E1 The phonemic alphabet: Practice

Phonemic symbols for vowels

See page 192 for a list of phonemic and other symbols used in this book.

1 Short vowels /{/ /e/ /I/ /Å/ /√/ /U/ /@/

Write the correct phonemic symbol for the underlined vowel in each word.
EXAMPLE rich i
1 month 7 sung
2 gone 8 symbol
3 bank 9 cinema
4 ago 10 any
5 sugar 11 would
6 met 12 watch

2 Short vowels /{/ /e/ /I/ /Å/ /√/ /U/ /@/

Complete each word with the correct short vowel(s).
EXAMPLE The cinema was f U l. (fUl = full)
1 The kl k had stopped. 7 She sl pt on the ice.
2 There was bl d on the knife. 8 The t st was difficult.
3 st nd over there. 9 Jack’s their eldest s n.
4 I hurt my h nd. 10 I had to g s the answer.
5 k d you give me a lift? 11 Don’t worry, I’ll pr t kt you.
6 Do you want b t on your bread? 12 The car didn’t st p.

3 Long vowels /A:/ /´:/ /i:/ /O:/ /u:/

Underline all the vowel sounds that can be put into the gaps to make correct words.
EXAMPLE r d i: / ´: / O: (ri:d = read; rO:d = roared)
1 h m i: / A: / ´: 7 h t A: / ´: / u:
2 b t i: / u: / O: 8 t n ´: / O: / u:
3 p s ´: / i: / u: 9 k n i: / A: / ´:
4 f d A: / u: / O: 10 p t O: / u: /A:
5 t k O: / A: / u: 11 k l u: / ´: /O:
6 w m A: / i: / O: 12 h b ´: / A: / i:

4 Long vowels /A:/ /´:/ /i:/ /O:/ /u:/

Complete the middle of each word square with one of the long vowels, to make two correct words.
w
EXAMPLE m i t Makes ➞ meet/ meat; weak/ week
➞

1 d 3 n 5 h 7 k 9 r
g l t l v b w n h m
t n t t d

2 f 4 b 6 s 8 k 10 p
v z dr z n t p t m n
m n m m s

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5 Short and long vowels

Underline the correct phonemic spelling of these words.
EXAMPLE deep /di:p/ – /dIp/
1 pin /pen/ – /pIn/ 8 farm /f´:m/ – /fA:m/
2 had /hId/ – /h{d/ 9 full /fu:l/ – /fUl/
3 send /send/ – /s{nd/ 10 hurt /h´:t/ – /hUt/
4 golf /g√lf/ – /gÅlf/ 11 order /Åd@/ – /O:d@/
5 took /tUk/ – /t√k/ 12 walked /wO:kt/ – /w´:kt/
6 pot /pÅt/ – /pUt/ 13 fur /fA:/ – /f´:/
7 part /p{t/ – /pA:t/ 14 who /hi:/ – /hu:/

Check your answers.

Do you know what word the other phonemic spelling represents in each case?
EXAMPLE /dIp/ = dip

6 Short and long vowels

Underline the word represented by the phonemic spelling.
EXAMPLE /stO:/ star – store
1 /spO:t/ sport – spot 8 /hA:d/ heard – hard
2 /k√t/ cut – cot 9 /m{n/ man – men
3 /ti:/ tea – tow 10 /rest/ wrist – rest
4 /fIt/ fat – fit 11 /b´:d/ bird – bored
5 /h´:t/ hut – hurt 12 /pu:l/ pull – pool
6 /hIt/ hit – heat 13 /l√k/ look – luck
7 /bUks/ books – box 14 /hA:t/ heart – hat

Check your answers.

Can you write out the phonemic spelling of the other word in each case?
EXAMPLE star = /stA:/

7 Diphthongs
Put these words into the correct square in the table. Some squares will be empty.
sigh, ray, fear, row (= move through water), pie, bow (= weapon), may, hoe, boy, day, hair, rare, pier,
foe, hay, die, bear, tie, sow (= female pig), how, dear, tour, tear (= water from the eye), pear, mere,
bow (= bend), pay, my, poor, gear, beer, say, buy, fair, rear, toy, high, tear (= pull apart), go, dare,
bay, guy, soy, dough, sow (= to plant seeds), here, gay, mare, toe, row (= argument), rye, mow

e@ I@ aI eI OI @U aU U@
b
d
f fear
g
h
m
p
r ray
s sigh
t

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 Section E1
1 1 √ 2 Å 3 { 4 @ 5 U 6 e 7 √ 8 I 9 @ 10 e 11 U 12 Å

2 1 klÅk = clock 7 slIpt = slipped

2 bl√d = blood 8 test = test
3 st{nd = stand 9 s√n = son
4 h{nd = hand 10 ges = guess
5 kUd = could 11 pr@tekt = protect
6 b√t@ = butter 12 stÅp = stop

3 1 h_m i: / A: / ´: (hA:m = harm)

2 b_t i: / u: / O: (bi:t = beat/beet; bu:t = boot; bO:t = bought)
3 p_s ´: / i: / u: (p´:s = purse; pi:s = piece/peace)
4 f_d A: / u: / O: (fu:d = food; fO:d = ford)
5 t_k O: / A: / u: (tO:k = talk/torque)
6 w_m A: / i: / O: (wO:m = warm)
7 h_t A: / ´: / u: (hA:t = heart; h´:t = hurt; hu:t = hoot)
8 t_n ´: /O: / u: (t´:n = turn; tO:n = torn)
9 k_n i: / A: / ´: (ki:n = keen)
10 p_t O: / u: /A: (pO:t = port; pA:t = part)
11 k_l u: / ´: / O: (ku:l = cool; k´:l = curl; kO:l = call)
12 h_b ´: / A: / i: (h´:b = herb)

4 1 d 3 n 5 h 7 k 9 r
g ´: l t u: l v ´: b w O: n h u: m
t n t t d
➚ girl dirt ➚ tool noon ➚ verb hurt ➚ warn/worn ➚ whom
➚

caught/court rude

➚
➚

2 f 4 b 6 s 8 k 10 p
v A: z dr O: z n i: t p A: t m i: n
m n m m s
➚ vase farm ➚ draws/drawers ➚ neat ➚ part calm ➚ mean
➚

born/borne seem/seam peace/piece

➚

5 1 /pen/ – /pIn/ 5 /tUk/ – /t√k/ 9 /fu:l/ – /fUl/ 13 /fA:/ – /f´:/

2 /hId/ – /h{d/ 6 /pÅt/ – /pUt/ 10 /h´:t/ – /h√t/ 14 /hi:/ – /hu:/
3 /send/ – /s{nd/ 7 /p{t/ – /pA:t/ 11 /Åd@/ – /O:d@/
4 /g√lf/ – /gÅlf/ 8 /f´:m/ – /fA:m/ 12 /wO:kt/ – /w´:kt/

1 /pen/ = pen 5 /t√k/ = tuck 9 /fu:l/ = fool 13 /fA:/ = far

2 /hId/ = hid 6 /pUt/ = put 10 /h√t/ = hut 14 /hi:/ = he
3 /s{nd/ = sand 7 /p{t/ = pat 11 /Åd@/ = odder
4 /g√lf/ = gulf 8 /f´:m/ = firm 12 /w´:kt/ = worked

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 Key

6 1 sport – spot 5 hut – hurt 9 man – men 13 look – luck

2 cut – cot 6 hit – heat 10 wrist – rest 14 heart – hat
3 tea – two 7 books – box 11 bird – bored
4 fat – fit 8 heard – hard 12 pull – pool

1 spot = /spÅt/ 5 hut = /h√t/ 9 men = /men/ 13 look = /lUk/

2 cot = /kÅt/ 6 heat = /hi:t/ 10 wrist = /rIst/ 14 hat = /h{t/
3 two = /tu:/ 7 box = /bÅks/ 11 bored = /bO:d/
4 fat = /f{t/ 8 heard = /h´:d/ 12 pull = /pUl/

7 e@ I@ aI eI OI @U aU U@
b bear beer buy bay boy bow bow
(= weapon) (= bend)
d dare dear die day dough
f fair fear foe
g gear guy gay go
h hair here high hay hoe how
m mare mere my may mow
p pear pier pie pay poor*
r rare rear rye ray row row
(= move (= argument)
through
water)
s sigh say soy sow sow
(= to plant (= a female
seeds) pig)
t tear tear tie toy toe tour*
(= pull apart) (= water
from the eye)

* ‘poor’ can also be pronounced /pO:/ and ‘tour’ can also be pronounced /tO:/.

8 1 'feD@ 7 k{S 13 sI˜ 18 'jel@U

2 'speS@l 8 'si:Z@ 14 'deIndZ@r@s 19 'O:T@
3 'h√˜g@ 9 bA:T 15 'fi:tS@ 20 j√˜
4 'IndZ@ri 10 jes 16 'dIkS@n@ri 21 'ju:Z@l
5 bi:tS 11 De@ 17 O:l'D@U 22 's@UldZ@
6 drI˜k 12 'treZ@

9 1 "dZu:nI'v´:s@ti / "ju:nI'v´:s@ti 8 SeId / dZeId

2 'leT@ / 'leD@ 9 'meS@ / 'meZ@
3 kr{S / kr{Z 10 Zu:st / ju:st
4 'sIndZ@ / 'sI˜@ 11 ri:tS / ri:dZ
5 Zi:nz / dZi:nz 12 "saUT'i:st / "saUtS'i:st
6 'sli:pI˜ / 'sli:pIn 13 'telIvIdZ@n / 'telIvIZ@n
7 TI˜k / DI˜k 14 'br√T@ / 'br√D@

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