Orthography
Orthography
Cheat
Cheat Sheet
Sheet
Because spelling can be hard!
What is ORTHOGRAPHY? ORTHOGRAPHY meaning - ORTHOGRAPHY
definition - How to pronounce ORTHOGRAPHY
Why is orthography important?
In the article, "How Words Cast Their Spell," the writers posit
that spelling is "not a matter of memorization" but "an
integral part of learning the language" (pg. 6). They assert that
"spelling instruction underpins reading success by creating an
awareness of the sounds that make up words and the letters
that spell those sounds" (pg. 6) Learning to spell makes
reading easier. Furthermore, there is a high "correlation
between spelling and reading comprehension [...] because
both depend on a common denominator: pro ciency with language" (pg. 9). If we want
our students to master reading comprehension, we must help our students master
spelling.
“If people cannot write well, they cannot think well, and if they cannot think well,
others will do their thinking for them.” -- George Orwell
Important Orthography Vocabulary
Phoneme -- A speech sound that combines with others
in a language system to make words.
Consonant -- A phoneme that is not a vowel and is
formed with obstruction of the ow of air with the teeth,
lips, or tongue; English has 40 or more consonant
phonemes.
Vowel -- An open phoneme that is the nucleus of every
syllable and is classi ed by tongue position and height,
such as high/low or front/mid/back; English has 15
vowel phonemes.
Grapheme -- A letter or letter combination that spells a
single phoneme; in English, a grapheme may be one,
two, three, or four letters, such as e, ei, igh, or eigh.
Morpheme -- The smallest meaningful unit of language.
Syllable-- Unit of pronunciation that is organized
around a vowel; it may or may not have consonants
before or after the vowel.
The Big Ideas, from coaches4.wikispaces.com
We Spell with Letters and Letter
Combinations -- Graphemes.
Consonant Grapheme Types
1. Single letter (including blends) as in trap, spend
2. Digraphs (one sound/two letters) as in chain, phone
3. Trigraphs (one sound/three letters) as in edge, switch
4. Silent Letter Combinations as in autumn, walk
Vowel Grapheme Types
1. Single Letter Spelling (long and short) as in robot, cat
2. Vowel Teams as in east, south, blue
3. Vowel –r Combinations as in her, bird, fur, car
4. Vowel-Consonant-e as in cape, kite
The Position of a Phoneme or Grapheme Influences
What Letters are Used to Spell Sounds
Spellings for ng
1. Spell ng for the /ng/ sound at the end of a word/syllable
2. Spell n for the /ng/ sound when it falls before a /k/ or /g/
Spellings for long a
1. Spell long a ai in the middle of a word as in rain
2. Spell long a ay at the end of a word as in may
Phoneme-Grapheme Consonant Generalizations
/n/ kn, gn – Silent letter spellings only at the beginning of Anglo-Saxon origin
/g/ gh, gue – a limited set of English words spelled with gh are ghost, ghastly, and ghoul.
The –gue closes o French words such as league, fatigue.
/k/ k, c, ck, ch- The spellings for /k/ depend on the sound’s position and the language of
origin. After an accented short vowel, a –ck is used. In Greek words, the ch is used.
/kw/ qu- This is the only two letter spelling that stands for 2 speech sounds (/kw/).
Letter q is always followed by u in English.
/f/ , ph, gh- A double f is used after short, accented vowels (stu ), ph is used in words
of Greek origin (philosophy), gh is used at the ends of a handful of Anglo Saxon words
(tough, rough, cough, laugh)
/ch/ tch, ch- A –tch occurs after an accented short vowel (thatch) and –ch occurs after
long vowels, diphthongs, or consonants (ouch)
/j/ dge, ge- No word in Engligh ends in j! At the ends of syllables after an accented short
vowel, the dge is used (fudge, dodge, sledge)
We Spell by Letter Patterns
Never Double - h, k, y, j, v, w, x, nor any consonant
digraphs (ng, sh, th, ph, ch, gh, wh)
Double Consonant or it’s substitute is found between a
stressed short vowel syllable and an in ection beginning
with a vowel (grabbing, drugged)
Spellings ck, dge, tch, and x replace/act as a double
consonant after a short vowel in words and signal the vowel
is short as in picnicking, boxing, pitching
Letters j and v Never End Words! Thus spellings for the j
sound maybe –dge or –ge at ends of words. In words ending
with the /v/ sound, the marker e is placed at the end of the
word so as to not violate the v rule. (Letter e is holding the v
up so he doesn’t fall over!)
Letter e Has Many Jobs. It mat act as a phoneme directly
(wet, be). It can act as a marker in a larger orthographic
pattern (spade, make). The letter e can indicate when a vowel
is long (drape, probe). It indicates when a c or a g should be
‘soft’ as in stooge, receive, nice. It also is placed at the end of
words with s to keep them from looking like plurals (house,
please, cheese).
Letter u as a Marker – Letter u in words like guest and
guide intervenes between the g and the e/I to keep g from
having the soft sound.
Families that Violate ‘Long Vowel’ Spelling Conventions
– nd, kind, most, post, wild, mild, old, cold, pint
We Spell by Meaning.
We spell morphemes consistently even though their pronunciation may change. (heal,
health; anxious, anxiety)
The Language of Origin Explains a
Word's Spelling
Anglo Saxon – one syllable, very common things and ideas,
oldest words in English, have digraphs, diphthongs, and silent
letters
French/Romance – Have spellings such as ou for coupon or que for bouquet, have words
for food, concepts of enlightenment as in magni cent
Latin – Include pre xes, roots, and su xes. They are built around roots. They have
endings. No th or vowel teams.
Greek - Use ph for /f/, ch for /k/, and y for /i/ (short i). Combines morphemes more freely
and in di erent sequences than Latin counterparts. Are often used as scienti c or
mathematical terms.
More Spelling Rules
I before E except after C
Although this works often, don't forget the rest of this rule: "or when sounding like ay as in
neighbor or way."
Spelling Rules for Adding Endings
Consonant Doubling Rule – When a one syllable word with one vowel ends in one
consonant, double the nal consonant before adding a su x beginning with a vowel as in
wettest, bigger, crabbing
Drop the silent e Rule – When a root word ends in a silent e, drop the e when adding a
su x beginning with a vowel. Keep the e before a su x beginning with a consonant as in
blaming, con nement, pasted.
Change the Y to I Rule – When a root ends in a y preceded by a consonant, change the y
to an i before a su x, except ing. If the root word ends in a y preceded by a vowel (ey, ay,
oy), just add the su x. Note: y changes to i even if the su x starts with a consonant as in
monkeying, happiness
Orthography Makes Sense!
References
(2016). Coaches4.wikispaces.com. Retrieved 7 October 2016, from
https://coaches4.wikispaces.com/ le/view/Spelling%2BRules.pdf
Dictionary. (2016). Flickr. Retrieved 6 October 2016, from
https://www. ickr.com/photos/crdot/551
Free Images - Pixabay. (2016).Pixabay.com. Retrieved 7 October 2016, from
https://pixabay.com/
Joshi, R., Treiman, R., Carreker, S., & Moats, L. (2009). How Words Cast Their Magic.
American Educator, 6-43. Retrieved from
http://www.aft.org/sites/default/ les/periodicals/joshi.pdf
Orthography Makes Sense!. (2016).YouTube. Retrieved 7 October 2016, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ED8QG1pXx0
orthography - Word of the Day | Dictionary.com. (2016). Dictionary.com. Retrieved 6 October
2016, from http://www.dictionary.com/wordoftheday/2016/07/05/orthography
The Quotations Page: Quote from George Orwell. (2016). The Quotations Page. Retrieved 6
October 2016, from http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/34862.html
What is ORTHOGRAPHY? ORTHOGRAPHY meaning - ORTHOGRAPHY de nition - How to
pronounce ORTHOGRAPHY. (2016).YouTube. Retrieved 6 October 2016, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqBV5j5XBnA
