, cost, lost, and frost ou/ow as in out, round, bounce, how, down, and browse ou/ow /long o/ as in soul, poultr', own, glow, snow, and owe ou as in 'ou, soup, group, and rouge

U Vowel Co%binations

ue /long u/ as in cue, due, hue, rue, sue, blue, clue, flue, glue, and true ui /long u/ as in suit, fruit, cruise, (uice, and sluice

. diphthong is a complex sound made by gliding from one vowel sound to another within the same syllable, as in boy and out. &echnically, a diphthong is such a sound that consists of two vowels, and a triphthong is such a sound that consists of three vowels. 9owever, many people will refer to both combinations generally using the term Ddiphthong.D

Aesides long vowel sounds, short vowel sounds, and the schwa sound, there are some other special sounds in English that are represented by vowels. &hey are as follows0

/aw/ sound as in awful and awe /oi/ sound as in boil, poison, toilet, and annoy /ou/ sound as in lighthouse, cow, flower, and fountain /oo/ () sound as in took, pulley, platypus, pull, and football

5ote that /oo/ makes two different sounds in different words, having the sound as in hook, or the W sound as in boot.

'ometimes, the basic rules of phonics do not apply. Each of these instances must be memori;ed. 6ommon examples include, but are not limited, to0

>@A as in BhighB or BsightB 2C@ as in Bsing,B Bsong,B BsungB DS6 as in BmostB (but not BlostB or BcostB) uses the long sound instead of the normal short soundD/ has two different sounds as in BlowB and Bcow-B (or, BsowB and Bsow-B) =E has three different sounds as in Blifted,B Bpla'ed,B and BwalkedB D> does not follow the two *owels rule, e-g-, BmoistB or Bboil-B Eouble D has two different sounds, as in BbookB and Bloose-B DFS as in Bner*ous-B <F as in BfaultB or Bhaul-B 2S>DC, 26>DC, and 23>DC are all pronounced Bshun-B DF@A has at least se*en different sounds, as in Bbough,B Bcough,B Bhough,B Btough,B Bthorough,B Bthought,B and Bthrough-B

Gost English words used today were not originally English. &hese words were adapted from other language, such as 7atin and 8reek. !t can be helpful to know some of these roots of English vocabulary. !t may be possible to guess the meaning of an unknown word when one knows the meaning of its root. Pnowing prefixes and suffixes can also help. .n English word can consist of three parts0 the root, a prefix, and a suffix. &he root is the part of the word that contains the basic meaning, or definition of the word. &he prefi' is a word element placed in front of the root, which changes the wordDs meaning or makes a new word. . s ffi' is a word element placed after the root, which changes the wordDs meaning as well as its function. Jhen adding a suffix to a one(syllable word, if the root word ends in only one consonant and has only one vowel before it, and if the suffix begins with a vowel, then the consonant ending the root word will be doubled. or example, when adding !ing to can, we double the n to end up with canning. &he rule for multisyllable words is the same, but

applies only when the last syllable of the root is accented, like in beginner and concurring, but not in begins or forgetful. or words ending in silent e, when the suffix begins with a vowel, that silent e is usually dropped before adding the suffix. or example, in take and !ing, we drop the silent e off of take, then add the suffix, and end up with taking. Jhen adding a suffix to a word ending in y, if there is a vowel before the y, ?ust add the suffix. or example, obey + !ed becomes obeyed. !f there is a consonant before the y, we will usually change the y to an i before adding any suffix (except !ing and !ish.) or example, angry + ly becomes angrily, and baby + !ign becomes babying.

Co%%on Prefi'es
Prefix pre2 un2 dis2 re2 mis2 im2 bi2 de2 Meaning before not not again not not two not Example 6he' will show a sneak preview of the mo*ie6he cafeteria will be unavailable tomorrow morningGark disagreed with Hohn9s philosoph'<re 'ou going to renew 'our subscriptionI Ae has mismanaged the compan'/ith hard work and determination, nothing is impossibleAenr' recentl' recei*ed his first pair of bifocalsGan' ecologists are concerned about the deforestation of our world9s rain forests-

Co%%on S ffi'es
Suffixes Meaning Example 2er doer > work as a computer programmer2able able 6hese glass bottles are recyclable2ous full of Eri*ing on the freewa' can be dangerous2ness state of being <t night, the earth is co*ered in darkness2ful full of 6he witness ga*e an honest and truthful testimon'2l' or 2' like Hames whistled happily on his wa' home from school2ment state of Gar' sighed with contentment-

. s!llable is a basic unit of written and spoken language. !t is a unit consisting of uninterrupted sound that can be used to make up words. or example, the word hotel has two syllables0 ho and tel. &hese will be marked here as in ho"tel.

Co nting S!llables
&o find the number of syllables in a word, use the following steps0 5- 3ount the *owels in the word7- Subtract an' silent *owels, (like the silent e at the end of a word, or the second *owel when two *owels are together in a s'llabl-e) :. Subtract one *owel from e*er' diphthong (diphthongs onl' count as one *owel sound-) J- 6he number of *owels sounds left is the same as the number of s'llables&he number of syllables that you hear when you pronounce a word is the same as the number of vowels sounds heard. or example0

6he word came has 7 *owels, but the e is silent, lea*ing one *owel sound andone s'llable6he word outside has J *owels, but the e is silent and the ou is a diphthong which counts as onl' one sound, so this word has onl' two *owel sounds and therefore, two s'llables-

Si' (inds of S!llables

&here are six different kinds of syllables in English0 5- Closed Syllables0 < closed s'llable has one and onl' one *owel, and it ends in a consonant- =8amples include in, ask, truck, sock, stretch, twelfth, and on7- Open Syllables0 <n open s'llable has one and onl' one *owel, and that *owel occurs at the end of the s'llable- =8amples include no, she, I, a, and spry;- Silent-E Syllables0 < silent2e s'llable ends in an e, has one and onl' one consonant before that e, and has one and onl' one *owel before that consonant- =8amples include ate, ice, tune, slope, strobe, and these-

J- Vowel Combination Syllables0 < *owel combination s'llable has a cluster of two or three *owels or a *owel2consonant unit with a sound or sounds particular to that unit- =8amples include rain, day, see, veil, pie, piece, noise, toy, cue, and trueK- Vowel- Syllables0 < *owel2r s'llable is one which includes one and onl' one *owel followed b' an r, or one *owel followed b' an r which is followed b' a silent e, or a *owel combination followed b' an r- =8amples include car, or, care, ire, air, and deerL- Consonant-!-E Syllables0 >n these s'llables, a consonant is followed b' le- 6he *owel sound in these s'llables is the schwa sound that occurs before the l- =8amples include -ble, -cle, -dle, -fle, and -gle-

Dividing )ords *nto S!llables

&here are four ways to split up a word into its syllables0

"# $ivide between two middle consonants#

'plit up words that have two middle consonants. or example0 hap/pen, bas/ket, let/ter, sup/per, din/ner, and 4en/nis. &he only exceptions are the consonant digraphs. 5ever split up consonant digraphs as they really represent only one sound. &he exceptions are /th/, /sh/, /ph/, /th/, /ch/, and /wh/.

%# &sually divide before a single middle consonant#

Jhen there is only one syllable, you usually divide in front of it, as in0 /o/pen/, /i/tem/, /e/vil/, and /re/port/. &he only exceptions are those times when the first syllable has an obvious short so nd, as in /cab/in/.

'# $ivide before the consonant before an (-le( syllable#

Jhen you have a word that has the old(style spelling in which the /(le/ sounds like /(el/, divide before the consonant before the /(le/. or example0 /a/ble/, /fum/ble/, /rub/ble/ /mum/ble/ and /thi/stle/. &he only exception to this are /ckle/ words like /tick/le/.

)# $ivide off any compound words* prefixes* suffixes and roots which have vowel sounds#
'plit off the parts of compound words like /sports/car/ and /house/boat/. 4ivide off prefixes such at /un/happy/, /pre/paid/, or /re/write/. .lso divide off suffixes as in the

words /farm/er/, /teach/er/, /hope/less/ and /care/ful/. !n the word /stop/ping/, the suffix is actually /(ping/ because this word follows the rule that when you add /(ing/ to a word with one syllable, you double the last consonant and add the /(ing/.

Jhen a word has more than one syllable, one of the syllables is always a little louder than the others. &he syllable with the louder stress is the accented syllable. &he unstressed syllable usually takes the schwa so nd. !t may seem that the placement of accents in words is often random or accidental, but these are some rules that usually work. 5- <ccents are often on the first s'llable- =8amples0 ba9/sic, pro9/gram7- >n words that ha*e suffi8es or prefi8es, the accent is usuall' on the main root word- =8amples0 bo89/es, un/tie9;- >f de2, re2, e82, in2, po2, pro2, or a2 is the first s'llable in a word, it is usuall' not accented- =8amples0 de/la'9, e8/plore9J- 6wo *owel letters together in the last s'llable of a word often indicates an accented last s'llable- =8amples0 com/plain9, con/ceal9K- /hen there are two like consonant letters within a word, the s'llable before the double consonants is usuall' accented- =8amples0 be/gin9/ner, let9/terL- 6he accent is usuall' on the s'llable before the suffi8es 2ion, it', 2ic, 2ical, 2ian, 2ial, or 2ious, and on the second s'llable before the suffi8 2ate=8amples0 af/fec/ta9/tion, dif/fer/en9/ti/ateM- >n words of three or more s'llables, one of the first two s'llables is usuall' accented- =8amples0 ac9/ci/dent, de/ter9/mine-

. co%po nd word is a word composed of two or more words that are spelled normally and retain their usual meanings. !t is easy to recogni;e the short, known words within compound words, and each of those short words is accented, which makes them less confusing to a beginning reader. or these reasons, compound words are often the first set of multisyllable words taught to a beginning reader.

E'a%ples of Co%po nd )ords

backpack (back N pack) newspaper (news N paper) knapsack (knap N sack) lipstick (lip N stick) mouthwash (mouth N wash) sunlight (sun N light) raindrop (rain N drop) sandpaper (sand N paper) groundhog (ground N hog) afternoon (after N noon) motorcar (motor N car) eyebrow (eye N brow) butterfly (butter N fly) . 6his is one e8ample in which the original words do not con*e' their usual meanings well-

'ometimes, the letter y is a consonant, and other times it is a vowel. &he rule for telling the two apart is simple0 #he letter y is a consonant when it is the first letter of a s!llable that has %ore than one letter+ *f y is an!where else in the s!llable, it is a vowel+

E'a%ples of Y as a Consonant

yes yam yell yellow yogurt

E'a%ples of Y as a Vowel

gym my

cycle baby hairy sky

Aecause there are more letter so nds than there are letters in the alphabet, dictinaries use diacritical %ar&s to indicate which phone%e to give to a graphe%eO that is, which sound to give to a letter unit. .lthough we do not typically use diacritical marks for consonant sounds, we do teach them for vowel sounds. &he most common diacritical marks are the long vowel mark ( N ), called the %acronO the short vowel mark ( K ), called the breve, and the schwa mark ( @ ).

Long Vowel -ar&

&he long vowel mark placed over a vowel indicates that it will be pronounced ?ust as it sounds when we recite the alphabet0

" as in ate # as in evil $ as in ice % as in open & as in use or in flute as in cry

Short Vowel -ar&

&he short vowel mark placed over a vowel is as follows0

as in apple as in elementary as in idiom as in on as in under (Cote that no mark is gi*en for short ', the short i sound is used instead-)

Schwa -ar&
&he schwa mark represents the indistinct vowel sound that is the unaccented or unstressed syllable of a multisyllabic word0

+ as in ago + as in happen + as in legible + as in common + as in suggest

. no n is a type of word which refers to a person, place, or thing. 5ouns can be con?ugated in either singular or plural form. . sing lar noun refers to ?ust one person, place, or thing (for example, a bat or a ship). . pl ral noun refers to multiple people, places, or things (for example, bats or ships). &he ma?ority of English count nouns are regular and predictable in the spelling of the plural form$. 9owever, other nouns have irregular plural spellings. Aoth of these kinds of nouns will be covered here.

. le /01 Add -s
Gost nouns can be plurali;ed simply by adding an !s at the end of the word. or example0

edge/edges girl/girls song/songs bag/bags cat/cats bo'/bo's da'/da's

. le /21 Add -es to no ns ending in s, z, ch, sh, and x

5ouns which end in the letters s, , ch, sh, and x(es at the end. or example0

glass/glasses horse/horses bu))/bu))es dish/dishes bo8/bo8es bush/bushes witch/witches switch/switches

. le /31 4o ns ending in o
or words ending in the letter o, sometimes they are plurali;ed by adding s, while other words must be plurali;ed by adding es. &hese words must be memori;ed, because there is no simple rule to explain the differences.,

Examples +es,

echo/echoes embargo/embargoes hero/heroes potato/potatoes *eto/*etoes tomato/tomatoes torpedo/torpedoes hero/heroes *eto/*etoes

Examples +s,Gost nouns ending in o preceded by a vowel are plurali;ed by simply adding s:. 'ome other o nouns do this, too0

auto/autos folio/folios cameo/cameos portfolio/portfolios kilo/kilos photo/photos )oo/)oos

memo/memos solo/solos soprano/sopranos studio/studios pimento/pimentos tattoo/tattoos *ideo/*ideos piano/pianos pro/pros kangaroo/kangaroos

. le /51 4o ns Ending in a consonant 6

or nouns ending in the letter y, replace the ending y with ies. or example0

bab'/babies stor'/stories popp'/poppies bab'/babies dais'/daisies sp'/spies lad'/ladies

5ote that for words ending in y preceeded by a vowel (a complex vowel sound), an s is simply added, as usual. or example0

da'/da's to'/to's essa'/essa's turke'/turke's chimne'/chimne's pla'/pla's (o'/(o's *alle'/*alle's alle'/alle's *olle'/*olle's

7*rreg lar8 So%e no ns Ending in -9 or -9E

or some nouns ending in f or fe, replace the ending f or fe with ves0

calf/cal*es elf/el*es half/hal*es hoof/hoo*es leaf/lea*es life/li*es loaf/loa*es scarf/scar*es self/sel*es sheaf/shea*es wolf/wol*es shelf/shel*es thief/thie*es knife/kni*es wife/wi*es

7*rreg lar8 So%e no ns change the vowel so nd in beco%ing pl ral1

fireman/firemen foot/feet goose/geese louse/lice man/men mouse/mice tooth/teeth woman/women

7*rreg lar8 So%e :ld English pl rals are still in se1

child/children o8/o8en

4o ns adopted fro% other lang ages5

Singular ends in -.S

or nouns in which the singular form ends in is, the plural form will end in es. or example0

h'pothesis/h'potheses diagnosis/diagnoses ellipsis/ellipses anal'sis/anal'ses basis/bases crisis/crises thesis/theses oasis/oases s'nthesis/s'ntheses s'nopsis/s'nopses emphasis/emphases neurosis/neuroses paral'sis/paral'ses parenthesis/parentheses

Singular ends in -&M

Plural ends in a0

bacterium/bacteria datum/data curriculum/curricula medium/media memorandum/memoranda o*um/o*a s'mposium/s'mposia erratum/errata addendum/addenda stratum/strata

Singular ends in -O/

Plural ends in (a

criterion/criteria

phenomenon/phenomena automaton/automata

Singular ends in -0
Plural ends in (ae

alga/algae amoeba/amoebae lar*a/lar*ae formula/formulae antenna/antannae nebula/nebulae *ertebra/*ertebrae *ita/*itae

Singular ends in -ex or -ix

Plural ends in (ices0

appendi8/appendices inde8/indeces matri8/matrices *erte8/*ertices *orte8/*ortices ape8/apices cer*i8/cer*ices a8is/a8es

Singular ends in -us

Plural ends in (i0

alumnus/alumni bacillus/bacilli cactus/cacti focus/foci stimulus/stimuli focus/foci octopus/octopi

radius/radii stimulus/stimuli terminus/termini

Singular ends in -usPlural ends in (a0

corpus/corpora genus/genera

Singular ends in -eau

Plural ends in (eaux0

bureau/bureau8 beau/beau8 portmanteau/portmanteau8 tableau/tableau8

:ther irreg lar pl rals, retained fro% different lang ages1

.talian

libretto/libretti tempo/tempi *irtuoso/*irtuosi

1ebrew

cherub/cherubim seraph/seraphim

2ree3

schema/schemata

:ther *rreg lar Pl rals

man/men woman/women fungus/fungi species/species medium/media person/people foot/feet tooth/teeth goose/geese mouse/mice louse/lice child/children penn'/pence o8/o8en

Posessive Pl rals
or plural nouns ending in the letter s, add only the apostrophe. or example0

6he Hohnsons9 farm Singers9 *oices 6he thie*es9 guild

or plural nouns not ending in the letter s, add an apostrophe and s. or example0

/omen9s soccer 3hildren9s books

)ords )hich are Alwa!s Pl ral or Alwa!s Sing lar

'ome nouns are always plural or always singular. 'ome other nouns have the same form for singular and plural.=

Some nouns are always plural +things that come in pairs,

pants clothes binoculars (eans

forceps trousers tongs shorts twee)ers people pa(amas police shorts glasses scissors mathematics

0ggregate /ouns
'ome nouns end in (s but have no singular (these are called aggregate nouns). &hese are traditionally plural, but are also used for singular forms0

accomodations bread amends tea archi*es cheese bowels (am communications soup congratulations soap contents snow stairs cotton wood thanks water goods information

ad*ice knowledge furniture news means series species barracks crossroads gallows headquarters

/ouns with the same form

'ome nouns have the same form for singular and plural, such as fish and animals. (5ote that not all fish have the irregular plural form, though((e.g., one shark becomes two sharks)

salmon trout deer sheep swine offspring

diacritical %ar& I a mark or sign affixed to a letter to specify the sound it represents in a particular situation. digraph I a sound written with two letters, such as /ee/ and /or./ graphe%e I printed form used in correct spelling and booksO letter/s that produce one sound relationship. orthograph! I $.) the study or systematic use of standard, proper, or correct spelling of the words in a languageO ,.) spelling with complete phoneticsO rules for spelling, syllabication and plurals.

phone%e I any one of the smallest, most basic units of sound in a spoken language. phone%ic awareness I $.) knowing the sound/symbol relationshipsO ,.) the structure and meaning of wordsO :.) the ability (to be aware) explicitly and segmentally of sound units smaller than the syllables. phonics I $.) the study of soundO ,.) the method of using the sounds of a language when teaching people to readO :.) letter(sound correspondences. ('ee0 #heor!.) prefi' I a word element placed in front of a word, which changes its meaning. ('ee0 Prefi'es and S ffi'es.) s ffi' I a word element placed at the end of a word, which changes its meaning or function. ('ee0 Prefi'es and S ffi'es.)