PDF Pronunciation Guide for English - Phonics International
Pronunciation Guide for English
In the English writing system, many of the graphemes (letters and letter groups) have more than one possible pronunciation.
Sometimes, specific sequences of letters can alert the reader to the possible pronunciation required; for example, note the letter sequences shown as `hollow letters' in this guide as in `watch', `salt' and `city' - indicating that, in these words with these letter patterns, letter a is usually code for the /o/ sound and letter c is always code for the /s/ sound. Slash marks around a letter or letters - for example, /o/, /s/ or /sh/ - indicate a sound ? usually at the level of the phoneme ? the smallest unit of sound identifiable in speech.
This Pronunciation Guide is not comprehensive as it does not include all the graphemes and sounds in the English language. The guide is based on letters, groups of letters, and common spelling patterns, which generally have more than one pronunciation dependent on the words themselves. This is NOT the same as an Alphabetic Code Chart based on ALL the phonemes.
Some of the word examples in the Pronunciation Guide below are words used commonly but they have very unusual spellings, for example: `any', `said', `pretty', `women' and `choir'.
The guide below cannot be definitive about how to pronounce each word because pronunciations vary according to regional or national accents in the English language. The complexity of the Pronunciation Guide demonstrates the advisability of teaching the English alphabetic code (the grapheme-phoneme correspondences) for reading, and for spelling, systematically and thoroughly. Some learners are able to deduce the alphabetic code for themselves through lots of book experience and writing experience as they mature (although they may not fully appreciate that they are `picking up' what is known as the alphabetic code ? or alphabetic principle). Other learners, however, only manage to `pick up' some alphabetic code without explicit teaching ? or they may fail to deduce the alphabetic principle at all - regardless of their book experience at home or in school.
Years of research and leading-edge practice has shown that the best way to teach reading and spelling in the English language is to teach the English alphabetic code and the core phonics skills of decoding for reading and encoding for spelling very explicitly, systematically and comprehensively ? providing reading, spelling and writing activities which match the code that has been taught to date. This approach serves all learners of all ages and is essential for many learners whatever their age.
The Phonics International programme is designed and organised around the free Alphabetic Code Charts at . The notion of the Alphabetic Code Chart is based on the `units of sound mainly at phoneme level' of the English language and the graphemes which are code for the sounds. This Pronunciation Guide, in contrast, is based on some spelling patterns shown in the left column and provides examples of different pronunciation. See to learn more about the rationale of the Phonics International programme and the importance of the Alphabetic Code Charts.
Copyright Phonics International Ltd 2013
Pronunciation Guide for English
graphemes
and spelling patterns
a
ai al
ar are aw
example words
including common and rare spellings
apple
table
apricot
watch qualify
salt
father
drama
any many
water
also always
banana
village
manage
first aid
said again
against
bargain
mountain
palace
hospital
capital
salt
alternative
chalk
walk talk
palm
half
calves
also almost altogether
artist
start
wardrobe
quarter
collar
sugar
hare
care dare
You are funny.
awkward
awful
aware
sounds
phonemes and multiple phonemes
/a/ /ai/
grey background = common pronunciation
/o/
/ar/
/e/
/or/
schwa /u/
/i/
/ai/
/e/
schwa /u/
/a/+/l/
/ul/
/o/+/l/
/or/
/ar/
/or/+/l/
/ar/
/or/
schwa /er/ or /u/
/air/
/ar/
/or/
/a/+/w/
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ay e
ea
ear
-eau -ed
ei -ei -eo er -ere
tray
She says that I am funny.
egg
emu
me he she we be
pretty
acne
eat
reach each
head
breakfast
break
great
ears
nearby
bear
wear
earth
search
heart
hearth
plateau
beautiful butterfly
It rained.
She skipped.
He acted.
either neither
deceive receive receipt
people
leopard
mermaid
mixer
adhere
here
where
there
you were
/ai/ /e/ /e/ /ee/ /i/ between/i/ and /ee/ /ee/ /e/ /ai/ /eer/ /air/ /er/ /ar/ /oa/ /y+oo/ /d/ /t/ /u/+/d/ /igh/ /ee/ /ee/ /e/ /er/ schwa /er/ or /u/ /eer/ /air/ /er/
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-ew -ey i -ie
o
oi on oo
new
news
crew
key
monkey
bird of prey
they
insect
I am behind the tree.
piano
radio
chief
brief believe
movie
tie
He cried.
friends
fiesta
octopus
yo-yo
no go so
son
mother
move
to do who
women
wolf
wolves
ointment
coincidence
choir
on board
Once upon a time..... one
good book
look
moon
balloon
flood blood
/y+oo/ long /oo/ /ee/ between/i/ and /ee/ /ai/ /i/ /igh/ /ee/ /ee/ between/i/ and /ee/ /igh/ /e/ /ee/+/e/ /o/ /oa/ /u/ long /oo/ /i/ short /oo/ /oi/ /oa/+/i/ /w/+/igh/ /o/+/n/ /w+o/+/n/ short /oo/ long /oo/ /u/
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-oor or
ou ough
our ow u
-ue u-e
door
floorboards
poorly
fork
world
sailor
historic building
"ouch"
shout out loud
soup
you
touch
dough
though although
plough
through
thought
bought ought
no thoroughfare
our house
flour
your house
four
savour the flavour
bow
tomorrow
owl
down town
umbrella
unicorn
united
push
pull
penguin
superman
barbecue
blue
true clue glue
tube
cute cube
/or/ /long oo+er/or/or/ /or/ /er/ schwa /er/ or /u/ /o/+/r/ /ou/ long /oo/ /u/ /oa/ /ou/ long /oo/ /or/ schwa /er/ or /u/ /ou/+ schwa /u/ /or/ schwa /er/ or /u/ /oa/ /ou/ /u/ /y+ oo/ short /oo/ /w/ long /oo/ /y+oo/ long /oo/ /y+oo/
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-ui
-ure
be bt c -cc ch
ci -ci de
f
flute
rule
fruit
building
guitar
intuition
pure
cure obscure
sure
treasure
beg
behind
debt
doubt subtle
subtract
subterranean
cat
bicycle
succumb
accent
succeed
chairs
chameleon
school
chef
city
magician
pronunciation
desk
demand
detour
feathers
of
long /oo/
long /oo/
(bu=/b/)+/i/
(gu=/g/)+/i/
/y+oo/+/i/
/y+oor/
/or/
schwa /er/ or /u/
/b/+/e/
/b/+/i/
/t/
/b/+/t/
/k/
/s/ soft c: ce ci cy
/k/
/k/+/s/ soft c
/ch/
/k/
/sh/
/s/+/i/
soft c
/sh/
/s/+/ee/ soft c
/d/+/e/
/d/+/i/
/d/+/ee/
/f/
/v/
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g
ge
-ge
gh -gh gn
gu
le -le -mb
n -n -ng
pn
pt
girl
giraffe
courgette
I get it!
gentle touch
cabbage
collage
ghost
laugh
gnome
signal
guitar
gust of wind
leg
kettle
thumb
comb
number 3
remember
net
jungle
gong
bangles
danger
pneumatic drill
hypnotic
pterodactyl
helicopter
deceptive
reception
deception
/g/
/j/ soft g: ge gi gy
/zh/
/g/+/e/
/j/+/e/ soft g
/j/
/zh/
/g/
/f/
/n/
/g/+/n/
/g/
/g/+/u/
/l/+/e/
/ul/
/m/
/m/+/b/
/n/
/ng/
/ng/
/ng/+/g/
/n/+/j/
soft g
/n/
/p/+/n/
/t/
/p/+/t/
/p/+(ti=/sh/)
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qu
que
re
-re
s -s
sc
-se
si -si st -stsw
th
ti -ti -ture
queen
squeeze
/k+w/
bouquet
/k/
question
/k+w/+/e/
plaque
queue
/k/
reggae
/r/+/e/
remind
/r/+/i/
theatre
schwa /er/ or /u/
macabre
/r/+/u/
snake
/s/
fries
/z/
treasure
/zh/
scan the horizon
/s/+/k/
scissors
/s/ soft c: ce ci cy
house
/s/
cheese
/z/
sit
/s/+/i/
television
division /zh/
still running fast
/s/+/t/
castle
listen
/s/
sweets
/s/+/w/
sword
/s/
thistle
thin thick path unvoiced /th/
over there
the this that voiced /th/
tin
/t/+/i/
station
/sh/
mature
immature
/t/+/y+oor/
picture
adventure /ch+u/
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