Phonics Terms

Phoneme

The smallest unit of sound in a word, example: /k/ in cat

Grapheme

Written symbol for a sound, example: a → /æ/

Morpheme

Smallest unit of meaning, example: un- in undo

Phonology

Study of sound patterns in language EX: long a pattern cake rain pray

Graphology

Study of writing systems and marks, handwriting, example: cursive vs. print

Morphology

Study of the forms and structure of words EX: unreachable=un (“not”) reach able(“able to”)

Orthography

Correct/conventional system of spelling, example: knight

Decoding

Translating symbols/letters to sounds and words EX: ‘mat’- /m/ /a/ /t/-/mat/

Encoding

Translating words and sounds into symbols/letters EX: /mat/-/m/ /a/ /t/-’mat’

Letter reversals (static)

Writing letters backwards example: b ↔ d

Letter reversals (kinetic)

Confuse words that are mirror images of each other EX: was ↔ saw

Synthetic phonics

Teaches children to read and spell by teaching them individual letter sounds (phonemes) and how to blend these sounds together (synthesize) to form words (part-to-whole) example: /c/ + /æ/ + /t/ → cat

Analytic phonics

A reading instruction approach where children analyze familiar whole words to discover implicit sound-letter patterns, rather than learning to blend isolated sounds to form words example: cat → /k/ + /æt/

Concept of word in text (COW-T)

Words in print match spoken words, example: pointing while reading

Concepts about print (CAP)

Knowing how print works, example: left-to-right reading

Alphabetic principle

letters represent sounds, example: m → /m/

Blends

Two or more consonant sounds together, example: st → /s/ + /t/

Digraphs

Two letters make one sound, example: sh → /ʃ/

Trigraphs

three letters make one sound, example: tch → /ʧ/

Diphthong

A sound formed by the combination of two vowels in a single syllable, in which the sound begins as one vowel and moves toward another, example: oi in boil → /ɔɪ/

Schwa

A vowel phoneme(sounds) that is less accented than other vowels, example: a in about → “ubout”

Ambiguous vowels

Vowel combinations or single vowels whose sound is not clear-cut, example: oo → /ʊ/ (book) vs. /uː/ (moon)

Inflected endings

Endings that change tense or number, example: played → -ed /d/

Phonemic awareness

ability to hear/manipulate phonemes, example: hearing /k/ in cat

Phonological awareness

The broad ability to recognize and manipulate the sound structure of spoken language, encompassing words, syllables, onset-rimes, and phonemes, example: clapping ba-na-na   (word level, syllable level, onset & rime level, and phonemic awareness level)

Phoneme manipulation (blending)

Putting phonemes together, example: /s/ + /ʌ/ + /n/ → sun

Phoneme manipulation (segmenting)

Breaking words into phonemes, example: dog → /d/ /ɔ/ /g/

Phoneme manipulation (deleting)

removing a phoneme, example: smile - /s/ → mile

Phoneme manipulation (adding)

adding a phoneme, example: /s/ + top → stop

Phoneme manipulation (substituting)

replacing one phoneme, example: hat /h/ → /k/ = cat

Onset and rime

Onset = first sound(s), rime = vowel + rest, example: c + at

Gradual release model

Teaching moves from teacher-led → shared → independent, example: I do → We do → You do

Articulation (voiced vs. unvoiced)

voiced = vocal cords vibrate, unvoiced = no vibration, example: /b/ (voiced) vs. /p/ (unvoiced)

Plosives (stops)

Sounds made by stopping airflow, example: /t/ in top

Fricatives

Sounds made with friction air escapes with difficulty, example: /f/ in fun

Affricates

Stop + fricative together, example: /ʧ/ in chip plosives and fricatives

Nasals

Sounds made with airflow through the nose, example: /m/ in man

Glides

Sounds that glide into a vowel, example: /w/ in we

Homonym

Words that sound the same and are spelled the same, but have a different meaning, example: bat (animal) vs. bat (used in baseball)

Homophone

Words that sound the same but have different meanings/spellings, example: to /tuː/, two /tuː/, too /tuː/

Homograph

Words that are spelled the same, but sound different and have a different meaning example: lead /lɛd/ (metal) vs. lead /liːd/ (to guide)

High frequency words

Common words seen often in text, example: the /ðə/

Sight words

Words recognized instantly without decoding, example: said /sɛd/

Connotation

The feelings or associations a word carries, example: slim (positive) vs. skinny (negative)

Denotation

The dictionary definition of a word, example: dog = a domesticated canine /dɔg/

Word building (word chaining)

The process of creating words from smaller components like root words, prefixes, and suffixes, or by blending and segmenting individual letters and their corresponding sounds, example: cat /kæt/ → bat /bæt/ → bit /bɪt/

Slides

Sounds are produced by the tongue moving in a fluid manner (l,r)

Phoneme manipulation

Altering individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words to create new words

Word Families

a group of words that share a common element, root word, or common ending or pattern.

Word Families (Sound based)

A group of words sharing a common ending sound or “rime” and spelling pattern. (“at” cat, bat, hat)

Word Families (Form based)

Group words that share a common root or base word and are related by prefixes and suffixes to change their meaning or grammatical function. (word, wordy, wording)

Word Families (Meaning Based)

Group words by shared concepts (dog and puppy)

Affixes

Word parts added to the beginning or end of a root word to change its meaning or grammatical function.

Prefix

a letter or group of letters added to the beginning of a root word to change its meaning. “pre-” (before) “re-” (again)

Suffix

A letter or group of letters added to the end of a root word to create a new word or change its meaning, part of speech, tense, or plurality. happy—→ happiness    walk—→ walked

Roots

A fundamental part of a word, often carrying its main meaning but not always able to stand alone as a word itself. cred(root) meaning (believe) ex: (credible)

Bases

A word that can stand alone and has its own meaning, even though it can also have affixes (prefixes & suffixes) added to form new words.  happy(base)—→ unhappy

Academic Vocabulary

Words or phrases frequently used across many disciplines in formal settings. (Identify, method, process)

General Vocabulary

High-frequency words that appear often in everyday language and different types of texts. (because, number, will, about)

Domain-Specific Vocabulary

The technical or specialized terms used within a particular field or study or profession. (states of matter: solid, liquid, and gas)

Fluency

The ability to read accurately, at a suitable rate, with suitable expression leading to comprehension and motivation. (accuracy, rate, and prosody)

Automaticity

The ability to perform actions or process information with little or no conscious thought allowing the mind to focus on other tasks. (riding a bike)

Prosody

The tonal and rhythmic aspects of spoken language, stress, and emphasis/expression.

Etymology

The study of the origin of words and the way in which their meanings have changed throughout history.

Cognates

Words in different languages that share a similar origin, meaning, spelling, and pronunciation.

Figurative Language

Uses words or phrases that are not meant to be taken literally to create a stronger effect.

Simile

Comparing two things using like or as. (crazy like a fox)

Metaphor

Compare two unlike things to create a new understanding (life is a journey)

Idioms

A phrase whose meaning is figurative and cannot be understood by the literal meaning of its individual words. (it’s a piece of cake)

Oxymoron

A figure of speech that combines contradictory words with opposing meanings (The food was awfully good). 

Onomatopoeia

A word is formed by imitating the sound it describes (BOOM!)

Syntax

The arrangement of words and phrases to create a well-formed sentence in a language. (who? doing what? what?  I see the cat.)

Semantics

The study of meaning primarily in linguistics focuses on how words, phrases, and sentences evoke concepts and ideas.

Pragmatics

The study of the relationships between linguistic forms and the users of these forms.