The English Alphabetic Code
simple code complex code
phonemes graphemes and and key pictures key words for the United States of America and Canada
/s/ /a/ /t/ /i/
s
snake
-ss -ce -se ce ci cy sc
glass palace house
-stps
pseudonym
cents city bicycle scissors castle
a
apple
alf
half
/s/
t
tent
-tt -ed
letter skipped
i
insect
-y
cymbals
Copyright Debbie Hepplewhite and www.PhonicsInternational.com 2009
/p/ /n/ /k/ /e/ /h/
p
pan
-pp
puppet
n c e
net
-nn kn gn -ine
bonnet knot gnome engine
cat
kit
-ck ch qu que
duck
chameleon
bouquet plaque
ea ai
head
said again
egg
h
hat
wh
who
Copyright Debbie Hepplewhite and www.PhonicsInternational.com 2009
/r/ /m/ /d/ /g/ /o/
r
rat
-rr wr rh
arrow write
rhinoceros
m d
dig
map
mm -mb -mn -me
hammer thumb columns welcome
-dd -ed
puddle rained
g
girl
-gg gu gh gue
juggle guitar ghost
vogue
octopus watch
wa qua alt
qualify salt
Copyright Debbie Hepplewhite and www.PhonicsInternational.com 2009
/u/ /l/ /ul/ /f/ /b/
u l
ladder
-o -ll
shell
-ou
touch
umbrella son
-le -il
kettle pencil
-al -el
hospital camel
f b
bat
-ff ph -gh
photo laugh
feathers cliff
-bb bu
rabbit
building
Copyright Debbie Hepplewhite and www.PhonicsInternational.com 2009
/j/ /y/ /ai/ /w/ /oa/
j
jug
-ge ge gi gy dge
cabbage
gerbil giraffe gymnast
fridge
yawn
ai
aid
ay a
tray table
ae a-e -ey eigh -ea
sundae cakes prey eight break
w
web oak
wh
wheel
oa ow o
bow yo-yo
oe o-e -ough
oboe rope dough
eau
plateau
Copyright Debbie Hepplewhite and www.PhonicsInternational.com 2009
/igh/ /ee/ /or/ /aw/ /z/
-igh -ie i
night tie
-y
*
i-e ei
bike eider
sardines
behind shy
ee ea e
eel eat fork oars
emu
* sunny concrete key chief *monkey *movie
-y e-e -ey -ie -ine
four
wardrobe quarter
or oar oor ore our war quar
door snore
aw au al
dawn sauce chalk
augh ough
caught thought
z
zebra
-zz -s
jazz fries
-se -ze
cheese breeze
Copyright Debbie Hepplewhite and www.PhonicsInternational.com 2009
/ng/ /v/ /oo/ /oo/ /ks/
-ng -n
gong jungle
/ngk/
-nk
ink
violin
-ve
dove
oo -oul
book should moon blue flute crew fruit soup
/oo/ ough
through
oo -ue u-e -ew -ui -ou -o
move
-eu
pneumatic
-x
fox
-ks -cks -kes
books ducks cakes
Copyright Debbie Hepplewhite and www.PhonicsInternational.com 2009
/gz/
-x
exam
/ch/ /sh/ /th/ /th/ /kw/
ch -tch
chairs patch
/cher/
ture
picture
sh ch -ti -ci -ssi
sheep chef
station magician mission
th
thistle
th
there
qu
queen
Copyright Debbie Hepplewhite and www.PhonicsInternational.com 2009
/ou/ /oi/ /yoo/ /er/ /ar/
ou ow -ough
ouch owl plough
oi
ointment toy
oy u-e -ew
a few
Canada
-ue u er ar
artist
barbecue unicorn cubes
ir
mermaid birthday nurse
ur ear wor -our -re
earth world
humour theatre
-or -er
humor
USA
theater
Copyright Debbie Hepplewhite and www.PhonicsInternational.com 2009
/air/ /eer/ /zh/
air -are -ear -ere
hair hare bear where
eer ear -ere -ier
deer ears
adhere cashier
-si -s
-z
-ge
collage
television treasure azure
*-y, *-ey, *-ie are pronounced between /i/ and /ee/ when these graphemes are word-endings so they appear in both /i/ and /ee/ rows.
The complexities of the English Alphabetic Code include: 1. one sound (phoneme) can be represented by one, two, three or four letters: e.g. k, sh, ng, igh, eigh 2. one sound can be represented by different spellings (graphemes): e.g. /oa/ is represented by o, oa, ow, oe, o-e, eau, ough 3. one spelling can represent multiple sounds: e.g. ough: /oa/ though, /or/ thought, /oo/ through, /ou/ plough
Key to the 12 units of Debbie Hepplewhites Phonics International online synthetic phonics programme: units1-5 Mainly simple code with options to extend 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6-12 /air/, /eer/, /zh/, split digraphs, complex code 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th
11th
12th
Debbies programme introduces a simple code of at least one letter/s-sound correspondence for each of the 44+ sounds of speech of the English language. The programme then expands to teach further spelling and pronunciation variations of the complex Alphabetic Code.
Copyright Debbie Hepplewhite and www.PhonicsInternational.com 2009
