Short Vowels
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Short vowels are vowel sounds that are pronounced in a short form. In English the short vowel sounds are those in 'pet', 'pot', 'put', 'putt', 'pat' and 'pit', and the schwa sound.
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Long Vowels
Long vowels are vowel sounds that are longer than normal, or short, vowels. In English the long vowel sounds are those in 'hockey', 'cupid', 'snow', 'mind' and 'angle'. Phonemic symbols for long vowel sounds have a /:/ to indicate length.
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R-controlled vowels
When a syllable has a vowel that is followed by r, the vowel is “controlled” by the r and makes a new sound. Examples include car, bird, germ, form, and hurt. This rule is sometimes called “bossy r” because the r “bosses” the vowel to make a new sound.
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Diphtongs
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A diphthong is a one-syllable sound that is made up of two vowels. In English there are nine diphthong sounds.
Examples sew, saw, laugh, toy, soil, book, snow, couch
When to use oi or oy?
When you hear the /oy/ sound at the end of a word or syllable, use oy (boy, toy, royal). When it is at the start of or inside a word or syllable, use oi (ointment, choice, noise). |
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Blends (Clusters)
Consonant clusters or blends, are the names given to two or three consonants that appear together in a word. Each consonant retains its sound when blended. The term cluster refers to the written form and the term blend refers to the spoken form.
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Triple Blends (Clusters)
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Silent Letters
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Digraphs
A digraph is two letters that make one sound. The digraph can be made up of vowels or consonants.
A trigraph is a single sound that is represented by three letters.
A trigraph is a single sound that is represented by three letters.
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