5 Rules for Predicting Sounds from Spelling in English by Matt Purland

1. 5 Rules for Predicting Sounds from Spelling in Englishby Matt Purland For more free worksheets and books for learning English, please visit www.englishbanana.com

2. Looking for connections between spelling and sounds in English

3. Phonemic Spellings This presentation uses Clear Alphabet (KliyRal f bet) for phonemic spellings. If you are unfamiliar with this phonemic alphabet, you can download the Clear Alphabet Dictionary here: Clear Alphabet Dictionary (PDF – 11 MB)

4. The Problem: Because English is not a phonetic language, spelling and sounds do not usually match. This can lead to many difficulties for students who want to pronounce a word correctly by reading it.

5. The Solution: However, the spelling of a word can often help us to predict the pronunciation. I have identified 5 Spelling & Sounds Rules that work. In studying the 1000 most common words in English, 75% of them followed these 5 rules. That means there were 25% of words which did not match the rules. We will look at them later. Despite being exceptions, we can still find patterns that help us to accurately predict pronunciation.

6. The Stressed Vowel Sound (1) • The stressed vowel sound is the most important sound in the word. Usually content words are stressed, while function words are not, so we will focus on content words only in this presentation. • We identify a word by its stressed vowel sound. If this sound is pronounced incorrectly, the listener is likely to misunderstand. The speaker may say a completely different word to what they intended. • When looking at the spelling of a word to see which rule it follows, we need to focus on the stressed syllable – specifically, the spelling of the vowel sound. • So, we need to find: • Content words • The stressed syllable in each one • The spelling of the vowel sound in each one

7. The Stressed Vowel Sound (2) About words longer than one syllable: We focus on the vowel sound in the stressed syllable. If the word has a suffix, the vowel sound in the suffix will generally be one of three short sounds: uh (schwa) e.g. person, teacher, student i e.g. meeting, tennis, finish ii e.g. very, happy, ladies

8. 3 Kinds of Vowel Sound Become 2 • There are 3 kinds of vowel sounds in English: • Short • Long • Diphthongs (double sounds) • For the sake of simplicity, I have condensed these groups into 2: • Short • Long (including diphthongs, which are long)

9. Fry 1000 Instant Words (1) For this study I have used the Fry 1000 Instant Words, which is a list of the 1000 most common words in written and spoken English today. You can download the list at the links below. “The Fry word list or “instant words” are widely accepted to contain the most-used words in reading and writing.” http://www.k12reader.com/subject/sight-words/fry-words/ “The Fry 1000 Instant Words are a list of the most common words used for teaching reading, writing, and spelling. These high frequency words should be recognized instantly by readers. Dr Edward B. Fry’s Instant Words (which are often referred to as the “Fry Words”) are the most common words used in English ranked in order of frequency.” http://www.uniqueteachingresources.com/Fry-1000-Instant-Words.html

10. Fry 1000 Instant Words (2) • “In 1996, Dr Fry expanded on Dolch’s sight word lists and research and published a book titled Fry 1000 Instant Words.In his research, Dr Fry found the following results: • 25 words make up approximately 1/3 of all items published • 100 words comprise approximately 1/2 of all of the words found in publications • 300 words make up approximately 65% of all written material • “Over half of every newspaper article, textbook, children's story, and novel is composed of these 300 words. It is difficult to write a sentence without using several of the first 300 words in the Fry 1000 Instant Words List. Consequently, students need to be able to read the first 300 Instant Words without a moment's hesitation.” • http://www.uniqueteachingresources.com/Fry-1000-Instant-Words.html

11. My 5 Spelling & Sounds Rules If there is one vowel letter in the vowel sound spelling, the vowel sound will be short If there are two vowel letters together (a digraph) in the vowel sound spelling, the vowel sound will be long If there is the letter “r” in the vowel sound spelling, the vowel sound will be long If there is vowel + consonant + vowel in the vowel sound spelling, the first vowel letter will be pronounced like its alphabet name Sometimes we find other consonant letters (w, y, g, h) in the vowel sound spelling, which are not pronounced

12. Fry 1000 Instant Words and My 5 Rules 57 of the 1000 words were not included in this study because they were function words, which are not usually stressed, for example: the of and a to Of the remaining 943 content words: 706 (75%) matched one of the 5 rules 237 (25%) were exceptions – they did not match the rules

13. 706 Fry Words (Content Words) and My 5 Rules (1) Of the remaining 943 content words: 706 (75%) matched one of the 5 rules: Rule: No. Matching: % Matching: Short 284 40% Long (with digraph) 123 17% V + C + V 118 17% Long (with “r”) 104 15% Other Consonant Letters 77 11% TOTAL: 706 100%

14. 706 Fry Words (Content Words) and My 5 Rules (2) Apart from rule 1, the rules are fairly evenly represented:

15. Rule 1:If there is one vowel letter in the vowel sound spelling, the vowel sound will be short

16. Rule 1: • If there is one vowel letter in the vowel sound spelling, the vowel sound will be short • 284 words from the Fry 1000 Instant Words match this rule, making it the most followed rule. • There are five possible sounds in this group. • If the vowel letter is “a”, the vowel sound will be a • If the vowel letter is “e”, the vowel sound will be e • If the vowel letter is “i”, the vowel sound will be i • If the vowel letter is “o”, the vowel sound will be o • If the vowel letter is “u”, the vowel sound will be u • If the word has one-syllable, it is normally phonetic – spelling and sounds match, e.g. big, sad, fed, etc. In words of more than one syllable, the vowel letter will be pronounced as a short vowel sound if there are two or more consonant letters following, e.g. “better”. If vcv, rule 4 will apply (see below).

17. Rule 1: If there is one vowel letter in the vowel sound spelling, the vowel sound will be short Of these 284 words: “e” = e28% “i” = i28% “a” = a 18% “o” = o 17% “u” = u 9%

18. Rule 1: If there is one vowel letter in the vowel sound spelling, the vowel sound will be short If the letter is “a” the sound will be a, for example: hand happy language man pattern perhaps practice ran sat stand act actually apple back bad cat catch exactly factories flat These words are from the Fry 1000 Instant Words . Can you think of any more examples that match this rule?

19. Rule 1: If there is one vowel letter in the vowel sound spelling, the vowel sound will be short If the letter is “e” the sound will be e, for example: fresh get letter method questions remember sell send temperature together bed best better centre direction dress effect electric engine fell These words are from the Fry 1000 Instant Words . Can you think of any more examples that match this rule?

20. Rule 1: If there is one vowel letter in the vowel sound spelling, the vowel sound will be short If the letter is “i” the sound will be i, for example: insects interest itself listen little middle picture sing think window begin big bring children dictionary didn't different difficult fingers history These words are from the Fry 1000 Instant Words . Can you think of any more examples that match this rule?

21. Rule 1: If there is one vowel letter in the vowel sound spelling, the vowel sound will be short If the letter is “o” the sound will be o, for example: long office often opposite possible problem shop song top wrong along common copy doctor dog dollars follow got hot job These words are from the Fry 1000 Instant Words . Can you think of any more examples that match this rule?

22. Rule 1: If there is one vowel letter in the vowel sound spelling, the vowel sound will be short If the letter is “u” the sound will be u, for example: run study subject suddenly summer sun truck uncle under up current fun gun hundred jumped just much must number result These words are from the Fry 1000 Instant Words . Can you think of any more examples that match this rule?

23. Rule 2:If there are two vowel letters together (a digraph) in the vowel sound spelling, the vowel sound will be long

24. Rule 2: If there are two vowel letters together (a digraph) in the vowel sound spelling, the vowel sound will be long 123 words from the Fry 1000 Instant Words match this rule. Two vowel letters together in the spelling is called a digraph. Students should learn which digraphs represent which vowel sounds. Some are easy because they occur very often, for example, “ea” and “ee” both usually represent the long vowel sound: ee. Note common exception: “ea” can = e, for example: head, read, lead, etc. The largest matching spelling and sound groups are as follows. Interestingly, just 5 digraphs represent 83 out of the 123 words (67%): “ea” = ee “ee” = ee “ou” = au “oo” = oo “ai” = ei The conclusion would be to learn these 5 digraphs and the sounds they represent, as well as other digraph and sound combinations.

25. Rule 2: If there are two vowel letters together (a digraph) in the vowel sound spelling, the vowel sound will be long Common Digraph #1: “ea” = ee, for example: clean each easy eat leave meat please reached sea speak teacher team These words are from the Fry 1000 Instant Words . Can you think of any more examples that match this pattern?

26. Rule 2: If there are two vowel letters together (a digraph) in the vowel sound spelling, the vowel sound will be long Common Digraph #2: “ee” = ee, for example: agreed feeling feet free green keep need see sleep speed street week These words are from the Fry 1000 Instant Words . Can you think of any more examples that match this pattern?

27. Rule 2: If there are two vowel letters together (a digraph) in the vowel sound spelling, the vowel sound will be long Common Digraph #3: “ou” = au, for example: amount found ground house loud mountains noun out pounds round thousands without These words are from the Fry 1000 Instant Words . Can you think of any more examples that match this pattern?

28. Rule 2: If there are two vowel letters together (a digraph) in the vowel sound spelling, the vowel sound will be long Common Digraph #4: “oo” = oo, for example: choose cool food moon room root school soon too tools These words are from the Fry 1000 Instant Words . Can you think of any more examples that match this pattern?

29. Rule 2: If there are two vowel letters together (a digraph) in the vowel sound spelling, the vowel sound will be long Common Digraph #5: “ai” = ei, for example: afraid explain main paint plains rain raised remain train wait These words are from the Fry 1000 Instant Words . Can you think of any more examples that match this pattern?

30. Rule 2: If there are two vowel letters together (a digraph) in the vowel sound spelling, the vowel sound will be long Other matching digraphs and sounds: “ie” = ee believe, chief, piece “ea” = ei break, great “oi” = oy joined, oil, point, soil, voice “oa” = eu boat, coast, road Can you think of any more words that match these patterns? As you continue to study this topic, you will be able to notice other common patterns with digraphs and sounds outside of the Fry 1000 Instant Words.

31. Rule 3:If there is the letter “r” in the vowel sound spelling,the vowel sound will be long

32. Rule 3: If there is the letter “r” in the vowel sound spelling,the vowel sound will be long 104 words from the Fry 1000 Instant Words match this rule. Only certain long vowel sounds in English can be spelt with “r” spelling, for example: ar, er, or(long vowel sounds) aiy, auw, eir, iy, uuw(diphthongs) We should learn which spelling patterns represent each vowel sound.

33. Rule 3: If there is the letter “r” in the vowel sound spelling,the vowel sound will be long In the Fry 1000 Instant Words, 3 long vowel sounds and 5 diphthongs are represented by various spelling patterns with “r”: 3 long vowel sounds: arare; car, farmer, garden, hard, start; heart er first, girl; work, world; earth, heard; were; surface; certain, person or more, store; horse, order; course, four; door; toward, warm; board 5 diphthongs: aiy entire, fire auwour, hours; flowers, power eirbear, wear; there, where; hair, pair; carefully, compare iyears, years; here uuwyou’re Can you think of any more examples that match these patterns?

34. Rule 4:If there is vowel + consonant + vowel in the vowel sound spelling, the first vowel letter will be pronounced like its alphabet name

35. Rule 4: • If there is vowel + consonant + vowel in the vowel sound spelling, • the first vowel letter will be pronounced like its alphabet name • 118 words from the Fry 1000 Instant Words match this rule. • There are five possible sounds in this rule: • The letter “a” will be pronounced ei like it is in the alphabet • The letter “e” will be pronounced ee like it is in the alphabet • The letter “i” will be pronounced ai like it is in the alphabet • The letter “o” will be pronounced eu like it is in the alphabet • The letter “u” will be pronounced oo, or yoolike it is in the alphabet

36. Rule 4: If there is vowel + consonant + vowel in the vowel sound spelling, the first vowel letter will be pronounced like its alphabet name If the first vowel letter is “a”, it will be pronounced ei like it is in the alphabet, for example: age became came face famous game information late made make name nation page place plane radio safe shape take waves These words are from the Fry 1000 Instant Words. Can you think of any more examples that match this pattern?

37. Rule 4: If there is vowel + consonant + vowel in the vowel sound spelling, the first vowel letter will be pronounced like its alphabet name If the first vowel letter is “e”, it will be pronounced ee like it is in the alphabet, for example: complete equals even evening Japanese region These words are from the Fry 1000 Instant Words. Can you think of any more examples that match this pattern?

38. Rule 4: If there is vowel + consonant + vowel in the vowel sound spelling, the first vowel letter will be pronounced like its alphabet name If the first vowel letter is “i”, it will be pronounced ai like it is in the alphabet, for example: arrived beside decided drive exciting finally five ice life like mile provide quite ride side silent smiled white wife write These words are from the Fry 1000 Instant Words. Can you think of any more examples that match this pattern?

39. Rule 4: If there is vowel + consonant + vowel in the vowel sound spelling, the first vowel letter will be pronounced like its alphabet name If the first vowel letter is “o”, it will be pronounced eu like it is in the alphabet, for example: alone bones broken close hole home hope moment nose note ocean open pole rope rose stone tone total whole wrote These words are from the Fry 1000 Instant Words. Can you think of any more examples that match this pattern?

40. Rule 4: If there is vowel + consonant + vowel in the vowel sound spelling, the first vowel letter will be pronounced like its alphabet name If the first vowel letter is “u”, it will be pronounced oo: include produce rule solution or yoo like it is in the alphabet, for example: huge human music numeral students tube unit use usually These words are from the Fry 1000 Instant Words. Can you think of any more examples that match this pattern?

41. Rule 5:Sometimes we find other consonant letters (w, y, g, h)in the vowel sound spelling, which are not pronounced

42. Rule 5: Sometimes we find other consonant letters (w, y, g, h)in the vowel sound spelling, which are not pronounced 77 words from the Fry 1000 Instant Words match this rule, making it the least followed rule. It can be a surprise that these consonant letters are part of the vowel sound, and therefore not pronounced in their normal way, but we have to accept it and learn which spelling patterns represent which vowel sound. (Note: there can be other consonant letters in a spelling which are not pronounced, e.g. “b” in “lamb”, “l” in “could”, or “s” in “aisle”, but they are not included here because they are not part of the vowel sound spelling. They are just oddities – pure silent letters.)

43. Rule 5: Sometimes we find other consonant letters (w, y, g, h)in the vowel sound spelling, which are not pronounced The largest matching spelling and sound groups were: “ow” = eue.g. grow, blow, flow, know, show, snow “ow” = au e.g. brown, allow, cows, down, town, now “ay” = eie.g. day, away, maybe, say, stay, way, today “igh” = aie.g. right, night, might, high, light, bright final “y” = aie.g. dry, sky, try, fly, why, supply “y” = ie.g. system, rhythm, symbols, syllables These words are from the Fry 1000 Instant Words. Can you think of any more examples that match this pattern?

44. Rule 5: Sometimes we find other consonant letters (w, y, g, h)in the vowel sound spelling, which are not pronounced Other matching spelling patterns/sounds were: Sound: Spelling Pattern: Example: euough although oh oh or aw draw ough ought augh caught oyoy enjoy eieigh eight aigh straight These words are from the Fry 1000 Instant Words. Can you think of any more examples that match this pattern?

45. Rule 5: Sometimes we find other consonant letters (w, y, g, h)in the vowel sound spelling, which are not pronounced Other matching spelling patterns/sounds (continued): Sound: Spelling Pattern: Example: ooew few ough through iew view aiig sign uy buy eye eyes eeey key These words are from the Fry 1000 Instant Words. Can you think of any more examples that match this pattern?

46. Exceptions

47. 237 out of 943 Content Words = 25% Exceptions: As stated earlier, there are 237 words in the Fry 1000 Instant Words which do not fit in any of these categories. That is 25%. But even if 25% of the most common words in English areexceptions, there are still 75% of words that follow the rules. A 75% chance of pronouncing a word correctly from its spelling is still well worth having! Not to mention the fact that there are many repeating patterns within this group of exceptions that students can learn, as we will find out later. When students come across vocabulary words that do not follow these 5 rules, they should note them down and learn them. They could start by learning the most common, i.e. the exceptions from the Fry 1000 Instant Words. The full list is here:

48. Learn 237 of the Most Common Spelling & Sound Exceptions (1): able above addition after again against ago ahead all almost already also always America among animal another answer any anything enough especially Europe ever every everyone everything example exercise experience experiment fall family fast father figure find finished foot forest area ask baby ball be beautiful become behind being blood book both branches British brother build building built business called can't capital care chance change child class climbed clothes cold colour column come company conditions consider continued control cook couldn't country covered dance dead death decimal desert details developed discovered division do does done don't during elements energy England English

49. Learn 237 of the Most Common Spelling & Sound Exceptions (2): France friends front full general give glass go gold gone good government grass guess half have head heavy hold however separate seven several should similar small so soldiers someone something sometimes son southern special spread square stood story strange sugar instead iron island kind lady last level look love machine mall material measure melody metal mind minutes modern molecules money months most mother move movement natural necessary never no nothing old once one only paragraph particular passed past period planets plant plural poem position present president pretty probably products property pulled pushed put quiet rather ready river rolled said second

50. Learn 237 of the Most Common Spelling & Sound Exceptions (3): sure table talk tall tiny told took touch travel triangle trouble two value various visit vowel walk wall want was wash Washington wasn't watch water weather what who wild wire woman women wonder won't wood wouldn't young