Glossary

Important Terms

Vowels

The Vowels (a, e, i, o, u and sometimes y and w) are always voiced. Our mouths are always open when we produce a vowel sound. Vowels can be long or short. The long vowel sound says the name of the vowel.

a, apple, /ă/ a, cake, /ā/ a, baby, /ā/

Consonants

Consonants can be voiced or unvoiced. We stop a consonant sound by using our teeth, tongue or lips.

• b, boy, /b/ c, cat, /k/ c, city, /s/ d, dog, /d/
• f, fish, /f/ g, goat, /g/ g, giraffe, /j/ h, hat, /h/
• j, jam, /j/ k, kite, /k/ l, lamp, /l/ m, man, /m/
• n, nut, /n/ p, pan, /p/ qu, queen, /q/ r, rat, /r/
• s, sun, /s/ s, nose, /z/ t, top, /t/ v, vest, /v/
• w, wind, /w/ x, box, /ks/ y, yo-yo, /y/ z, zebra, /z/

Syllable

A syllable is a word or part of a word with a vowel sound. Every syllable has a vowel.

Consonant blends

consonant blends are two or three consonants whose sounds are heard, but are said very closely together. Examples:
bl (blaze), br (broke), cl (clip), cr (crab), dr (drink), fl (floss), fr (frog), gl (glass), gr (grapes), pl (plate), pr (prince), sc (scarf), scr (scrape), sl (slip), sm (small) sn (snap), sp (spy), spl (splash), spr (spring), squ (squirt), st (stop), str (stripe), sw (swing).

Diagraph

two letters that make one sound. Example: ch (chin, punch), ck (track), ph (phone, graph), sh (ship, wish), th (thumb, path), wh (whip).

Trigraph

three letters that make one sound. Example, tch (witch), dge (fudge).

Compound words

two words that combine to make a new word with new meaning. Examples: baseball, cupcake.

Base word

A word that can stand alone and have meaning.
Examples: cat, fox, farm, hard, fun, wise

Suffix

a morpheme (something that has meaning) that is added to the end of a base word and changes the meaning or function of the word. Examples: cats, foxes, farmer, faster, rented, hardest, revision, action, funny, wisely

Prefix

a morpheme (something that has meaning) that is added to the beginning of a base word and changes the meaning or function of the word. Examples: abstract, adverb, convert, defend, interact, preposition, remake, subway, support, transatlantic

Root

a morpheme (something that has meaning) that cannot always stand alone. A prefix, or suffix is added to a root to form a word. Examples: actor, inject, deport, inspect, suspicious

Combining form

a morpheme (something that has meaning) that cannot stand alone. A prefix, suffix or other combining form is usually added to form a word. Examples: biography, geology, phonograph, photosynthesis

Jobs of e

The letter ‘e’ has several jobs in the English language.

• It is used to make the long vowel sound in the v-e syllable type. Examples: cake, eve, bike, home, cube, flute
• It follows z, s, v at the end of words. Examples: close, give, maze
• It follows the letters c and g to make their soft sounds, /s/ and /j/. Examples: face, mice, age, lodge
• It is used in the Cle syllable type as a visual marker to show there is a vowel sound in this syllable which is unstressed. Examples: table, bicycle, candle, rifle, google, ankle, apple, castle, bottle

Schwa ‘a’

Alaska – /ŭ/ – ‘a’ says /ŭ/ in an unstressed syllable

Schwa ‘o’

colony – /ŭ/ – ‘o’ says /ŭ/ in an unstressed syllable

Unstressed vowels

Any vowel can be unstressed, especially in the middle of a word. Be prepared to change a middle vowel sound to unstressed /ŭ/ to decode words. Examples: col/o/ny, cel/e/brate.

Unstressed common word endings

• al says /ŭl/ Examples: metal, usual, final, typical, capital
• an says /ŭn/ Examples: toboggan, slogan, Canadian, American, turban
• en says /ĭn/ Examples: happen, fallen, forgotten, shaken
• et says /ĭt/ Examples: bonnet, jacket, basket, market
• om says /ŭm/ Examples: atom, boredom, bottom, custom
• on says /ĭn/ Examples: button, common, ribbon, harmony

Noun

a person, place, thing or idea.

Verb

an action word.

Adjective

describes a noun.

Adverb

describes a verb, an adjective or another adverb.

Spelling Generalizations & Rules

FLSZ Rule

in a one syllable word, where f, l, s, z follows a short vowel, double the f, l, s, z. Examples: cliff, bell, pass, buzz

Cat/Kite rule

A /k/ sound at the beginning of a word is spelled with c when followed by a, o, u or a consonant. A /k/ sound at the beginning of a word is spelled with k when followed by e or i. Examples: cat, clip, crab, cut, cop, kit, keg

k-ck, rule

the /k/ sound at the end of a word is spelled with ck when it immediately follows a short vowel in a one syllable word. Examples: trick, shack, stuck, speck, lock

ch-tch rule

the /ch/ sound at the end of a word is spelled with tch when it immediately follows a short vowel in a one syllable word. Examples: hutch, patch, witch, fetch, botch

Rabbit rule

the middle consonant is doubled to protect the first vowel and keep the sound short in a closed syllable. Examples: rabbit, muffin, bitter. To keep the vowel sound short in a Cle syllable, the consonant must be doubled. Examples: scrabble, paddle, ruffle, toggle, apple, settle, fizzle)

Gentle Cindy

c says /s/ when followed by e,i, or y. Examples: city, cent, cycle. g says /j/ when followed by e, i, or y. Examples: gem, giraffe, gym

er generalization

er is commonly used to spell the /er/ sound at the end of longer words. Examples: super, September, manner, remember.

se/ve/ze generalization

e follows the letter s (note: NOT suffix s), v and e at the end of words. Examples: horse, pave, maze

1+1+1 doubling (CVC) rule

This rule states that when you have a 1 syllable base word with 1 vowel followed by 1 consonant, you will double the consonant when adding a vowel suffix (1+1+1). Examples: funny, hottest, winner

ge-dge rule

the /j/ sound at the end of words will be spelled with dge when it immediately follows a short vowel. Examples: bridge, fudge, pledge, dodge, badge

Drop the ‘e’ generalization

when a word ends with the letter ‘e’, and a vowel suffix is added, drop the e and then add the vowel suffix. Examples: driver, wisest, making, wavy

oi-oy generalization

/oi/ is spelled oy at the end of words and oi everywhere else. Examples: oily, spoiled, boy, alloy. exception – oyster

ai-ay generalization

/ā/ is spelled ay at the end of words and ai everywhere else. Examples: fail, trail, airway, playing

ou-ow Spelling Pattern Generalization

Spell /ou/ with ou in the middle of words. Spell /ou/ with ow at the end of words or when the word ends in /n/ or /l/ (brown owl). Example: The brown dog howled at the moon. Exception – foul.

au-aw Spelling Pattern Generalization

Spell /ŏ/ with aw at the end of words or when the word ends in /n/ or /l/ Example: The traffic had drawn to a crawl. Exception haul. Note: There are no words in the English language that end with u.

Change the y Part 1: plurals

Change “y to an i and add es”. (baby, babies; lady, ladies). Change “y to an i and add es”. Example: carry – he carries; she carries; it carries

Change the y Part 2: suffixes

Change “y to i and add es”, in an open syllable for all suffixes except – ing. Example: (try – tries, trying) In a vowel team syllable just add the suffix, do not change y to i. Example: play, played, playing

tial/cial Spelling Pattern Generalization

Use -tial -tian after a consonant, especially, after ‘n’ in substantial, essential, and ‘r’ in partial. Use –cial -cian after a vowel, like after the vowel ‘o’ in social, ‘e’ in special, ‘i’ in beneficial.

Spelling Pattern ous/us

Words that are adjectives end in ‘ous’. Words that are nouns end in ‘us’.

Spelling Pattern cal/cle

Words that are adjectives end in ‘cal’. Words that are nouns end in ‘cle’.

Syllable Types

Closed

a closed syllable has a vowel followed by 1 or 2 consonants. The vowel sound is short. Examples: bath, test, kit, chop, stump

V-e

the V-e syllable has a vowel followed by a consonant followed by the letter e. The vowel sound is long. This is a job of e. Examples: cake, eve, bike, home, cube, flute

Open

the open syllable ends in a vowel. The vowel sound is long. Examples: hi, me, go, flu, ba/by, mu/sic

R-controlled

the r-controlled syllable has a vowel followed by the letter r. The r-controlled syllables are ar, or, ir, ur, er. Examples: car, horn, fern, bird, nurse

Vowel Team Syllable

the vowel team syllable is when more than one vowel is working together to make a vowel sound. Examples: rain, vault, lawn, play, meat, steak, bread, feet, receive, eight, sleuth, feud, few, drew, key, they, pie, light, boat, toe, join, joy, moon, book, found, soup, snow, plow, cue, true

Cle Syllable

the consonant le syllable is a consonant followed by le. Count back 3 letters from the end to divide these syllables from others. This is another job of e. Example: table, bicycle, tickle, candle, rifle, google, ankle, apple, castle, bottle

Suffixes

-able /ŭblƏ/

means ‘able’ or ‘can do’

-age /ŭj/

forms nouns

-ance /ŭns/

forms nouns

-cal /kƏl/

forms adjectives

-ed (/ěd/, /d/, /t/)

means ‘in the past’.

-en (/Ən/)

means ‘pertaining to’‘

-ence /ŭns/

forms nouns.

-er – /er/

means ‘one who does something’ or ‘comparing two people/things’.

– es – /Əs/

means more than one or creates a verb.

-est – /Əst/

compares three or more people/things.

-ful – /fƏl/

means ‘full of’ or ‘ful’l.

-ible /ĭblƏ/

means ‘able’ or ‘can do’.

-ing – /ing/

means ‘happening now’.

-less – /lƏs/

means ‘without’.

-ly – /lē/

forms adverbs.

-ment – /mint/

forms nouns.

-ous – /ŭs/

means ‘full of’ or ‘being’ and forms adjectives.

-s – (/s/, /z/)

means more than one or creates a verb.

-sion – (/shun/, /zhun/)

forms nouns.

-tion – /shun/

forms nouns.

-y – /ē/

means ‘full of’ or ‘cute one/dear one’.

Prefixes

ab – /ăb/

means ‘from’ or ‘away’

de – /dē/

means ‘do the opposite’ or ‘out of’

dis – /dĭs/

means ‘not’ or ‘apart from’

inter – /ĭnter/

means ‘between’

non – /nŏn/

means ‘not’

pre – /prē/

means ‘before’

pro – /prō/

means ‘before’, ‘forward’, or ‘for’

re – /rē/

means ‘back’ or ‘again’

trans – /trans/

means ‘across’ or ‘beyond’

un – /ŭn/

means ‘not’

Chameleon ad – /ăd/

means ‘to’, ‘toward’, ‘in, or ‘near’ af – /ăf/; ag – /ăg/; al – /ăl/; an – /ăn/; ap – /ăp/; as – /ăs/; at – /ăt/

Chameleon con; com; cor; col

says /kom/ /kon/ kor/ /kol/and means ‘with’ or ‘together’

Chameleon in; im; il; ir

says /ĭn/, /ĭm/, /ĭl/, /ĭr/ and means ‘not’ or ‘into’

Chameleon sub; suc; suf; sup; sus

says /sŭb/, /sŭc/, /sŭf/, /sŭp/, /sŭs/ and means ‘under’, or ‘below’

Syllable Division Patterns

VC/CV

the syllable divides between the consonants

VC/CCV, VCC/CV And VCCCCV

the syllable division depends on where consonants blends and diagraphs are in the word. Keep blends and diagraphs together.

VCE/CV

the syllable divides after the e.

V/CV

if the first syllable divides after the first vowel, the vowel has a long vowel sound.

VC/V

if the first syllable divides after the consonant the vowel has a short vowel sound.

Anglo-Saxon layer in the English language

• Many vowel teams indicate the Anglo-Saxon layer in the English language.
  ai /ā/
  au /ŏ/
  aw /ŏ/
  ay /ā/
  ea (/ē/ /ĕ/, /ā/)
  ee /ē/
  ei (/ē/, /ā/)
  eigh /ā/
  ew (/oo/, /ū/)
  ey (/ē/, /ā/)
  ie (/ē/, /ī/)
  igh /ī/
  oa /ō/
  oe /ō/
  oi /oi/
  oy /oi/
  ou /ou/
  ow (/ō/, /ou/)
  ue (/oo/, /ū/)
• Many silent letter combinations indicate the Anglo-Saxon layer in the English language.
  gh says /g/ as in ghost
  gn says /n/ as in sign
  kn says /n/ as in knight
  mb says /m/ as in thumb
  mn says /m/ as in hymn
  wr says /r/ as in wring

Latin layer in the English language

• The ‘ct’ ending in words indicates the Latin layer in the English language.
• The ‘ic’ ending in words indicates the Latin layer in the English language and is used at the end of words with more than one syllable.
• Latin connectives: ci – sh; ti – /sh/; tu – /choo/

Latin roots

Latin root dic/dict

means ‘to say’ or ‘tell’

Latin root flect/flex

means ‘to curve’ or ‘bend’

Latin root ject – /jĕkt/

means ‘to throw’

Latin root struct – /strŭkt/

means ‘to build’

Latin root tract – /trăkt/

means ‘to pull’

Latin root rupt – /rŭpt/

means ‘to break’ or ‘burst’

Latin root port – /port/

means ‘to carry’

Latin root mis/mit

means ‘to send’

Latin root scrib/script

means ‘to write’

Latin root spec/spect/spic

‘to see’, ‘watch’ or ‘observe’

Latin root spir/spire

means ‘to breathe’

French layer in the English language

• The digraph ‘ch’ has a different sound
  ch says /sh/ as in chef
• These silent letter combinations reflect the French influence in the English language:
  gue says /g/ as in vague
  que says /k/ as in antique

Greek layer in the English language

• sc says /s/ as in science
• When y says /ĭ/ as in gym, this is the Greek influence in the English language.
• These silent letter combinations reflect the Greek influence in the English language:
  ch says /k/ as in chemical
  ph says /f/ as in phone
  ps says /s/ as in psychology
  pn says /n/ as in pneumonia

Greek combining forms

bio

says /bīō/ and means ‘life’;

geo

says /jēō/ and means ‘earth’;

graph/gram

says /graf/ and means ‘written’ or ‘drawn’;

(o)logy

says /ŏlŏjē/ and means ‘study’ or ‘science o’f;

meter/metr

says /mēter/and means ‘measure’;

phon(o)

says /fōnō/ and means ‘sound’;

photo

says /fōtō/ and means ‘light’;

tele

says /tĕlĕ/ and means ‘distant’;