I thought that if I put a link on our webpage that it may be helpful to you
if you have a question about a phonics rule or term.

Glossary of Terms:

Accent- to place stress on a syllable in a word by saying it longer, louder,
and with a higher pitch

Affix- a letter or group of letters added to a root word that changes the
meaning or usage of the word; a prefix or suffix

Blend- two consonants that slide together so smoothly that you can hardly
hear each letter sound

Bossy r- a letter r that follows a vowel and changes the sound that vowel
would normally make (ex. arm)

Bossy w- a letter w that appears before certain letters and changes the
sounds those letters would normall make (ex. worm)

Breve- a coding mark used to indicate a vowel's short sound

Cedilla- a coding mark on the letter c to indicate its soft sound (ex. cent)

Changing Rule- a spelling rule stating that when a root word ends with the
vowel y after a consonant, change y to i before adding a suffix, except for
suffixes beginning with i (ex. silliness)

Code- to mark a word with symbols (ex. breve, macron) to give information
about how to pronounce it.

Combination- two letters that come together to make an unexpected sound
(ex. quick)

Consonant Suffix- a suffix that begins with a consonant (ex. -less)

Derivative- a root word with an affix added to it

Digraph- two letters that come together to make one sound (ex. lock)

Diphthong- two vowel sounds that come together so fast that they are
considered on syllable (ex. coin)

Doubling Rule- a spelling rule stating that when the final syllable of a
root word is accented, and it ends with one vowel and one consonant, double
the final consonant before adding a vowel (ex. hitting)

Dropping Rule- a spelling rule stating that when a root word ends with
a "silent e" drop the e before adding a vowel suffix (ex. making, served)

Final- the last sound or letter(s) in a word

Final, Stable Syllable- a nonphonetic syllable that occurs in the final
position frequently enough to be considered stable (ex. crumble)

Floss Rule- a spelling rule stating that the letters f, l, and s are doubled
after a short vowel in a one-syllable root word Iex. puff, hill, boss)

Ghost Letters- letters whose sounds are no longer pronounced in certain
letter combinations (ex. gnat, knife, wrote)

Initial- the first sound or letter(s) in a word

K-Back- a vertical line on the back of a c that represents the /k/ sound
(ex. cat)

Macron- a coding mark used to indicate a vowel's long sound

Medial- the middle sound(s) or letter(s) in a word

Possessive S- an apostrophe s added to a word to show ownership

Prefix- a letter or group of letters added to the beginnin or a root word
that changes the meaning or usage of the word

Quadrigraph- four letters that come together to make one sound (ex. sleigh)

Regular For Reading- a term used to describe a sound that a letter or group
of letters makes at least 85% of the time, and so is dependable (ch=/ch/ is
regular for reading; ch=/k/ is not)

Regular For Spelling- a term used to describe a spelling that occurs at
least 85% of the time, and so is dependable (/ch/=ch is regular; /k/=ch is
not) These are the spellings children should use if the don't know the
correct spelling

Root Word- a word with no prefix or suffix added; may also be referred to as
a base word

Schwa- a coding mark placed over a vowel to indicate the short u sound that
is usually shown in the dictionary as an upside down e.

Sight Word- a word in which all or part does not follow phonetic rules

Silent e- an e that makes no sound that is usually found in the final
position of an english root word (ex. horse)

Sneaky e- the e in vowel rule v-e; it makes the vowel say its long sound
(ex. make); also referred to as a silent e

Suffix- a letter or group of letters added to the end of a root word that
changes the meaning or usage of the word

Syllable- a word or part of a word that contains only one vowel sound and is
made by one impulse of the voice

Syllable Division- the breaking of a word into seperate syllables to make
decoding (pronunciation) easier

Trigraph- three letters that come together to make one sound (ex. thigh)

Twin Consonants- two adjacent, identical consonants (ex. hill)

Voice Line- a horizontal line through the middle of a letter, representing a
voiced sound

Vowel Rules- rules that determine a vowel's sound in a given situation in a
syllable; 1. a vowel followed by a consonant is short; 2. a vowel that is
open and accented is long; 3. vowel-consonant-e, where the e is silent makes
the vowel long

Vowel Suffix- a suffix that begins with a vowel (ex. -ing)

Wild Colt Words- words containing the letters i or o followed by two
consonants in which the vowels are pronounced with their long sounds (ex.
wild) rather than the expected short sound

Rules:

a before l rule- the short o cound before an l is usually spelled with an a

adding vowel suffix- dropping rule: when a word ends with a silent e, drop
the e before adding a vowel suffix (ex. making) doubling rule: when the
final syllable of a word is accented and ends with one vowel and one
consonant, double the final consonant before adding a vowel suffix

changing rule- if a root word ends with vowel y after a consonant, change y
to i before adding a suffix (except those suffixes that begin with i)

final /ch/ rule- tch after a short vowel; ch after anything else

final /j/ rule- dge after a short vowel; ge after anything else

final /k/ rule- ck after a short vowel; k after a consonant or a vowel
digraph; ke after a long vowel; c in words with two or more syllables

final /s/ rule- ss after a short vowel; ce after a long vowel; se after a
consonant or a vowel digraph

final /v/ rule- all words that end with the /v/ sound are spelled ve

floss rule- when a one-syllable root word with a short vowel sound ends with
the sound /f/, /l/, or /s/, it is usually spelled ff, ll, or ss

j and g rules- j before a, o, or u; g before e, i, or y

k and c rules- k before e, i, or y; c before a, o, u, or any consonant