Englishorthography

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EnglishorthographyistheorthographyusedinwritingtheEnglishlanguage,includingEnglishspelling,hyphenation,capitalization,wordbreaks,
emphasis,andpunctuation.Liketheorthographicsystemsofmostworldlanguages,ithasabroaddegreeofstandardization.However,unlikemost
languages,Englishprovidesmorethanonewaytospellnearlyeveryphoneme,andmostlettersandlettercombinationscanstandfordifferent
pronunciationsdependingoncontextandmeaning.ThisislargelyduetothecomplexhistoryoftheEnglishlanguage[1]togetherwiththeabsenceof
systematicspellingreforms.Ingeneral,modernEnglishspelling,muchofwhichwasdevisedoriginallyforthephoneticspellingofMiddleEnglish,does
notreflectthesoundchangesthathaveoccurredsincethelatefifteenthcentury(suchastheGreatVowelShift).[2]TherearesomevariationsinEnglish
orthographybyglobalregions,someofwhichresultedfromspellingreformeffortsthatsucceededonlypartiallyandonlyincertainregions.

Contents
1Functionoftheletters
1.1Phonemicrepresentation
1.2Wordorigin
1.3Homophonedifferentiation
1.4Markingsoundchangesinotherletters
1.5Multiplefunctionality
1.6Underlyingrepresentation
2Diacritics
3Ligatures
4Phonicirregularities
5Spellingirregularities
5.1History
5.2"Ough"words
6Spellingpatterns
6.1Spellingtosoundcorrespondences
6.1.1Vowels
6.1.2Combinationsofvowelletters
6.1.3Consonants
6.1.4Combinationsofvowellettersand"r"
6.1.5Combinationsofotherconsonantandvowelletters
6.2Soundtospellingcorrespondences
6.2.1Consonants
6.2.2Vowels
7Seealso
7.1OrthographiesofEnglishrelatedlanguages

8References
9Bibliography
10Externallinks

Functionoftheletters
Note:Inthefollowingdiscussion,onlyoneortwocommonpronunciationsofAmericanandBritishEnglishvarietiesareusedinthisarticleforeach
wordcited.Otherregionalpronunciationsmaybepossibleforsomewords,butindicatingallpossibleregionalvariantsinthearticleisimpractical.

Phonemicrepresentation
Furtherinformation:Phonemicorthography
LettersinEnglishorthographyusuallyrepresentaparticularsound(phoneme).Forexample,thewordcat/kt/consistsofthreeletters c , a ,and
t ,inwhich c representsthesound/k/, a thesound//,and t thesound/t/.
Sequencesoflettersmayperformthisroleaswellassingleletters.Thus,inthewordship(pronounced/p/),thedigraph sh (twoletters)represents
thesound//.Inthewordditch,thethreeletters tch representthesound/t/.
Lesscommonly,asinglelettercanrepresentmultiplesuccessivesounds.Themostcommonexampleistheletter x ,whichnormallyrepresentsthe
consonantcluster/ks/(forexample,inthewordsix,pronounced/sks/).
Thesameletter(orsequenceofletters)maybepronouncedindifferentwayswhenitoccursindifferentpositionswithinaword.Forinstance,thedigraph
gh representsthesound/f/attheendofsomewords,suchasrough/rf/.Atthebeginningofsyllables(i.e.thesyllableonset),thedigraph gh is
pronounced//,asinthewordghost(pronounced/ost/).Conversely,thedigraph gh isneverpronounced/f/insyllableonsetsandisalmostnever
pronounced//insyllablecodas(thepropernamePittsburghisanexception).
Somewordscontainsilentletters,whichdonotrepresentanysoundinmodernEnglishpronunciation.Examplesincludethe b indoubt,debt,dumb,
etc.,the p inpsychologyandpneumatic,andthecommonlyencounteredsilent e (discussedfurtherbelow).

Wordorigin
Seealso:HardandsoftC,HardandsoftG,SilentkandPalatalization(phonetics)
Anothertypeofspellingcharacteristicisrelatedtowordorigin.Forexample,whenrepresentingavowel,theletter y representsthesound//insome
wordsborrowedfromGreek(reflectinganoriginalupsilon),whereastheletterusuallyrepresentingthissoundinnonGreekwordsistheletter i .
Thus,thewordmyth/m/isofGreekorigin,whilepith/p/isaGermanicword.Otherexamplesinclude ph pronounced/f/(whichisusuallyspelt
f ),and ch pronounced/k/(whichisusuallyspelt c or k )theuseofthesespellingsforthesesoundsoftenmarkwordsthathavebeen
borrowedfromGreek.

Someresearchers,suchasBrengelman(1970),havesuggestedthat,inadditiontothismarkingofwordorigin,thesespellingsindicateamoreformallevel
ofstyleorregisterinagiventext,althoughRollings(2004)findsthispointtobeexaggeratedastherewouldbemanyexceptionswhereawordwithone
ofthesespellings,suchas ph for/f/(liketelephone),couldoccurinaninformaltext.

Homophonedifferentiation
Spellingmayalsobeusefultodistinguishbetweenhomophones(wordswiththesamepronunciationbutdifferentmeanings),althoughinmostcasesthe
reasonforthedifferenceishistoricalandwasnotintroducedforthepurposeofmakingadistinction.Forexample,thewordsheirandairarepronounced
identicallyinmostdialects,butinwritingtheyaredistinguishedfromeachotherbytheirdifferentspellings.Anotherexampleisthepairofhomophones
painandpane,wherebotharepronounced/pen/buthavetwodifferentspellingsofthevowel/e/.Oftenthisisbecauseofthehistoricalpronunciationof
eachwordwhere,overtime,twoseparatesoundsbecomethesamebutthedifferentspellingsremain:painusedtobepronouncedas/pain/,witha
diphthong,andpaneas/pen/,butthediphthong/ai/mergedwiththelongvowel/e/inpane,makingpainandpanehomophones(panepainmerger).
Later/e/becameadiphthong/e/.
Inwrittenlanguage,thismayhelptoresolvepotentialambiguitiesthatwouldariseotherwise(cf.He'sbreakingthecarvs.He'sbrakingthecar).
Nevertheless,manyhomophonesremainthatareunresolvedbyspelling(forexample,thewordbayhasatleastfivefundamentallydifferentmeanings).

Markingsoundchangesinotherletters
Seealso:Silente
AnotherfunctionofsomelettersinEnglishistoprovideinformationaboutthepronunciationofotherlettersintheword.Rollings(2004)usestheterm
"markers"forletterswiththisfunction.Lettersmaymarkdifferenttypesofinformation.Forinstancetheletter e inthewordcottage/ktd/
indicatesthatthepreceding g ispronounced/d/,ratherthanthemorecommonvalueof g inwordfinalpositionasthesound//,suchasintag
/t/.Theletter e alsooftenmarksanalteredpronunciationofaprecedingvowel.Inthepairbanandbane,the a ofbanhasthevalue//,
whereasthe a ofbaneismarkedbythe e ashavingthevalue/e/.Inthiscontext,the e isnotpronounced,andisreferredtoas"silente".A
singlelettermayevenfillmultiplepronunciationmarkingrolessimultaneously.Forexample,inthewordwage,the e marksnotonlythechangeof
the a from//to/e/,butalsoofthe g from//to/d/.

Multiplefunctionality
Agivenletteror(letters)mayhavedualfunctions.Forexample,theletter i inthewordcinemahasasoundrepresentingfunction(representingthe
sound//)andapronunciationmarkingfunction(markingthe c ashavingthevalue/s/opposedtothevalue/k/).

Underlyingrepresentation
Likemanyotheralphabeticorthographies,Englishspellingdoesnotrepresentnoncontrastivephoneticsounds(thatis,minordifferencesinpronunciation
whicharenotusedtodistinguishbetweendifferentwords).Althoughtheletter t ispronouncedbysomespeakerswithaspiration[t]atthebeginning
ofwords,thisisneverindicatedinthespelling,and,indeed,thisphoneticdetailisprobablynotnoticeabletotheaveragenativespeakernottrainedin

phonetics.However,unlikesomeorthographies,Englishorthographyoftenrepresentsaveryabstractunderlyingrepresentation(ormorphophonemic
form)ofEnglishwords.[3]
[T]hepostulatedunderlyingformsaresystematicallyrelatedtotheconventionalorthography...andare,asiswellknown,relatedtothe
underlyingformsofamuchearlierhistoricalstageofthelanguage.Therehas,inotherwords,beenlittlechangeinlexicalrepresentation
sinceMiddleEnglish,and,consequently,wewouldexpect...thatlexicalrepresentationwoulddifferverylittlefromdialecttodialectin
ModernEnglish...[and]thatconventionalorthographyisprobablyfairlyclosetooptimalforallmodernEnglishdialects,aswellasforthe
attesteddialectsofthepastseveralhundredyears.[4]
Inthesecases,agivenmorpheme(i.e.acomponentofaword)hasafixedspellingeventhoughitispronounceddifferentlyindifferentwords.An
exampleisthepasttensesuffix ed ,whichmaybepronouncedvariouslyas/t/,/d/,orinsomeaccents/d/(forexample,dip/dp/,dipped/dpt/,
boom/bum/,boomed/bumd/,loot/lut/,looted/lutd/).Asithappens,thesedifferentpronunciationsof ed canbepredictedbyafew
phonologicalrules,butthatisnotthereasonwhyitsspellingisfixed.
Anotherexampleinvolvesthevoweldifferences(withaccompanyingstresspatternchanges)inseveralrelatedwords.Forinstance,theword
photographerisderivedfromthewordphotographbyaddingthederivationalsuffix er .Whenthissuffixisadded,thevowelpronunciationschange
largelyowingtothemoveablestress:
Spelling
photograph
photographer

Pronunciation
/fotrf/or/fotrf/
/ftrfr/

photographical /fotrfkl/
Otherexamplesofthistypearethe ity suffix(asinagilevsagility,acidvsacidity,divinevsdivinity,sanevssanity).Seealso:Trisyllabiclaxing.
Anothersuchclassofwordsincludessign/san/andbomb/bm/with"silent"letters g and b ,respectively.However,intherelatedwords
signatureandbombardtheselettersarepronounced/sntr/and/bmbrd/,respectively.Hereitcouldbearguedthattheunderlyingrepresentation
ofsignandbombis|san|and|bmb|,inwhichtheunderlying||and|b|areonlypronouncedinthesurfaceformswhenfollowedbycertainsuffixes(
ature , ard ).Otherwise,the||and|b|arenotrealizedinthesurfacepronunciation(e.g.whenstandingalone,orwhenfollowedbysuffixeslike
ing or er ).Inthesecases,theorthographyindicatestheunderlyingconsonantsthatarepresentincertainwordsbutareabsentinotherrelated
words.Otherexamplesincludethe t infast/fst/andfasten/fsn/,andthe h inheir/r/andinherit/nhrt/.
Anotherexampleincludeswordslikemean/min/andmeant/mnt/.Herethevowelspelling ea ispronounceddifferentlyinthetworelatedwords.
Thus,againtheorthographyusesonlyasinglespellingthatcorrespondstothesinglemorphemicformratherthantothesurfacephonologicalform.
Englishorthographydoesnotalwaysprovideanunderlyingrepresentationsometimesitprovidesanintermediaterepresentationbetweentheunderlying
formandthesurfacepronunciation.Thisisthecasewiththespellingoftheregularpluralmorpheme,whichiswrittenaseither s (asintick,ticksand
mite,mites)or es (asinbox,boxes).Herethespelling s ispronouncedeither/s/or/z/(dependingontheenvironment,e.g.ticks/tks/andpigs

/pz/)while es isusuallypronounced/z/(e.g.boxes/bksz/).Thus,therearetwodifferentspellingsthatcorrespondtothesingleunderlying
representation|z|ofthepluralsuffixandthethreesurfaceforms.Thespellingindicatestheinsertionof//beforethe/z/inthespelling es ,butdoes
notindicatethedevoiced/s/distinctlyfromtheunaffected/z/inthespelling s .
Theabstractrepresentationofwordsasindicatedbytheorthographycanbeconsideredadvantageoussinceitmakesetymologicalrelationshipsmore
apparenttoEnglishreaders.ThismakeswritingEnglishmorecomplex,butarguablymakesreadingEnglishmoreefficient.[5]However,veryabstract
underlyingrepresentations,suchasthatofChomsky&Halle(1968)orofunderspecificationtheories,aresometimesconsideredtooabstracttoaccurately
reflectthecommunicativecompetenceofnativespeakers.Followersoftheseargumentsbelievethelessabstractsurfaceformsaremore"psychologically
real"andthusmoreusefulintermsofpedagogy.[6]

Diacritics
Mainarticle:Englishtermswithdiacriticalmarks
Seealso:BritishandAmericankeyboardsandkeyboardlayouts
Englishhassomewordsthatcanbewrittenwithaccentmarks.Thesewordshavemostlybeenimportedfromotherlanguages,usuallyFrench.As
importedwordsbecomeincreasinglynaturalised,thereisanincreasingtendencytoomittheaccentmarks,eveninformalwriting.Forexample,words
suchasrleandhtelwerefirstseenwithaccentswhentheywereborrowedintoEnglish,butnowtheaccentisalmostneverused.Thewordswere
originallyconsideredforeignandsomepeopleconsideredthatEnglishalternativeswerepreferablebuttodaytheirforeignoriginislargelyforgotten.
WordsmostlikelytoretaintheaccentarethoseatypicalofEnglishmorphologyandthereforestillperceivedasslightlyforeign.Forexample,cafand
ptbothhaveapronouncedfinale,whichwouldotherwisebesilentunderthenormalEnglishpronunciationrules.Howevercafisnowsometimes
facetiouslypronounced"caff",whileinpt,theacuteaccentishelpfultodistinguishitfrompate.
FurtherexamplesofwordssometimesretainingdiacriticswhenusedinEnglishare:ngstrm(partlybecausethescientificsymbolforthisunitof
measurementis""),appliqu,attach,blas,bricbrac,Brtchen,[7]clich,crme,crpe,faade,fianc(e),flamb,nave,navet,n(e),papier
mch,pass,piata,protg,rsum,risqu,ber,voil.Italics,withappropriateaccents,aregenerallyappliedtoforeigntermsthatareuncommonly
usedinorhavenotbeenassimilatedintoEnglish:forexample,adis,crmebrle,picedersistance,raisond'tre,ber,visvis,andbelleslettres.
ItwasformerlycommoninAmericanEnglishtouseadiaeresismarktoindicateahiatus:forexample,coperate,das,relect.TheNewYorkerand
TechnologyReviewmagazinesstilluseitforthispurpose,eventhoughitisincreasinglyrareinmodernEnglish.Nowadaysthediaeresisisnormallyleft
out(cooperate),orahyphenisused(cooperate).Itis,however,stillcommoninloanwordssuchasnaveandNol.
Writtenaccentsarealsousedoccasionallyinpoetryandscriptsfordramaticperformancestoindicatethatacertainnormallyunstressedsyllableinaword
shouldbestressedfordramaticeffect,ortokeepwiththemetreofthepoetry.Thisuseisfrequentlyseeninarchaicandpseudoarchaicwritingswiththe
edsuffix,toindicatethattheeshouldbefullypronounced,aswithcursd.

Ligatures
Seealso:AmericanandBritishEnglishspellingdifferencesaeandoe

Incertainoldertexts(typicallyBritish),theuseoftheligaturesandiscommoninwordssuchasarchology,diarrha,andencyclopdia.Such
wordshaveLatinorGreekorigin.Nowadays,theligatureshavebeengenerallyreplacedinBritishEnglishbytheseparateddigraphaeandoe
(encyclopaedia,diarrhoea)butusuallyeconomy,ecology,andinAmericanEnglishbye(encyclopedia,diarrheabutusuallypaean,amoeba,oedipal,
Caesar).Insomecases,usagemayvaryforinstance,bothencyclopediaandencyclopaediaarecurrentintheUK.

Phonicirregularities
Seealso:Englishspellingreform
PartlybecauseEnglishhasneverhadanyformalregulatingauthorityforspelling,suchastheSpanishRealAcademiaEspaolaortheFrenchAcadmie
franaise,Englishspelling,comparedtomanyotherlanguages,isquiteirregularandcomplex.AlthoughFrench,amongotherlanguages,presentsa
similardegreeofdifficultywhenencoding(writing),Englishismoredifficultwhendecoding(reading),asthereareclearlymanymorepossible
pronunciationsofagroupofletters.Forexample,inFrenchthe[u]sound(asin"food"),canbespelledou,ous,out,oroux(ou,nous,tout,choux),butthe
pronunciationofeachofthosesequencesisalwaysthesame.InEnglish,the/u/soundcanbespelledinupto18differentways(seetheSoundto
spellingcorrespondencessectionbelow),includingoo,u,ui,ue,o,oe,ou,ough,andew(food,truth,fruit,blues,to,shoe,group,through,grew),butall
ofthesehaveotherpronunciationsaswell(e.g.asinflood,trust,build,bluest,go,hoe,grout,rough,sew).TheSpellingtosoundcorrespondencessection
belowpresentsasummaryofpronunciationvariations.Thus,inunfamiliarwordsandpropernounsthepronunciationofsomesequences,oughbeingthe
primeexample,isunpredictabletoeveneducatednativeEnglishspeakers.

Spellingirregularities
AttemptstoregularizeorreformthespellingofEnglishhaveusuallymetwithfailure.However,NoahWebsterpopularizedmorephoneticspellingsinthe
UnitedStatessuchasflavorforBritishflavour,fiberforfibre,defensefordefence,analyzeforanalyse,catalogforcatalogueandsoforth.These
spellingsalreadyexistedasalternatives,butWebstersdictionarieshelpedmakethemstandardintheUS.[8]SeeAmericanandBritishEnglishspelling
differencesfordetails.
BesidesthequirkstheEnglishspellingsystemhasinheritedfromitspast,thereareotheridiosyncrasiesinspellingthatmakeittrickytolearn.English
contains,dependingondialect,2427separateconsonantphonemesand1420vowels.However,thereareonly26lettersinthemodernEnglish
alphabet,sotherecannotbeaonetoonecorrespondencebetweenlettersandsounds.Manysoundsarespelledusingdifferentlettersormultipleletters,
andforthosewordswhosepronunciationispredictablefromthespelling,thesoundsdenotedbythelettersdependonthesurroundingletters.For
example,thedigraphthrepresentstwodifferentsounds(thevoiceddentalfricativeandthevoicelessdentalfricative)(seePronunciationofEnglishth),
andthevoicelessalveolarsibilantcanberepresentedbytheletterssandc.
Itis,however,nottheshortageofletterswhichmakesEnglishspellingirregular.Itsirregularitiesarecausedmainlybytheuseofmanydifferentspellings
forsomeofitssounds,suchasthesounds/u/,/i/and/o/(too,true,shoe,flew,throughsleeve,leave,even,seize,siegestole,coal,bowl,roll,old,
mould),andtheuseofidenticalsequencesforspellingdifferentsounds(over,oven,move).

Furthermore,Englishnolongermakesanyattempttoanglicisethespellingsofloanwords,butpreservestheforeignspellings,evenwhentheyemploy
exoticconventionslikethePolishczinCzech(ratherthan*Check)ortheNorwegianfjinfjord(althoughfiordwasformerlythemostcommonspelling).
InearlyMiddleEnglish,untilroughly1400,mostimportsfromFrenchwererespeltaccordingtoEnglishrules(e.g.bataillebattle,boutonbutton,but
notdouble,trouble).InsteadofloansbeingrespelledtoconformtoEnglishspellingstandards,sometimesthepronunciationchangesasaresultof
pressurefromthespelling.Oneexampleofthisisthewordski,whichwasadoptedfromNorwegianinthemid18thcentury,althoughitdidnotbecome
commonuntil1900.Itusedtobepronounced/i/,whichissimilartotheNorwegianpronunciation,buttheincreasingpopularityofthesportafterthe
middleofthe20thcenturyhelpedthe/ski/pronunciationreplaceit.
Therewasalsoaperiodwhenthespellingofasmallnumberofwordswasalteredinwhatisnowregardedasamisguidedattempttomakethemconform
towhatwereperceivedtobetheetymologicaloriginsofthewords.Forexample,theletterbwasaddedtodebt(originallydette)inanattempttolinkitto
theLatindebitum,andthelettersinislandisamisplacedattempttolinkittoLatininsulainsteadoftheOldEnglishwordland,whichisthetrueorigin
oftheEnglishword.Theletterpinptarmiganhasnoetymologicaljustificationwhatsoever,onlyseekingtoinvokeGreekdespitebeingaGaelicword.
ThespellingofEnglishcontinuestoevolve.Manyloanwordscomefromlanguageswherethepronunciationofvowelscorrespondstothewaytheywere
pronouncedinOldEnglish,whichissimilartotheItalianorSpanishpronunciationofthevowels,andisthevaluethevowelsymbols[a],[e],[i],[o],and
[u]haveintheInternationalPhoneticAlphabet.Asaresult,thereisasomewhatregularsystemofpronouncing"foreign"wordsinEnglish,andsome
borrowedwordshavehadtheirspellingchangedtoconformtothissystem.Forexample,HinduusedtobespelledHindoo,andthenameMariausedto
bepronouncedlikethenameMariah,butwaschangedtoconformtothissystem.
CommercialadvertisershavealsohadaneffectonEnglishspelling.Theyintroducedneworsimplifiedspellingslikeliteinsteadoflight,thruinsteadof
through,smokeyinsteadofsmoky(for"smokeybacon"flavourcrisps),andrucsacinsteadofrucksack.Thespellingsofpersonalnameshavealsobeena
sourceofspellinginnovations:diminutiveversionsofwomen'snamesthatsoundthesameasmen'snameshavebeenspelleddifferently:NikkiandNicky,
ToniandTony,JoandJoe.
AsexamplesoftheidiosyncraticnatureofEnglishspelling,thecombinationoucanbepronouncedinatleastfourdifferentways://infamous,/a/in
loud,//inshould,/u/inyouandthevowelsound/i/inmecanbespeltinatleastninedifferentways:paediatric,me,seat,seem,ceiling,people,
machine,siege,phoenix.(TheseexamplesassumeamoreorlessstandardnonregionalBritishEnglishaccent.Otheraccentswillvary.)
SometimeseverydayspeakersofEnglishchangeacounterintuitivepronunciationsimplybecauseitiscounterintuitive.Changeslikethisarenotusually
seenas"standard",butcanbecomestandardifusedenough.Anexampleisthewordminiscule,whichstillcompeteswithitsoriginalspellingof
minuscule,thoughthismightalsobebecauseofanalogywiththewordmini.Afurtherexampleisthemodernpronunciationoftissue.

History
InconsistenciesandirregularitiesinEnglishpronunciationandspellinghavegraduallyincreasedinnumberthroughoutthehistoryoftheEnglish
language.Thereareanumberofcontributingfactors.First,gradualchangesinpronunciation,suchastheGreatVowelShift,accountforatremendous
numberofirregularities.Second,relativelyrecentloanwordsfromotherlanguagesgenerallycarrytheiroriginalspellings,whichareoftennotphoneticin
English.TheRomanizationoflanguages(e.g.,Chinese)usingalphabetsderivedfromtheLatinalphabethasfurthercomplicatedthisproblem,for
examplewhenpronouncingChinesepropernames(ofpeopleorplaces).

TheregularspellingsystemofOldEnglishwassweptawaybytheNormanConquest,andEnglishitselfwassupplantedinsomespheresbyNorman
Frenchforthreecenturies,eventuallyemergingwithitsspellingmuchinfluencedbyFrench.Englishhadalsoborrowedlargenumbersofwordsfrom
French,whichnaturallykepttheirFrenchspellingsastherewasnoreasonormechanismtochangethem.ThespellingofMiddleEnglish,suchasinthe
writingsofGeoffreyChaucer,isveryirregularandinconsistent,withthesamewordbeingspelledindifferentways,sometimeseveninthesame
sentence.However,theseweregenerallymuchbetterguidestothethenpronunciationthanmodernEnglishspellingis.
Forexample,thesound//,normallywrittenu,isspelledwithanoinson,love,come,etc.,duetoNormanspellingconventionswhichprohibitedwriting
ubeforev,m,nduetothegraphicalconfusionthatwouldresult.(v,u,nwereidenticallywrittenwithtwominimsinNormanhandwritingwwaswritten
astwoulettersmwaswrittenwiththreeminims,hencemmlookedlikevun,nvu,uvu,etc.)Similarly,spellingconventionsalsoprohibitedfinalv.Hence
theidenticalspellingsofthethreedifferentvowelsoundsinlove,groveandproveareduetoambiguityintheMiddleEnglishspellingsystem,notsound
change.
Therewasalsoaseriesoflinguisticsoundchangestowardstheendofthisperiod,includingtheGreatVowelShift,whichresultedintheiinmine,for
example,changingfromapurevoweltoadiphthong.Thesechangesforthemostpartdidnotdetractfromtherulegovernednatureofthespelling
systembutinsomecasestheyintroducedconfusinginconsistencies,likethewellknownexampleofthemanypronunciationsofough(rough,through,
though,trough,plough,etc.).MostofthesechangeshappenedbeforethearrivalofprintinginEngland.However,thearrivaloftheprintingpressfroze
thecurrentsystem,ratherthanprovidingtheimpetusforarealignmentofspellingwithpronunciation.Furthermore,itintroducedfurtherinconsistencies,
partlybecauseoftheuseoftypesetterstrainedabroad,particularlyintheLowCountries.Forexample,thehinghostwasinfluencedbyDutch.[9]The
additionanddeletionofasilenteattheendsofwordswasalsosometimesusedtomaketherighthandmarginlineupmoreneatly.[9]
Bythetimedictionarieswereintroducedinthemid17thcentury,thespellingsystemofEnglishhadstartedtostabilise.Bythe19thcentury,mostwords
hadsetspellings,thoughittooksometimebeforetheydiffusedthroughouttheEnglishspeakingworld.InTheMillontheFloss(1860),Englishnovelist
GeorgeEliotsatirizedtheattitudeoftheEnglishruralgentryofthe1820stowardsorthography:
Mr.Tulliverdidnotwillinglywritealetter,andfoundtherelationbetweenspokenandwrittenlanguage,brieflyknownasspelling,oneofthemost
puzzlingthingsinthispuzzlingworld.Nevertheless,likeallfervidwriting,thetaskwasdoneinlesstimethanusual,andifthespellingdiffered
fromMrs.Glegg's,why,shebelonged,likehimself,toagenerationwithwhomspellingwasamatterofprivatejudgment.
ThemodernEnglishspellingsystem,withitsnationalvariants,spreadtogetherwiththeexpansionofpubliceducationlaterinthe19thcentury.

"Ough"words
Mainarticle:Ough(combination)
ThemostnotoriousgroupoflettersintheEnglishlanguage,ough,iscommonlypronouncedinatleasttendifferentways,sixofwhichareillustratedin
theconstruct,Thoughthetoughcoughandhiccoughploughhimthrough,whichisquotedbyRobertA.HeinleininTheDoorintoSummertoillustrate
thedifficultiesfacingautomatedspeechtranscriptionandreading.Oughisinfactawordinitsownrightitisanexclamationofdisgustsimilartough.
though:/o/asintoe(otherexamples:dough)
tough:/f/asincuff(otherexamples:rough,enough,andthename(butnottheword)Hough)
cough:/f/asinoff(otherexamples:trough,Gough(name,somepronunciations))

hiccough(anowuncommonvariantofhiccup):/p/asinup(unique)
plough:/a/asincow(otherexamples:sough,drought,bough,doughty,andthenamesSloughandDoughty)
through:/u/asinblue
nought://asincaught(otherexamples:ought,sought,thought,brought)
lough:/x/withavelarfricativelikethechinloch
borough://(otherexamples:thorough,namesendinginborough)
hough:/k/(morecommonlyspelt"hock"now)
TheplacenameLoughboroughusestwodifferentpronunciationsofough:thefirstoughhasthesoundasincuffandthesecondrhymeswiththorough.

Spellingpatterns
Seealso:Help:IPAforEnglish

Spellingtosoundcorrespondences
Vowels
InagenerativeapproachtoEnglishspelling,Rollings(2004)identifiestwentymainorthographicvowelsofstressedsyllablesthataregroupedintofour
maincategories:"Lax","Tense","Heavy","TenseR".(Asthisclassificationisbasedonorthography,notallorthographic"lax"vowelsarenecessarily
phonologicallylax.)
GeneralAmerican
ReceivedPronunciation(British)
Letter Lax Tense Heavy TenseR Letter Lax Tense Heavy TenseR
a

// /e/
man mane

/r/
mar

/r/
mare

// /e/
man mane

//
mar

/r/
mare

//
/i/
met mete

/r/
her

/r/
here

//
/i/
met mete

/r/
her

/r/
here

//
/a/
win wine

/r/
fir

/ar/
fire

//
/a/
win wine

/r/
fir

/ar/
fire

// /o/
mop mope

// /o/
mop mope

// /ju/
hug huge

/r/
cur

/jr/
cure

// /ju/
hug huge

/r/
cur

/jr/
cure

// /u/
push rude

/r/
sur

/r/
sure

// /u/
push rude

/r/
sur

/r/
sure

/r/
for,fore

//
for,fore

Forinstance,theletteracanrepresentthelaxvowel//,tense/e/,heavy//,or(oftenallophonically)[]before|r|.Heavyandtenservowelsarethe
respectivelaxandtensecounterpartsfollowedbytheletterr.
Tensevowelsaredistinguishedfromlaxvowelswitha"silent"eletterthatisaddedattheendofwords.Thus,theletterainhatislax//,butwhenthe
lettereisaddedinthewordhatetheletteraistense/e/.Similarly,heavyandtenservowelspatterntogether:thelettersarincarareheavy/r/,the
lettersarfollowedbysilenteinthewordcareare/r/.Theletterurepresentstwodifferentvowelpatterns,onebeing//,/ju/,//,/j/,theother//,/u/,
//.Thereisnodistinctionbetweenheavyandtenservowelswiththelettero,andtheletteruinthe/u/patterndoesnothaveaheavyvowel
member.
Besidessilente,anotherstrategyforindicatingtenseandtenservowels,istheadditionofanotherorthographicvowelformingadigraph.Inthiscase,the
firstvowelisusuallythemainvowelwhilethesecondvowelisthe"marking"vowel.Forexample,thewordmanhasalaxapronounced//,butwiththe
additionofi(asthedigraphai)inthewordmaintheaismarkedastenseandpronounced/e/.Thesetwostrategiesproducewordsthatarespelled
differentlybutpronouncedidentically,asinmane(silentestrategy),main(digraphstrategy)andMaine(bothstrategies).Theuseoftwodifferent
strategiesrelatestothefunctionofdistinguishingbetweenwordsthatwouldotherwisebehomonyms.
Besidesthe20basicvowelspellings,Rollings(2004)hasareducedvowelcategory(representingthesounds/,/)andamiscellaneouscategory
(representingthesounds/,a,a,a/and/j/+V,/w/+V,V+V).
Combinationsofvowelletters
Toreducedialectaldifficulties,thesoundvaluesgivenherecorrespondtotheconventionsatWikipedia:IPAforEnglish.ThistableincludesH,WandY
whentheyrepresentvowelsounds.Ifnoinformationisgiven,itisassumedthatthevowelisinastressedsyllable.
DerivingthepronunciationofanEnglishwordfromitsspellingrequiresnotonlyacarefulknowledgeoftherulesgivenbelow(manyofwhicharenot
explicitlyknownevenbynativespeakers:speakersmerelylearnthespellingofawordalongwithitspronunciation)andtheirmanyexceptions,butalso:
aknowledgeofwhichsyllablesarestressedandwhichareunstressed(notderivablefromthespelling:comparehallowandallow)
whichcombinationsofvowelsrepresentmonosyllablesandwhichrepresentdisyllables(ditto:comparewaifandnaif,creatureandcreator)

Spelling

Major
value
(IPA)

Examplesofmajorvalue

beforemultiple
consonants
finalvowelinword
//
followedby2ormore
unstressedsyllables
nextsyllablecontains//

hatchet,banner,tally
acrobat,cat
national,camera,reality
acid,granite,palace
.

beforefinalnge,ste
beforesingleconsonant
beforecons+(leor
/e/
r+vowel)
beforeheterosyllabic
vowel

range,exchange,haste
gave,opaque,savor,status
table,hatred,April
chaos,aorta,mosaic

beforefinalrorr+cons.
(andinderivedterms)

//

bar,cart
barred,marring

beforer+vowel

/()/

area,care,garish,wariness

wordfinal(stressed)

//

bra,chacha,schwa,spa

Minor
values

/e/

//

//
//
.

Examplesofminor
value
ache,ancient,chamber,
pastry
bass
nationhood,scathingly
basis,aphasic
father(RP:aft,ask,dance,
past)

Exceptions

//yacht
//advocate(n),hurricane
(RP)

flange,caste(GA)
have,plaque,manor,statue
//many,any
macle,sacrifice,theatrical
/a/naive
debacle,melange
gala,lava,slalom,sonata

//scarce
//
//

arid,parish,mariners,
caraway
aria,are,safaris,faraway

wash,wasp,quarantine
//(//)*
water,wall,walnut,waltz
//
aware,square,wary,
/()/
antiquarian
/e/
persuade,wastage,swathe

//quarantine(GA)
//waratah

after/w/exceptbefore/k/,//,
//(//)*
//

want,watch,quality,squash
swamp,wapiti,swastika,
wallet

//qualm,suave,swami
//swam,aquatic(RP)
//was,what(GA)

after/w/beforefinalrorr+
cons.
(andinderivedterms)

//

war,award,dwarf,warning,
quarter,warring

unstressed

//

about,an,salary,woman,
blancmange,opera,via

//to
//
/e/

artistically,ordinary,
necessary
/i/karaoke,bologna
chocolate,purchase,solace, //retard(n),canard(RP)
probate,folate,kinase

unstressed,inage

//

damage,forage,garbage

//

(RP):garage,barrage

//jaguar(GA),quark
//warrior(RP)

/e/teenage

aa,ah

ae

//

baa,aardvark,blah

Aaron

/e/Quaalude

usually

/i/

encyclopaedia,paediatrician

//

aesthetic

/e/reggae,sundae,gaelic
/a/maestro
//Michael,polkaed

beforer

//

aerial,aeroplane

//

chimaera

//anaerobe

stressed

/e/

daisy,laid,paisley,regain,
waif

/a/
//
/e/

aisle,bonsai,daimon,krait
said,again,against
dais,laic,mosaic,papain

//plaid,plaited,daiqiri
/ai/naif,caique
/i/archaism

beforer

//

cairn,millionaire,dairy

unstressed

//

bargain,mountain

//

certain,coxswain,spritsail

cacao,miaow,Taoism

/e/
/e/
/e/
//

gaol
kaon,chaos
aorist,kaolin
extraordinary

aura,cause,chauffer,
slaughter

//
//(/
/)**
/a/
/o/

because,laurel,sausage
aunt,draught,laughter
degauss,graupel,trauma

ai

ao

/a/

au

//

aw

//

awed,flaw,hawk,tawny

ay

/e/

bayonet,essays,grayer,
hayride

beforesingleconsonant
beforecons+(leor
r+vowel)
final,onlyvowelin
/i/
word
final,Greekloans
beforeheterosyllabic
vowel

//

beforemultiple
consonants
finalvowelinword
bef.2+unstressed
syllables

//

receding,detail,gene
metre,secret
be,she
simile,catastrophe
neon

better,fetch,merry
get,watershed
legacy,elegant,delicate
crevice,epicness

/a/hetaira,zaire

(GA)

chauffeur,gauche,mauve

/o/pharaoh
/e/aorta
/eo/baobab
/o/karaoke
/e/gauge
/a/gaur
//because(GA)
//aurora,meerschaum
//awry

/a/
//

aye,bayou,kayak,papaya
mayor,prayer,says

/e/
//

ukulele,cafe,crepe,seance
ever,lemon,metal,venom
treble,discretion
vineyard,awesome

/i/

egret,lethal,reflex
feces,axes(pluralofaxis)
legally,devious
evil,scenic,strategic

/i/cay,quay,parlay
/j/gayal

//pretty

nextsyllablecontains//
beforefinalrorr+cons.
(andinderivedterms)

//

herd,kerb,referral

//

clerk,sergeant

beforer+vowel

//

here,series,reremice,stereo

//
//
/i/

compere,there,werewolf
derelict,heresy,perish,very //were,weregild
derail,reremind

wordfinal

mate,discipline,starve,
plague

/i/

recipe

unstressed

//

hatchet,target,poet

//

taken,decency,moment

usd,beforeheterosyllabic
vowel

/i/

create,area,atheism,video

/e/

sceance,fideism,rodeo

usually

/i/
//

dreams,read,cleans,leaf,
zeal
dreamt,read,cleanse,deaf,
zealot

/e/
//
//
/i/
/ie/

break,eagre,great,yea
hydrangea,likeable,ocean
idea,ideal,real,realty
urea,cereal,fealty,laureate
creating,protease,reagent

//orgeat,//poleax
//ealderman
//mileage,/i/lineage
//yeah,/e/seance
/i/beatify,caveat,
reality

beforer+cons.

//

pearly,hearse,yearning,earth //

hearken,hearty,hearth

//beard,peart
/e/bearnaise,/i'/rearm

beforefinalrorr+vowel
(andinderivedterms)

//

dearly,hears,yearling,tear

//
/i/

tear,bears,wearing
linear,nuclear,stearin

//heard
/i/tearoom

/o/

bureau,plateau,tableau

/ju/

beauty

//bureaucracy
//bureaucrat

matinee,fiancees,nee
bungee,coffee

//breeches,been(GA)
/i/freest,weest
/i/reecho,/i/reelect

ea

eau

ee

ei,ey

//erase,erect
/e/cafe

usually

/i/

bee,breech,feed,trainee

/e/
/i/

beforer

//

cheering,beer,eerie

/i/

freer,seers

/i/
/a/
/i/

caffeine,seize,key,geyser
//heifer,leisure,seigneur
either,height,heist,heinie,
//reveille,serein
eye
/e/fideist,/ia/deice
albeit,being,cysteine,deist

usually

/e/

veil,weight,heinous,obey

afterc

/i/

deceive,ceiling,conceit

beforer

//

heir,madeira,their

//ceinture,enceinte
/e/glaceing/i/haecceity
//

weird,weir,eyrie

/a/oneiric,eirenic

eo

mullein,villein
volleyed

//ageist,herein,ogreish
/a/walleyed

//

foreign,counterfeit,forfeit

unstressed,wordfinal

/i/

monkey,curtsey,jersey

usuallybisyllabic

/i/
/io/
/i/

eon,geology,reoffer,teleost
creole,geode,leonine,video
galleon,leotard,peon,theory

//
/i/
//

feoffee,jeopardy,leopard
feoff,people
luncheon,pigeon,
embraceor

/o/yeoman,//ceorl
/ju/feodary,/ui/geoduck
/eo/rodeo,teosinte

/ju/

deuce,feudal,queue,
dew,ewe,view

//
/u/
/i/

berceuse,danseuse
leukemia,lewd,lieu(sic)
museum,pileus

/o/sew,shew
/f/lieutenant(RP),/j/
milieu
/iu/reuse,/i/reutters
//pileup,fauteuil

/u/

rheumatism,sleuth,jewel,
blew

/i/

nucleus

/j/

euro,liqueur,neural

//

masseur,voyeur

/ju()/

eurhythmic,neurotic

/j/
//

aneurism,derailleur,
grandeur
amateur,chauffeur

usually
eu(e),
ew(e),
ieu, after/r/,//,//,/j/,cons.+/l/
iew
beforer
unstressedbeforer

//
/i/

unstressed

beforesingleconsonant
beforecons+(leor
r+vowel)
beforend,ld,gh,gn /a/
wordfinal
beforeheterosyllabic
vowel

cited,dive,mica,rise,polite,
shine
idle,trifle,nitrous,mitres
sighed,signage,wilder,
remind
alumni,alibi,radii
vial,quiet,prior,pious

beforemultiple
consonants
finalvowelinword
bef.2+unstressed
//
syllables
nextsyllablecontains//
beforecons.+e/i+
vowel

dissent,mislaid,slither
kiss,sic,bit,inflict,hint,
plinth
litany,liberal,chivalry,
misery
finish,spirit,minute
hideous,position,Sirius

beforefinalrorr+cons.

//

bird,fir,stirrer

/e/survey(n)

//

city,give,vicar,risen
triple,citrus,giblets
pighead,signal,bewilder,
rescind
.

/a/

dissect,island,blithely
indict,pint,ninth
irony,libelous,rivalry,
miserly
whitish,writing
shinier,tidied

//pleurisy,/i/theurgy

/i/police,elite,machine
/i/litres,invitro
/i/chignon,Monsignor
/i/ski
/i/clientele,lien,skiing

//meringue/i/artiste,
chenille
/i/skis,chic,ambergris
.

//menhir

(andinderivedterms)
beforer+vowel

/a/

hire,firing,enquiry

unstressed

//

livid,typical

usd,beforeheterosyllabic
vowel

/i/

familiar,alien,radii,idiot

finally

/a/

medially

/i/

//

pencil,cousin

business

belie,die,untie,vie

/i/

goalie,oldie,auntie,movie

/e/lingerie(GA),/ie/
kyrie

field,siege,rabies,skied

/a/
/a/
/i/to/j/
/i/

//sieve,mischief,kerchief
allied,pied,skies
//friend,hygienic(GA)
client,diet,science,sliest
/a/biennial,/i/
ambient,alien,oriel,ugliest
clientele
orient(v),acquiesce
/ii/medieval,/i/lien

cashier,fierce,frontier,pier,

shier,fiery,hierarchy,plier
/a()/
busier,rapier,glacier,
/i/to/j/
hosiery

ie

beforer

//

beforemultiple
consonants
finalvowelinword
//or//
followedby2ormore
unstressedsyllables
nextsyllablecontains//

doctor,torrent,donkey
dot,bomb,wonk
opera,colonise,cooperate
topic,solid,promise

beforesingleconsonant
beforecons+(leor
r+vowel)
wordfinal
/o/
beforeheterosyllabic
vowel
(inc.unstressed)

omen,grove,total
noble,cobra
banjo,go
boa,poet,stoic
cooperate

//
/u/
//
//

moral,proper,shone
to,who,move,bosom,
doable
come,love,done,colander
purpose,Europe

//
/o/
/u/

won,monkey,front
gross,comb,wonted,both
brokenly,probity,tonicity
meiosis,aerobic
tomb,womb

/i()/concierge,premiere
/ie/atelier,bustier,
dossier
/i/skier

//wolf
/w/once
//(GA)long,broth

//woman
//women
/w/one
colonel,sophomore
(some
dialects)

beforer

//

ford,boring,more

//

forest,borrow,moral

//whorl
//borough

afterw,beforer

//

word,work,worst

//

worn,sword,swore

//worry

unstressed

//

eloquent,wanton,author

//neuron

usually

/o/

boat,coal,load,coaxing

beforer

//

boar,coarse,keyboard,
soaring

oa

usually

/i/

//cupboard,starboard
/o/coarctate

amoeba,coelacanth,foetal,
phoenix

doeskin,woeful
shoelace,canoeing
poetic,soever,orthoepic

//foetid,roentgen
/oi/coeval,noesis
/o/coerce
/o/poetry,orthoepy

shoes,canoe
coed,noel,phloem
goer,loess,poem

//does
/u/doeth,doer
//foehn
/oi/diploe,kalanchoe
/u/hoopoe

finalvowels

/o/

foe,goes,toed,woe

unstressed

//

oedema,oesophagus

/o/

aloe,echoed,oboes,soloed

/u/

manoeuvre

//

oeuvre
going,egoist,heroin,stoic
bourgeois,coiffeur,patois
connoisseur,porpoise,
tortoise

/u/doing
/i/chamois
/oa/ghettoise,oroide

coir,loir,Moira

/wa/choir
//avoirdupois

usually

//

boing,moist,coin,envoi

/o/
/w/
//

beforer

/w/

reservoir,memoir,moire,
soiree

//

usually

/u/

cool,sooth,boot,goosebumps //

wool,soot,foot,gooseberry

/o/brooch
/o/coopt,zoology

beforek,d

//

cook,shook,wood,stood

/u/

kook,spook,food,brood

//flood,blood

beforer

//

door,flooring

//

poor,moor,roorback

//whippoorwill
/o/coordinate

stressed

/a/

out,aloud,bough

/u/
//
/o/

soup,you,through
touch,trouble,country
soul,dough,boulder

//could,should
//cough,fount(printing)
/ju/ampoule,coupon(GA)

stressedbeforer

//

four,courtesan,discourse

/a/
//
/()/

hour,flour,scours
journey,courtesy,scourge //encourage,flourish
tour,courier,gourd,velour

unstressed

//

camouflage,labour,nervous

/u/
//

entourage,bivouac,bedouin //hiccough
potpourri,detour
/w/ratatouille,ouabaine

stressed

/a/

owl,bow,row,sow,allow

/o/

own,bow,row,sow,alow

beforer

/a/

dowry,cowries

/o/

cowrites,showroom

oi

ow

//broad
/u/doable
/o/koala

/u/
/o/
/o/

oeu

ou

boa,inchoate
coaxial,ogdoad
oasis,cloaca

/o/
/u/
/o/

oe

oo

/o/
/o/
/oe/

//acknowledge,rowlock

unstressed
oy
beforemultiple
consonants
finalvowelinword

/o/

yellow,teabowl,landowner

/a/

peafowl,sundowner

/w/cassowary,toward

//

boy,doyenne,foyer,voyage

/wa/

voyeur,noyade

/oj/oyez
/a/coyote(GA)

//

budding,cuckold,mullet,
usher
but,gull,Dutch,hush,fuss

//

pudding,cuckoo,bullet,
/u/truth,ruthless,brut
cushion
/ju/butte,debut,fuchsia,
put,full,butch,shush,puss tulle

beforesingleconsonant
beforecons+(leor
r+vowel)
/ju/
beforeheterosyllabic
vowel
wordfinal

//
/u/
.

study,punish,bunion,buses
butler,cutlery,subrogate
super,lunar,absolute,
//busy,business
revolution
suet,lucrative,lugubrious
hindu,tutu,tofu

/u/

rule,chute,June,recluses
scruples,rubric
truant,fluent,cruelty
flu,guru

//

pluses,runaway,truculent //sugar
runlet,clubroom,rumrunner /ju/overuse,underused

beforefinalrorr+cons.
(andinderivedterms)

//

turn,occur,curdle,burr
furry,demurral,blurred,
recurring

//

recurrent,occurrence

/()/langur

beforer+vowel

/j()/

lure,purity,curing

/()/

allure,guru,Silurian

//bury,burial

aboveafter/r/,//,//,/j/,
cons.+/l/

/()/

rural,jury,plural

//

sure,assurance[10]

afterg,beforeavowel

guard,guest,guide,vaguer,
languor

/w/

language,segue,distinguish /ju/jaguar(RP),ambiguity

afterq

/w/

quail,conquest,banquet,
quite

quay,conquer,bouquet,
mosquito

/ju/
/u/
/j/
//

annual,evaluate,arduous,
debut
influence,plurality,fruition
//minute,lettuce
accurate,failure,tenure
guffaw,unruly,upend,
vulgarity

aboveafter/r/,//,//,/j/,
cons.+/l/
u

mute,student,puny,union,
fuses
bugle,hubris,nutrient(RP)
duo,nuance,pursuant,
ensuing
menu,emu,impromptu(RP)

(RP)

unstressed

//

support,industry,useful,
medium

/we/segued,/w/guenon

ue

afterg

league,tongue,vaguely,
intrigued

/ju/
//
//

ague,argued
guest,guessed,baguette
guerrilla,beleaguered

afterrorcons.+l

/u/

true,clue,gruesome,blues

/u/

influence,cruel,fluent,
bluest

/u/cruet,/u/unfluential

fuel,constituent,rescuer
innuendo,statuesque,
minuet
Sue,snafued(GA:due,
revenue)
GA:duel,pursuer

/u/suet,/u/muezzin
/jui/tenues,/jue/
habitue
/j/puerile,//muenster
/we/suede,Venezuelan
/w/pueblo,/w/
desuetude

elsewhere(exceptafterq)

afterg

ui

afterj,r,orcons.+l

/w/unguent,/wi/ungues
/ju/arguer,/e/
merengue
/i/dengue,Portuguese

/ju/

virtue,cue,valued,hue,
muesli

/ju/
/ju/
/u/
/u/

/w/

anguish,penguin,linguist,
sanguine

/a/
//

guide,guise,beguile
guild,guitar,intriguing,
roguish

/i/beguine,/wi/linguine
/ju/arguing,aguish
/ju/contiguity,/ui/GUI

juice,cruise,sluice,fruiting

/u/

fruition,fluid,ruin,druid,
truism

/u/incongruity,/uj/
alleluia
//Cruickshank

conduit,cuing,genuine,
Buick,circuitous,Jesuit
build,circuit,biscuit,
pursuivant

/u/
/ju/
/ju/
/u/

suit,suitable,nuisance(GA)
intuitive(RP),promiscuity
nuisance(RP),puisne
suicide,tui,Inuit,Hinduism

/a/duiker,//circuitry
/w/cuisine,suint
/wi/suite,ennui,tuille
/ua/suigeneris

/u/
/ju/

elsewhere(exceptafterq)
//
uu

/ju/

continuum,residuum

/u/

menstruum

/u/duumvir
/ju/vacuum
/u/muumuu

uy

/a/

buy,buyout,guyed

/i/
/wi/

guyot,cliquy,plaguy
tuyere,obsequy,soliloquy

/j/toluyl
/uj/thuya,gruyere

beforemultiple
consonants
bef.2+unstressed
//
syllables
nextsyllablecontains//
beforesingleconsonant
beforecons+(leor

/a/

myth,cryptic,system,symbol
cylinder,typical,pyramid,
/a/
dynasty
cynic,lyric,lytic,syringe

typing,style,paralyze,nylon
cycle,cypress,hydrate,lycra

//

cyclone,hyphen,psyche,
python
hydrogen,dynasty(GA)
cyclist,hybrid,psychic,
typist
byzantine,synod,
synagogue,

r+vowel)
wordfinal,stressed

awry,by,deny,sky,supply

Cypriote,sycophantic
.

beforefinalrorr+cons.
(andinderivedterms)

//

myrtle,myrrh

beforer+vowel

/a/

lyre,tyrant,gyrate

//

syrup,Pyrenees

unstressed

//

bicycle,oxygen,polymer,
dyslexia,physique,
synonymous

//
/a/
/i/

sibyl,martyr,pyjamas
dynamics,hypothesis,
typhoon
anyway,everything

unstressed,wordfinal

/i/

//pyrrhic

any,city,happy,only,supply
(adv)

/a/ally(n)

InmanyifnotmostNorthAmericanaccents/r/and/r/aremergedintothelatterpronunciation.
*TheLOTandCLOTHlexicalsets,pronouncedwith//or//,respectivelyinGA,butmergedin//inRP.
**Pronounced//inGA.
Consonants
Seealso:Digraph(orthography)
Notes:
Inthetables,thehyphenhastwodifferentmeanings.Ahyphenaftertheletterindicatesthatitmustbeatthebeginningofasyllable,e.g.jin
jumperandajar.Ahyphenbeforetheletterindicatesthatitcannotbeatthebeginningofaword,e.g.ckinsickandticket.
Morespecificrulestakeprecedenceovermoregeneralones,e.g."cbeforee,iory"takesprecedenceover"c".
Wherethelettercombinationisdescribedas"wordfinal",inflectionalsuffixesmaybeaddedwithoutchangingthepronunciation,e.g.catalogues.
ThedialectusedisRP.
Isolatedforeignborrowingsareexcluded.

Major
value
(IPA)

Spelling

b,bb

Other
values

Examplesofothervalues

usually

/b/

bit,rabbit,obtain

bdellium,debtor,subtle,combe

finallyafterm
(andinderivedterms)

iamb,climb,combover,numbing

/b/

iambic,nimb

beforee,i,y,ae,oroe

/s/

cellar,city,cyst,
face,prince,nicer
caesium,coelacanth

/t/
//
/k/
/ts/

cello,vermicelli
special,liquorice
Celts,chicer,syncing
letovicite

initiallybeforen,t

cnidarian,ctenoid

elsewhere

/k/

cat,cross

victual,indict

beforee,iory

/ks/

accept,eccentric,occidental

/k/
/t/
/s/

soccer,recce,siccing
bocce,breccia,cappuccino
flaccid

elsewhere

/k/

account,accrue,occur,yucca
ached,anchor,leprechaun
machete,pistachio,welch
chutzpah
sandwich,Greenwich
loch,Reich
yacht,Crichton

cc

Examplesofmajorvalue

usually

/t/

chase,chin,attached,chore

/k/
//
/h/
/d/
/x/

Greekderivedwords

/k/

chasm,chimera,chord,lichen

drachm

Frenchderivedwords

//

chaise,machine,cached,parachute

/k/
/t/

chemist,choir,machination
chassis,cheque,chowder,niche(GA)

/k/

tack,ticket
/d/

graduate,gradual(bothalso/dj/in
RP)
Wednesday,handsome,sandwich

ch

ck
d,dd,dh

/d/

dive,ladder,jodhpurs

dgbeforee,i,ory

/d/

lodger,pidgin,edgy

f,ff

/f/

fine,off

/v/

of

beforee,i,y,ae,oroe

/d/

gel,pager,gin,algae(GA)
gentle,rage,gigantic,regimen

//
//

get,eager,gig,algae(RP)
genre,barrage,gigue,regime

ingmorgn

phlegmy,diaphragm

//

pigmy,signet,indignant

elsewhere
gg
initially

gh

n,nn

ng

judgment

//

go,great,guest,leg,margaric

/d/

margarine,gaol

//

dagger,smuggest,staggering

/d/
/gd/

agger,suggest,exaggerate
suggest(GA)[11]

//

ghost,ghastly,ghetto
burgh
lough,saugh
laughter,trough,draught,roughage
burgher,ogham,yogh
leghorn,pigheaded
hiccough

elsewhere

daughter,through,fraught,brougham
eight,higher,straight,sighed

usually

/h/

honey,heist,house,manhandle
doohickey,vehicular

honest,heir,hours,piranha
annihilate,vehicle,dinghy

finalorafterrorex

oh,rhubarb,rhyme,exhibit,exhaust

/h/

exhale,exhume(inRP)

/d/

jump,ajar

/j/
//
/h/

Hallelujah
bijou,jongleur,julienne
jalapeno,fajita
marijuana

usually

/k/

key,bake,trekking,sheikh

reknit,camiknicks

initiallybeforen

knee,knife,knock

/k/

knish

/l/

line,valve,valley

/j/

halve,balk,salmon
tortilla

usually

/m/

mine,hammer

initiallybeforen

mnemonic

usually

/n/

nice,funny,anchovis
damnable

//

anxiety
monsieur,condemner,damningly

before/k/or//

//

inkling,bangle,anchor

/n/

incline,vanguard,mankind

finallyafterm

hymn,autumn,solemn

finallyandinterms
derivedfromngfinal
words

//

long,kingly,singer,clingy

//
/nd/

longer,strongest
stingy(ungenerous)

mediallyotherwise

//
/nd/

congress,singly,finger,language
binging,wharfinger,dingy,engaol

/n/
//
/n/

congrats,engage,vanguard
hangar,lingonberry,tongue
ingenue,lingerie

l,ll
m,mm

//

//or
/o/
/x/or/k/
/f/
//
/h/
/p/

k,kk,kh

gnome,signed,poignant,reign

usually

/p/

pill,happy,soup,corpse,script

corps,coup,raspberry,receipt

initiallybeforen,s,t

pneumonia,psyche,ptomaine

/p/

psst

ph,pph

/f/

photograph,sapphire

/v/
/pf/

Stephen
camphor

q(notbeforeu)

/k/

Iraq,Iqaluit

/r/

ray,parrot,rhyme,diarrhoea

iron

innon
rhotic
dialectslike
RP

cart,burr,fir,care,walker,tear,hurt,
myrrh

song,ask,misled

/z/
//
//

is,lens,raspberry
sugar,tension
vision,closure
islet,aisle,debris,mesne

sbetweenvowelsounds
/z/
(seealso"se"below)

phrases,prison,pleasing

/s/

bases,bison,leasing

wordfinalsmorpheme
afteravoicelesssound

/s/

pets,shops

wordfinalsmorpheme
afteralenissound

/z/

beds,magazines

scbeforee,iory

/s/

scene,scepter,scissors,scythe

/sk/
//
/z/

sceptic,scirrhus
fascism
crescent(RP)

sch

/sk/

school,scheme,schizo

//
/s/

schedule(inRP,otherwise:/sk/),
schist
schism(inRP,otherwise:/sk/)
mishap,mishit
hogshead
tranship
threshold
tissue,aggression
dessert,dissolve,scissors
disseat,misspell,missort

p,pp

usually
r,rr,rh,
rrh

beforeconsonant
finally
beforefinale

Seebelowforcombinationsofvowellettersandtheletterr

usually

/s/

sh

//

shin,fashion,wish,
Lewisham,foreshore,kinship

/sh/
/zh/
/s/
/h/

ss

/s/

boss,assign,
dresser,dissent,aggressors,
finesse

//
/z/
/ss/

/sw/

swore,swan,swift

/s/
/zw/

sword,answer
menswear
coxswain

usually

/t/

ten,bitter,etiology,
nastier,attune,piteous,
cation,
softer,wallet,gristmill,
haste,dishearten

//
/t/
//

/d/

ration,martial,cautious
bastion,nature,fortune,righteous
equation
soften,ballet,Christmas,mortgage
kindergarten(GA)

instenandstle

hasten,listens,rustling,thistles

/t/

tungsten,listless

/t/

batch,kitchen
/t/
/t/
/th/
/t/

thyme
eighth
outhouse,potherb(RP)
posthumous(GA)
asthma
two,sword,answer,gunwale
cwm
Weltanschauung

sw

t,tt

tch

th

//
//

thin,both,north,absinthe
the,bother,smooth,soothe

v,vv

/v/

vine,heavy,savvy,reveled,revved

/w/

sward,swerve,wale

/u/
/v/

usually

/w/[12]

wheel

/f/

whew(RP)

beforeo

/h/[12]

who,whole

/w/

whopping,whorl

/r/[13]

wrong,wrist

/z/

xylophone,xenon,xenophobia

wh
wr

initially

example,exist,exotic,exult
Alexander,auxiliary

taxation,tuxedo,proximity,
/ks/
exogenous
/z/
anxiety
//,/k/ luxurious

/ks/

boxes,exercise,expect,
jinxed,next,six,taxi

/gz/
//
/k/
/z/

existential,exultation,exit
luxury(GA)
anxious,luxury,sexual(GA)
plateaux,chateaux
fauxpas,roux

xcbeforeeori

/ks/

excellent,except,excited

xh

/gz/

exhaust,exhibit
exhilarating,exhortation

/ks/
/ksh/

exhibition,Vauxhall
exhale,exhume,foxhole

beforestressedvowel

/z/

x
elsewhere

y
z,zz

/j/

yes,young

/z/

gazump,seized,crazier,
rhizophagous,pizzazz,
zoo,quiz

//
/ts/

azure,seizure,brazier(GA)
schizophrenic,pizzas
rendezvous

Nearly80%ofAmericanspronounce"luxurious"with/g/,whiletwothirdsofBritsuse/k/.HalftheAmericanspeakerspronounce"luxury"as/lg
ri/,therestsays/lkri/[14]
AbouthalfofbothBritishandAmericanspeakerssay/kst/,theotherhalfsays/gzt/.[14]
Combinationsofvowellettersand"r"
Spelling

Majorvalue
Minorvalues
Examplesofmajorvalue
Examplesofminorvalue Exceptions
(IPA)
(IPA)

ayer,ayor /e[][r]/

layer,mayor

owr,ower /a[][r]/

dowry,tower,flowery

Combinationsofotherconsonantandvowelletters

Major
value
(IPA)

Spelling

Minor
values
(IPA)

Examplesofmajorvalue

Examplesofminorvalue

Exceptions

ah

//

blah

al

/l/

pal,talcum,algae,alp

/l/

bald,falcon(also:/l/)

alf

/f/(RP)
/f/(GA)

calf,half

/l/

alfalfa,malfeasance

/lf/palfrey

alk

/k/

walk,chalking,talkative

/lk/

alkaline,grimalkin

/lk/balkanise

all

/l/
/l/

call,fallout,smaller
shall,callus,fallow

/l/
/()l/

wallet,swallow
allow,dialled

/l/(GA)marshmallow,pall
mall

alm

/m/

alms,balmy,calm,palmistry

/lm/
/lm/

palmate,salmonella,talmud
almanac,almost,instalment

/m/salmon,/m/halm
/lm/almond(GA)*
/lm/signalment

alt

/lt/(RP)
alter,malt,salty,basalt
/lt/(GA)

/lt/
/lt/

alto,shalt,saltation
altar,asphalt

/lt/gestalt(GA)
/lt/royalty,penalty
/n/melange
/nd/blancmange
/nd/orange

finalange

/end/

arrange,change,mange,strange /nd/

flange,phalange

finalaste

/est/

chaste,lambaste,paste,taste

/st/

/st/(out)caste(RP)
cineaste,caste(GA),pleonaste /ste/namaste

unstressedcibeforea
vowel

//

special,gracious

/si/

species

cqu

/kw/

acquaint,acquire

/k/

lacquer,racquet

finaledafter/t/or/d/

/d/

loaded,waited

finaledafteravoiceless
sound

/t/

piped,enserfed,snaked

/d/

biped,underfed

finaledafteralenissound /d/

limbed,enisled,unfeared

/d/

imbed,misled,infrared

eh

/e/

eh,prehniet,tempeh

//

yeh

finalesafterafricative

/z/

mazes,washes,axes,bases,
pieces

/iz/

axes,bases,feces,oases

unstressedexbeforevowel
/z/
orh

exist,examine,exhaust

/ks/

exhale

gubeforea

bilingual,guano,language

//

guard,guarantee

finalleafternonl

/w/

/d/naked

//feh//,keffiyeh

consonant

/l/

little,table

/l/

orle,isle

/le/boucle

final(a)isle

/al/

aisle,isle,enisle,lisle

finalngue

//

tongue,harangue,meringue

/e/

merengue,distingu

/i/dengue

oh,finalorbeforea
consonant

/o/

oh,kohlrabi,ohm,pharaoh

//

demijohn,johnny

//bohrium
//matzoh

old

/old/

blindfold,older,bold

/ld/

scaffold,kobold(also/ld/

olk

/ok/

yolk,folklore

/lk/

polka(RP),kolkhoz

/olk/polka(GA)

oll

/l/

dollhouse,pollen,trolley,holly

/ol/

tollhouse,swollen,troller,
wholly

//atoll(GA),//cholla
/l/caroller,collide

olm

/lm/

olm,dolmen

/olm/

enrolment,holmium

/om/holm(oak)

congeries,longevity,pongee
tonger,bong,dugong,tongs
longer,strongest,elongate
monger,humongous,mongrel
sponger,longe,spongy

//among,tongue
/ng/ongoing,nongraded
/ng/congratulate,
lemongrass
/nd/congeal,congestion
/n/allonge/on/cong

ong

//
/g/

songstress,along,strong,
wronger
congress,jongleur,bongo,
conger

/nd/
//
/g/
//
/nd/

(GA)

qu

/kw/

queen,quick

/k/

liquor,mosquito

finalque

/k/

mosque,bisque

/ke/

manque,risqu

finalreafteraconsonant

/r/

timbre,acre,ogre,centre

/re/,/ri/
/r/

cadre(GA),compadre,emigre
genre,oeuvre,fiacre

finalronafteravowel

/rn/

neuron,moron,interferon,
aileron

/rn/

baron,heron,environ

/(r)n/iron
/ron/chaperon
/i/conscientious(RP),
fasciated
/s/(RP)omniscient,
prescience

unstressedscibeforea
vowel

//

conscience,luscious,prosciutto

/sai/

sciatica,sciamachy,sciential

scle

/sl/

corpuscle,muscle

/skl/

mascle

finalseafteravowel
(noun)

/s/

house,excuse,moose,anise,
geese

/z/

prose,nose,tease,guise,
compromise

finalseafteravowel
(verb)

/z/

house,excuse,choose,arise,
please

/s/

grouse,dose,lease,chase,
promise
pension,controversial,

/kju/barbeque
/ki/pulque

unstressedsibeforea
vowel

//

vision,occasion,explosion,
illusion

unstressedssibeforea
vowel

//

mission,passion,Russia,session /si/

potassium,dossier,messier

unstressedsure

/r/

leisure,treasure

/r/

tonsure,censure

/t/
/ti/
/i/

question,Christian,suggestion
patios,consortia,fiftieth,
courtier
ratios,minutia,initiate,
negotiate

unstressedtibeforea
vowel

//

cautious,patient,inertia,initial,
ration

unstressedture

/tr/

nature,picture

//
/zi/

compulsion
easier,enthusiasm,
physiological

/si/tarsier,Celsius

/ta/cation,cationic
//equation
/tj/rentier(GA)

*AccordingtotheLongmanPronunciationDictionary,75%ofAmericanspronounce"almond"as/lmnd/.
WhereGAdistinguishesbetween//and//inthelettercombinationong,RPonlyhasthevowel//

Soundtospellingcorrespondences
Thefollowingtableshowsforeachsoundthevariousspellingpatternsusedtodenoteit,startingwiththeprototypicalpattern(s)followedbyothersin
alphabeticalorder.Someofthesepatternsareveryrareorunique(suchas"gh"for/p/,"ph"for/v/,"i"for//).Thesymbol""standsforan
interveningconsonant.
Consonants
InorderoftheIPAconsonanttables

Consonants
IPA

Spelling

Examples

/m/

m,mm,chm,gm,lm,mb,mbe,me,mh,mme,mn

mine,hammer,drachm,phlegm,salmon,climb,combe,forme,mho,femme,autumn

/n/

n,nn,cn,dn,gn,gne,kn,ln,mn,mp,nd,ne,nh,
nne,pn,sne

nice,inn,cnidarian,Wednesday,gnome,coigne,knee,Lincoln,mnemonic,comptroller,
handsome,borne,piranha,tonne,pneumonia,mesne

//

ng,n,nc,ngh,ngue

sing,link,charabanc,dinghy(GA),tongue

/p/

p,pp,gh,pe,ppe

pill,apps,hiccough,thorpe,shoppe

/b/

b,bb,be,bh,pb

bit,ebb,barbe,bhang,cupboard

/t/

t,tt,bt,cht,ct,ed,ght,pt,te,th,tte,tw

ten,sett,doubt,yacht,victual,dressed,lighter,pterodactyl,forte,thyme,cigarette,two

/d/

d,dd,de,dh,ed,ld,t,tt(insomedialects)

dive,odd,bdellium,horde,dharma,abandoned,solder,kindergarten(GA),(flatter)

/k/

c,k,cc,ch,ck,cq,cqu,cque,cu,ke,kh,kk,lk,q,
qu,que,x

cat,key,account,chord,tack,acquire,lacquer,sacque,biscuit,burke,khaki,trekker,
polkadotted,quorum,liquor,mosque,excitement

//

g,gg,gge,gh,gu,gue

gig,egg,pogge,ghost,guard,catalogue

/s/

s,ss,c,cc,ce,ps,sc,sce,sch(insomedialects),se,
sse,st,sth,sw,tz,z

song,mess,city,flaccid,ounce,psalm,scene,coalesce,(schism),horse,finesse,listen,
asthma(RP),sword,waltz(RP),quartz

z,zz,cz,s,sc,se,ss,sth,ts,tz,x,ze,c(insome

zoo,fuzz,czar,has,crescent(UK)*,tease,dissolve,asthma(GA),tsarina,tzar,xylophone,
breeze,(electricity)

/z/

dialects)

//

sh,c,ce,ch,che,chi,chsi,ci,s,sc,sch,sci,she,shi, shin,speciality,ocean,machine,quiche,marchioness,fuchsia,special,sugar,crescendo,
si,ss,ssi,ti
schmooze,conscience,galoshe,cushion,expansion,tissue,mission,nation

//

g,ge,j,s,si,ti,z,zh,zi

genre,beige,bijou,leisure,division,equation,seizure,zhoosh,brazier

/f/

f,ff,fe,ffe,gh,lf,ph,phe,pph,(u)

fine,chaff,carafe,gaffe,laugh,half,physical,ouphe,sapphire,(lieutenant(RP))

/v/

v,vv,f,ph,lve,ve,w

vine,savvy,of,Stephen,halve,have,weltanschauung

//

th,the,chth,phth,tth,fth(insomedialects)

thin,absinthe,chthonic,phthisis,Matthew,(twelfth)

//

th,the

them,breathe

/j/

y,i,j,ll

yes,onion,hallelujah,tortilla

/x/

ch(inScottishEnglish)

loch

/h/

h,wh,j,ch,x

he,who,fajita,chutzpah,Quixote

//

Insomedialects(seeflapping):tt,dd,t,d

better,daddy,united,Cody

/r/

r,rr,l,re,rh,rre,rrh,rt,wr

fur,burr,colonel,forewarn,rhyme,murre,myrrh,mortgage,wrong

/l/

l,ll,le,lh,lle

line,shall,aisle,pelham,gazelle

/w/

w,u,o,ou,we,wh(inmostdialects)

we,persuade,choir,Ouijaboard,awesome,what

//

wh(insomedialects)

wheel

/t/

ch,tch,c,cc,che,chi,cz,t,tche,te,th,ti,tsch,tsh

chop,batch,cello,bocce,niche(GA),falchion,Czech,nature,escutcheon,righteous,
posthumous(GA),bastion(GA),putsch,Wiltshire

/d/

g,j,ch,d,dg,dge,di,dj,ge,gg,gi

magic,jump,sandwich(RP),graduate,judgment,bridge,soldier,adjust,barge,suggest,
Belgian

/ks/

x,cc,chs,cks,cques,cs,cz,kes,ks,lks,ques,xc,
xe,xs,xsc,xsw

sax,accent,tachs,backs,sacques,sacs,eczema,burkes,yaks,caulks,toques,excel,axe,
exsert,exscind,coxswain

*AccordingtoLongman(page196)themajorityofBrits,andthegreatmajorityofyoungerones,nowpronounce"crescent"as/krznt/.
AccordingtoLongman(page301)64%ofAmericansand39%ofBritsnowpronounce"February"as/fbjuri/
Vowels
Sortedmoreorlessfromclosetoopensoundsinthevoweldiagram.

Vowels
IPA

Spelling

Examples

/i/

e,ee,i,ie,a,ae,ay,ea,ee,ei,eo,ey,eye,ie,
ie...e,oe,oi,ue,ui,uy,y

be,cede,ski,machine,bologna,algae,quay,beach,bee,deceit,people,key,volleyed,
field,hygiene,amoeba,chamois,dengue,beguine,guyot,city

//

i,y,a,a...e,ai,e,ea,ee,ei,i...e,ia,ie,ii,o,oe,u,
u...e,ui

bit,myth,orange,chocolate,bargain,pretty,mileage,breeches,counterfeit,medicine,
carriage,sieve,shiitake,women,oedema,busy,minute(RP),build

/u/

u,u...e,oo,eu,ew,ieu,ioux,o,oe,oe,oeu,ooe,
ou,ough,ougha,oup,ue,ui,uo,w,wo

tutu,flute,too,sleuth,yew,lieu,Sioux,to,lose,shoe,manoeuvre,cooed,soup,through,
brougham,coup,true,fruit,buoy(GA),cwm,two

//

oo,u,o,or,ou,oul

look,full,wolf,worsted,courier,should

/e/

bass,rate,quaalude,reggae,rain,cocaine,arraign,straight,palais,Ralph(Br.),gaol,
a,ae,aa,ae,ai,ai...e,aig,aigh,ais,al,ao,au,ay,
gauge,hay,played,ukulele(caf),crepe,steak,matinee(soire),thegn,eh,veil,beige,
aye,e(),e...e,ea,eg,ee(e),eh,ei,ei...e,eig,eigh,
reign,eight,weighed,dossier,espaliered,demesne,ballet,crocheted,they,obeyed,chez,
eighe,er,ere,es,et,ete,ey,eye,ez,ie,oeh,ue,uet
lingerie(GA),boehmite(GA),merengue,bouquet

//

tuna,oven,pencil,icon,opus,beryl,gunwale,anaerobe,Messiah,mountain,aurora,
a,e,i,o,u,y,a...e,ae,ah,ai,au,ea,eau,eh,ei,eig,
Eleanor,bureaucrat,keffiyeh,mullein,foreign,truncheon,timeous,amateur(RP),burgh,
eo,eou,eu,gh,ie,o...e,oa,oe,oh,oi,oo,ou,ough,
mischievous(GA),awesome,starboard,biocoenosis,matzoh,porpoise,whipoorwill,
u...e,ua,ue,ui,uo
callous,borough(RP),minute(GA),piquant,guerillla,circuit(GA),languor

/o/

o,oe,aoh,au,eau,eaue,eo,ew,oa,oe,oh,oo,
ou,ough,oughe,ow,owe

so,bone,pharaoh,mauve,beau,plateaued,yeoman,sew,boat,foe,oh,brooch,soul,
though,furloughed,know,owe

//

e,a,ae,ai,ay,e...e,ea,ei,eo,ie,ieu,u,ue,oe

met,many,aesthetic,said,says,there,deaf,heifer,jeopardy,friend,lieutenant(RP),bury,
guess,foetid

//

a,aa,ah,ai,al,au,ea,ei,i

hand,Aaron,Fahrenheit,plaid,salmon,laugh(GA),poleax,enceinte,meringue

//

u,o,oe,oe,oo,ou,wo,au(somedialects)

sun,son,come,does,flood,touch,twopence,(because)

//

o,a,al,au,au...e,augh,aughe,aw,awe,eo,oa,oh,
oo,ou,ough,u,uo

flora,bald,talk,author,cause,caught,overslaughed,jaw,awe,ealdorman,broad,
bohrium,flooring,pouring,bought,surest(RP)fluoridate(RP)

/(r)/ or,ore,aor,ar,aur,aure,oar,oare,oor,oore,our,

oure,owar,ure

or,fore,extraordinary,war,dinosaur,roquelaure,oar,soared,bohrium,door,floored,
four,poured,toward(GA),sure(RP)

//

o,a,ach,au,eau,oh,ou,ow

lock,watch,yacht,sausage,bureaucracy,demijohn,cough,acknowledge

//

a,a...e,aa,aae,aah,aahe,ah,au,e,ea,i,o

father,garage,salaam,baaed,aah,aahed,blah,aunt(RP),sergeant,heart,lingerie(GA),
lot(GA)

/(r)/ ar,aar,are,arr,arre,arrh,ear,er,uar,our(some

dialects)
/a/

car,bazaar,are,parr,bizarre,catarrh,heart,sergeant,guard,(our)

ie,ae,ai,aie,aille,ais,ay,aye,ei,eigh,ey,eye,i, fine,maestro,krait,shanghaied,canaille(RP),aisle,kayak,aye,heist,height,geyser(GA),
ia,ic,ie,ig,igh,ighe,is,oi,oy,ui,uy,uye,y,y...e, eye,mic,diaper,indict,tie,sign,high,sighed,isle,choir,coyote(GA),guide,buy,guyed,
ye
tryst,type,bye

//

oi,oy,awy,eu,oll,oye,uoy,uoye

avoid,toy,lawyer,Freudian,cholla,enjoyed,buoyant,buoyed(RP)

/a/

ou,ow,ao,aow,aowe,au,ough,oughe,owe,(eo)

out,now,cacao,miaow,miaowed,gauss,bough,ploughed,vowed,(Macleod)

/(r)/

are,aer,air,aire,ar,ayer,ayor,ayre,e'er,eah,ear,
eir,eor,er,ere,err,erre,ert,ey're

bare,aerial,hair,millionaire,scarce,prayer,mayor,fayre,ne'er,yeah,bear,heir,
ceorl,moderne,where,err(variant),parterre,couvert,they're

/(r)/

ere,aer,e're,ea,ear,eare,eer,eere,eir,eor,er,ers,
ier,iere,ir,oea

here,chimaera,we're,idea(RP),ear,feared,beer,peered,weird,theory(RP),series,
revers,pier,premiere,souvenir,diarrhoea(RP)

/r/
//

er,ir,ur,ear,ere,err,erre,eur,eure,irr,irre,oeu,
olo,or,ore,our,ueur,urr,urre,yr,yrrh

defer,fir,fur,earl,were,err,interred,voyeur,chauffeured(GA),birr,stirred,hors
d'oeuvre,colonel,worst,wore,adjourn,liqueur,purr,murre,myrtle,myrrh

/ju/

u,ue,ew,eau,eo,eu,ewe,ieu,iew,ou,ue,ueue,
music,use,few,beauty,feodary,feud,ewe,adieu,view,ampoule,cue,queue,nuisance
ui

IdenticaltopreviousvowelinnonrhoticdialectslikeRP.

Seealso
Englishlanguage
Falseetymology
Spellingbee
ListofEnglishhomographs
Conventions
Englishplural
IbeforeEexceptafterC
Threeletterrule
Variantspelling
AmericanandBritishEnglishspellingdifferences
Misspelling
Satiricmisspelling
Sensationalspelling
Spellingofdisc
Graphemes
Apostrophe
Eth
Longs

Phoneticorthographicsystems
Englishspellingreform
Interspel
Englishscripts
Englishalphabet(Latinscript)
Americanmanualalphabet
Twohandedmanualalphabets
Englishbraille
Americanbraille
NewYorkPoint
Shavianalphabet
WordsinEnglish
ListsofEnglishwords
Classicalcompound
Ghoti
Englishphonology
RegionalaccentsofEnglish

Thorn(letter)

IPAchartforEnglishdialects
StressandvowelreductioninEnglish
Initialstressderivednoun
TraditionalEnglishpronunciationofLatin

OrthographiesofEnglishrelatedlanguages
Germaniclanguages
Dutch
German
Icelandic
Romancelanguages
French
Italian
Milanese
Portuguese
Spanish

Celticlanguages
Irish
ScottishGaelic
Welsh
Historicallanguages
Latin
OldNorse
Artificiallanguages
Esperanto

References
1. AshorthistoryofEnglishspelling(http://englishspellingproblems.co.uk/html/history.html)
2. Englishlanguage.(2010).InEncyclopdiaBritannica.RetrievedNovember23,2010,fromEncyclopdiaBritannicaOnline:
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/188048/Englishlanguage
3. Rollings2004:1619Chomsky&Halle1968Chomsky1970
4. Chomsky&Halle1968:54
5. Chomsky1970:294Rollings2004:17
6. Rollings2004:1719
7. IncludedinWebster'sThirdNewInternationalDictionary,1981
8. Algeo,John."TheEffectsoftheRevolutiononLanguage",inACompaniontotheAmericanRevolution.JohnWiley&Sons,2008.p.599
9. RightingtheMotherTongue:FromOldeEnglishtoEmail,theTwistedStoryofEnglishSpelling,byDavidWolman.Collins,ISBN9780061369254.[1]
(http://www.rightingthemothertongue.com/)
10. AccordingtotheLongmanPronunciationDictionary,amajorityofyoungerspeakersinEnglandpronounce"sure"and"assure"andderivatives.as//,//,etc.
11. AccrodingtoLongman,77%ofAmericanspronounce"suggest"as/sgdst/
12. or/hw/inHibernoEnglishandSouthernAmericanEnglish
13. /wr/inScottish
14. J.C.WellsLongmanPronunciationDictionary,3rdedition,PearsonEducationLimited,Harlow,2008

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Externallinks
RulesforEnglishSpelling:AddingSuffixes(http://www.kwiznet.com/p/takeQuiz.php?ChapterID=10015&CurriculumID=26),QURule
(http://www.kwiznet.com/p/takeQuiz.php?ChapterID=10016&CurriculumID=26),ibeforee(http://www.kwiznet.com/p/takeQuiz.php?
ChapterID=10017&CurriculumID=26),Silente(http://www.kwiznet.com/p/takeQuiz.php?ChapterID=10018&CurriculumID=26),'er'vs.'or'
(http://www.kwiznet.com/p/takeQuiz.php?ChapterID=10021&CurriculumID=26)
HoutupranownseInglish(http://zompist.com/spell.html)describesruleswhichpredictaword'spronunciationfromitsspellingwith85%accuracy
Freespellinginformation(http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Spelling/onspellinglinks.html)andFreespellinglessonsinQuickTimemovie
format(http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Spelling/spellinglessonsl.html)atThePhonicsPage(http://www.thephonicspage.org/).
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