Academic Writing
Spelling
To spell a word that you can pronounce, the following may be useful: (Based on Gattegno, 1969, p. 115)
| Sound | Example | Possible spellings |
|---|---|---|
| /i:/ | see | see, we, field, police, tea, key, people, scene, quay, amoeba, busy |
| /ɪ/ | ship | ship, savage, women, English, carriage, valley, mountain, village, foreign, always, coffee, lynch, guilt, sieve, busy, caesarian, chassis, Saturday, exhibit, forehead, chamois |
| /e/ | bed | bed, any, said, bread, says, guest, bury, leopard, leisure, friend |
| /æ/ | bad | bad, plaid, laugh, meringue |
| /ɑ:/ | calm | calm, father, heart, bazaar, sergeant, far |
| /ɒ/ | pot | pot, entree, bureaucracy, John, watch, cough, laurel, honest, knowledge |
| /ɔ:/ | caught | daughter, ball, board, paw, Paul, four, floor, port, extraordinary, awe, thought, broad, exhaust, exhort, war, bored |
| /ʊ/ | put | put, wood, woman, could |
| /u:/ | boot | boot, do, shoe, group, flew, blue, too, fruit, rude, through, rheumatism, manoeuvre, new , flu, two |
| /ʌ/ | cut | cut, some, does, blood, young |
| /ɜ:/ | bird | bird, burn, fern, worm, journal, earn, myrtle, err, conoisseur, colonel |
| /ə/ | about | about, fountain, physician, bureaucrat, parliament, purpose, luncheon, dangerous, nation, restaurant, autumn, the, sergeant, cupboard, actor, theatre, bigger, surprise, furniture, beggar, soldier, colour, chauffeur, guerrilla, collegiate |
| Sound | Example | Possible spellings |
|---|---|---|
| /eɪ/ | late | late, pay, great, vein, weigh, straight, they, gauge, gaol, café, fiancée, train, Gaelic, eh |
| /əʊ/ | go | go, note, sew, soap, soul, know, toe, oh, brooch, plateau, yeoman, mauve, owe, though, folk, depot |
| /aɪ/ | like | like, eye, lie, buy, aye, dye, guide, high, height, aisle, I, my, isle, either, fright, |
| /ɑʊ/ | now | now, house, plough, sauerkraut, hour |
| /ɔɪ/ | boy | boy, oil, lawyer, buoy |
| /ɪə/ | here | here, appear, idea, fierce, beer, souvenir, weir, atmosphere, theory |
| /ɛə/ | there | there, hair, bare, bear, their, prayer, scarce, aerial, mayor, heir, they’re |
| /ʊə/ | poor | poor, cure, tour, cruel, amateur |
| /eɪə/ | player | player, weigher |
| /əʊə/ | lower | lower, sewer, boa |
| /aɪə/ | fire | fire, buyer, dyer, tyre, higher, quiet, lion, giant, fiery, tyrant |
| /ɑʊə/ | tower | tower, our, hour, Howard, sauerkraut |
| /ɔɪə/ | employer | employer, lawyer, royal |
| Sound | Example | Possible spellings |
|---|---|---|
| /p/ | pen | pen, happen, shepherd, hope |
| /b/ | back | back, rubber, cube, raspberry |
| /t/ | tea | tea, little, Thomas, finished, yacht, ptarmigan, debt, late, cigarette, receipt, indict |
| /d/ | day | day, ladder, called, could, made, I‘d |
| /k/ | key | key, cat, school, biscuit, lock, occur, cheque, lough, talk, lacquer, khaki, quay, trekked, like, clique, saccharine, chocolate |
| /g/ | go | go, egg, ghost, league, guard, blackguard |
| /ʧ/ | chin | chin, nature, watch, question, cello, Czech, righteous, niche |
| /ʤ/ | jump | jump, edge, soldier, age, exaggerate, gradual, adjust, sandwich, gem, judgment |
| /f/ | few | few, coffee, cough, photograph, half, often, life, giraffe, sapphire |
| /v/ | view | view, of, Stephen, navvy, give, halves, I‘ve |
| /θ/ | thin | thin |
| /ð/ | then | then, bathe |
| /s/ | soon | soon, city, nice, psychology, science, pass, schism, listen, sword, promise, Pat‘s, once, psalm, aquiesce, finesse, waltz |
| /z/ | zero | zero, is, scissors, anxiety, dazzle, lose, John‘s, seize, business, clothes |
| /ʃ/ | she | she, ocean, sugar, machine, education, tissue, fascism, fuchsia, conscious, tension, politician, schedule, appreciate, cache |
| /ʒ/ | measure | measure, rouge, vision, seizure, usual, equation |
| /h/ | hot | hot, whom |
| /m/ | mat | mat, lamb, hammer, autumn, calm, drachm, government, same, diaphragm, hymn, I‘m |
| /n/ | in | in, know, gnaw, sunny, pneumonia, mnemonic, kitten, certain, cotton, fine, sign, champagne, Wednesday, grandfather, Lincoln |
| /ŋ/ | sung | sung, sink, tongue, handkerchief |
| /l/ | led | led, ball, battle, pedal, tunnel, pale, gazelle, he‘ll |
| /r/ | red | red, marry, write, rhythm, diarrhoea, more, corps, mortgage, you‘re |
| /j/ | yet | yet, onion, Eurpoe, beauty, use, new, halleluja, strenuous, tortilla, queue, vacuum |
| /w/ | wet | wet, one, choir, queen, when, suite |
| /ks/ | box | box, accept, except, sticks, forks |
| /gz/ | exist | exist |
| /kʃ/ | luxury | luxury, anxious |
| /gʒ/ | luxurious | luxurious |
