Phonics, Syllable and Accent Rules
Phonics, Syllable and Accent Rules
Phonics, Syllable and Accent Rules
Phonics Rules
The vowels are "a,e,i,o, and u"; also sometimes "y" & "w". This also includes the diphthongs
"oi,oy,ou,ow,au,aw, oo" and many others.
The consonants are all the other letters which stop or limit the flow of air from the throat in
speech. They are: "b,c,d,f,g,h,j,k,l,m,n,p,qu,r,s,t,v,w,x,y,z,ch,sh,th,ph,wh, ng, and gh".
3. "C" followed by "e, i or y" usually has the soft sound of "s". Examples: "cyst",
"central", and "city".
4. "G" followed by "e, i or y" usually has the soft sound of "j". Example: "gem", "gym",
and "gist".
5. When 2 consonants are joined together and form one new sound, they are a
consonant digraph. They count as one sound and one letter and are never separated.
Examples: "ch,sh,th,ph and wh".
6. When a syllable ends in a consonant and has only one vowel, that vowel is short.
Examples: "fat, bed, fish, spot, luck".
7. When a syllable ends in a silent "e", the silent "e" is a signal that the vowel in front
of it is long. Examples: "make, gene, kite, rope, and use".
8. When a syllable has 2 vowels together, the first vowel is usually long and the second
is silent. Examples: "pain, eat, boat, res/cue, say, grow". NOTE: Diphthongs don't follow
this rule; In a diphthong, the vowels blend together to create a single new sound. The
diphthongs are: "oi,oy,ou,ow,au,aw, oo" and many others.
9. When a syllable ends in any vowel and is the only vowel, that vowel is usually long.
Examples: "pa/per, me, I, o/pen, u/nit, and my".
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10. When a vowel is followed by an "r" in the same syllable, that vowel is "r-
controlled". It is not long nor short. "R-controlled "er,ir,and ur" often sound the same (like
"er"). Examples: "term, sir, fir, fur, far, for, su/gar, or/der".
5. Divide off any compound words, prefixes, suffixes and roots which have vowel
sounds.
Split off the parts of compound words like "sports/car" and "house/boat". Divide off prefixes
such at "un/happy", "pre/paid", or "re/write". Also divide off suffixes as in the words
"farm/er", "teach/er", "hope/less" and "care/ful". In the word "stop/ping", the suffix is
actually "-ping" because this word follows the rule that when you add "-ing" to a word with
one syllable, you double the last consonant and add the "-ing".
Accent Rules
When a word has more than one syllable, one of the syllables is always a little louder than
the others. The syllable with the louder stress is the accented syllable. It may seem that the
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placement of accents in words is often random or accidental, but these are some rules that
usually work.
2. In words that have suffixes or prefixes, the accent is usually on the main root word.
Examples: box'/es, un/tie'.
3. If de-, re-, ex-, in-,po-, pro-, or a- is the first syllable in a word, it is usually not accented.
Examples: de/lay', ex/plore'.
4. Two vowel letters together in the last syllable of a word often indicates an accented last
syllable. Examples: com/plain', con/ceal'.
5. When there are two like consonant letters within a word, the syllable before the double
consonants is usually accented. Examples: be/gin'/ner, let'/ter.
6. The accent is usually on the syllable before the suffixes -ion, ity, -ic, -ical, -ian, -ial, or -
ious, and on the second syllable before the suffix -ate. Examples: af/fec/ta'/tion,
dif/fer/en'/ti/ate.
7. In words of three or more syllables, one of the first two syllables is usually accented.
Examples: ac'/ci/dent, de/ter'/mine.
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