THEME

NOTES
The phonology of < c >

Summary

Most real spelling patterns are about what letters can

be used where in a word and in what combinations.

The patterns for the letter < c > are a

straightforward and easily accessible
example of these structural patterns.

Phonological patterns are about which letters

we use for which phonemes, and the patterns
which determine where in a word
these letters can be written.

This theme will teach:

• that the letter < c > can represent the phonemes /k/ or /s/;
• that the letter which follows < c > governs which
of those phonemes it is representing;
• that < c > is never written at the end of a base word—
we write < k > if we need /k/, or < ce > if we need /s/.

Kit K D Teaching Notes: page 1

Preparing for this theme NOTES
• Revisit the naming of letters
Any trace of the bogus and misleading ‘phonetic’ alphabet of phonics must be
eradicated. The subject of this theme is the letter “Cee”—it is not “Kuh”.

➪ You can never emphasize too much the fact that letters
have names and that when we are just talking about letters
we must always refer to them by name.

The letter < c > can represent one of several phonemes, depending on where
it is in a word. The absurd fallacy of calling the letter < c > “kuh” diverts young
learners from the essential quality of the English spelling—that letters need to be
capable of representing more speech sounds than just one.
Referring to letters by name means that we can be definitive and specific about
what letter we are talking about without committing ourselves about the speech
sound it may be representing.

• The phonological signs < > and / /

It is important in real spelling to be quite clear about whether we are referring
to letters or to speech sounds.
When we are talking this is straightforward: we can say, “The letter Cee,” or,
“The phoneme / s / —”The letter Kay,” or, “The phoneme / k /.”
When we are writing, however, we need to use signs that make it clear whether
we are writing about a letter or a speech sound. Do this by using the standard
signs that are used in linguistics. You should already know these signs from your
reading of The User’s self-Training Manual.
Your students also need to know these signs and how to use them.
Apart from anything else, it serves as a constant reminder of the fundamental fact
that in English spelling what is written is not necessarily a representation
of the exact pronunciation of a word and that the speech sounds of English words
cannot be fully represented in spelling anyway.

Kit K D Teaching Notes: page 2

Angle brackets for letters
NOTES
When we are referring only to letters—or to a string of letters—they are
enclosed in ‘angle brackets’.
This means that < k > is read as, “The letter Kay,” < sh > is read as,
“Ess, Aitch,” and <-ed > is read as, “Ee, Dee.”
We also use these angle brackets to indicate that we are citing a written word.
This means that < letter > can be read either as, “Ell Ee double Tee Ee Ar,”
or “The word ‘letter’.”
Write a few examples on your board and ask for volunteers to read them.
Here are some suggestions.

<m> < ing > < cat >

< th > < ea > < love >

Slash brackets for phonemes

The standard sign in linguistics that one or more phonemes are being referred
to is to enclose the signs for them in ‘slash brackets’.
This means that / s / is read as, “The phoneme sss,” (not “suh”); / m / is read as,
”The phoneme mmm,” (not “muh”).
Be very careful with the ‘plosive’ consonants. There is a common practice
to add a voiced “uh” sound after these consonants—like the notorious and
misleading “kuh” of the ‘phonic’ spelling of < cat >.
The initial phoneme of < cat > is not “kuh”. If it were, the word would be “ku’at” !
The real initial phoneme of < cat > is a completely voiceless / k /—and / k / is only
one of the phonemes that the letter < c > might be representing.
Write a few examples on your board and ask for volunteers to read them.
Here are some suggestions.

/n/ /v/ /z/ /h/

/l/ /p/ /r/ /t/

Kit K D Teaching Notes: page 3

 NOTES
• Recognizing a base word—a fundamental spelling skill
Most of the phonological patterns of real spelling demand an understanding
of basic word structure. This is because:`
• the phonological patterns apply only to the building of bases;
• word structure is at the heart of all spelling patterns anyway.

Revisit basic word structure

Real Spellers who have worked through the three previous themes in this Kit
will be familiar with the terms ‘suffix’ and a ‘base word’.
Here is one of the ways in basic word structure was introduced. Go over it
again with your students if you feel that it needs consolidating.

You might like to build a copy

of this diagram on your board prefix(es) base word suffix(es)
to help you.

Use the word < unhelpful > as an example.

�� ���� ���
Show its structure first by adapting the diagram.
You can also show it as a word sum.

un + help + ful ➔ unhelpful

Follow this up with a spoken activity—you give a complete word that has a base
word with a suffix and the job of the students is to tell you what the base word is.

Here are some words that you could use.

careless kindness winner

talking fastest movement

Kit K D Teaching Notes: page 4

The main theme NOTES
Here’s one way you could introduce the theme:
“The letter < c > is quite a busy letter.
Like every one of the letters of the alphabet it can represent more
than just one speech sound. We are going to learn about how the
letter < c > can represent either /s/ or /k/.
We are also going to learn about when we must use the letter < k >
for /k/.”

• The basic phonology of < c >

Tell your students that there are simple patterns that will tell them how
to use the letter < c > when they are writing words.
Here is the first one.

➪ The letter < c > can represent /k/ or /s/.

Just telling people a spelling pattern, or just talking about it, is not the most
effective way of communicating and consolidating that knowledge. A diagram
is worth a thousand words!
Make a copy of this OHP transparency to show them this basic pattern of < c >.

KD (i) OHP TRANSPARENCY for photocopying

/k/
�����
/s/

Kit K D Teaching Notes: page 5

Show your students how to ‘read’ a diagram like this, pointing to the symbols
in turn as you ‘read’ them. What you say will be something like this. NOTES
“The letter < c > can represents /k/.
The letter < c > can also represent /s/.”

☞ DETECTIVE WORK: (identifying the pronunciation of < c >)

Make your selection of words to write on your board from this word bank.

cat cycle call pencil cut

cinema decide city circus parcel
concert coat cement circle acorn

This is what you do with each word in turn that you have written.
1 Say what the word is.
2 Ask a volunteer to spell it out.
3 When they come to a letter < c > you underline it.
4 Go back over the word and ask someone to tell you which
of the two phonemes, / k / or / s /, the < c > is representing.

• A fuller pattern of the phonology of < c >

You can move quite quickly to giving your students the good news—you can
always tell from the spelling whether < c > is representing the phoneme / s .
It is this.

➪ If the letter that comes after < c > is < e > < i > or < y > then
the < c > represents / s /.

You can use this new OHP transparency to talk through this fuller
pattern for < c >.

Kit K D Teaching Notes: page 6

KD (ii) OHP TRANSPARENCY for photocopying
NOTES
/k/
�����
�
� �
�
/s/

Now go back to the same words as you have just been using for detective work
and check that when there is a < c > that represents / s / it is always followed by
< e > < i > or < y >.

✍ ACTIVITY: Making a Venn diagram of the behaviour of < c >.

Venn diagrams either are, or should very soon be, part of your students’
experience in maths. They are a useful and clear means of sorting data
into sets.
Tell your students that you are going to sort the words you have been
investigating into sets.
These sets will be: —Words in which < c > represents / k /
—Words in which < c > represents / s /

You will need to draw two ovals

on your board, each labelled
��� � ���

with its title.

The result could look like this.
Now go through the words you
have been looking at one by one ��� � ���
and decide which of the ovals
you are going to write it in.

Kit K D Teaching Notes: page 7

You will have a problem when you come to the word < cycle >. The first < c >
represents / s / while the second < c > represents / k /. Which set will you NOTES
write it in? After all, the same word belongs to both sets.
One solution would be to write the word < cycle > twice, once in each of the sets.
Venn diagrams, however, don’t work like that.
��� � ���
If an element of the data you are sorting
belongs to both sets, then you have to
overlap the ovals to create a space that �����

belongs to both the sets. This space

is called the intersection.
��� � ���
Write < cycle > in the intersection.
Go through all the other words in the word bank and place them in their sets
(there are other words that will join < cycle > in the intersection).
When you have finished make an OHP transparency of the complete Venn
diagram to check the results of your students’ investigations.

KD (iii) OHP TRANSPARENCY for photocopying

��� � ���
���� ������
������
��� ������
�������
���� ������
������ ����
�����
����� ������
��� ������

��� � ���

Don’t leave things at that; make a large copy of this Venn diagram, leaving plenty
of spare space, and fix it to an accessible part of your classroom wall.
Each time someone comes across an interesting word which contains one or
more < c >s add it to the diagram with some sort of ceremony.

Kit K D Teaching Notes: page 8

Here are some words to start off your extended collection. Discuss each one
with your students and let them decide in which part of the diagram it needs NOTES
to be written.

cross discuss clown cart creep notice fence

• The phonology of < k >

The letters < c > and < k > have something in common—they can both be
graphemes that can represent / k/.

➪ The letter < k > can represent the phoneme / k /

but it can’t represent the phoneme / s /.

Here is a diagram to share with your students which shows the phonology of
< k >. I always comment that this single-letter
grapheme < k > is much less interesting than
< c > because it has only this one function:
<k> /k /
representing / k/.

The single digraph < kn >

As an aside that you may or may not like to include in the teaching of this theme,
this could be useful opportunity to make a very important general point.

➪ The letter < k > can be a single grapheme in itself,

OR it might be part of a digraph.

This is a good time to introduce the single digraph < kn >. Make these points:
1 digraphs are a single unit and only represent a single phoneme, whatever
letters the digraph may contain:
2 the < k > in the digraph < kn > is not ‘silent’, any more that is the < t > in < th>;

3 the single digraph < kn > can only represent / n /, and only in the initial
position of a base.

Kit K D Teaching Notes: page 9

This diagram shows the function of the two distinct graphemes < k > and < kn >.
NOTES
KD (iv) OHP TRANSPARENCY for photocopying

<k> /k/
< kn > /n/
kn

The mini-diagram kn is to illustrate the fact that the grapheme < kn >
can only be used at the beginning of a base word.

For your own information

If you do find the sequence < k + n > inside a word it can only represent
/ n / if it is at the beginning of its base element. Compare these two words.

unknown ➔ un + know + n darkness ➔ dark + ness

The grapheme < kn > is dealt with in Kit 2 Theme C .

• Deciding when we have to use < k > for /k/ instead of < c >
There is a simple principle which governs whether we use < c > or < k > in a
base word to represent / k /. It is in two parts.

1 Avoid using < c > as the last letter of a base word

— use < k > instead.

2 Always use < c > for / k / at the beginning of or inside a

base word, unless you are forced to use a < k >.

Kit K D Teaching Notes: page 10

And why could you be forced to use a < k > at the beginning of or inside a word?
Simply if the < c > is followed by < e > < i > or < y > which force the < c > to NOTES
represent the sound < s >.

Here is a diagram you could copy which shows this pattern.

� �
�
You could illustrate this pattern in action by discussing the two related words
< cat > and < kitten >.
• The phoneme / k / is at the beginning of < cat > so we use < c > if we can.
Would it be followed by < e > < i > or < y >? No! So we can leave it there.
• The phoneme / k / is also at the beginning of < kitten > so we use < c > if we
can, and try it out as <*citten >.
Would it be followed by < e > < i > or < y >? Yes! So we can’t leave it there
because the word would have be read as / sItn /.
What do we do if we can’t use < c > for / k /? Answer—we are forced to use
< k > instead and spell the word as < kitten >.

✍ ACTIVITY: Deciding whether to use < c > or < k >

Below is an exercise which practises putting this pattern into action.
Make an OHP copy of it and work through it as a whole class activity.
1 Take the words one at a time.
2 Make sure that each one can be read.
3 Decide whether the symbol ♣ will be replaced by < c > or < k >
in the fully spelled word.
You could then leave it on display and ask your students to transcribe
all the words for themselves.

Kit K D Teaching Notes: page 11

KD (v) OHP TRANSPARENCY for photocopying
NOTES
Rewrite these words using < c > or < k > in place of ♣

♣ut wor♣ ♣eep bar♣

♣lang ♣up ♣ing spi♣e

bul♣ tal♣ than♣ ma♣e

♣id ♣ite ♣reep ♣urtain

♣ook ♣art ♣lass fo♣us

♣ ➔ /k/

• The digraph < ck >

You will need to decide whether now is an appropriate time for you to include
the basic pattern for the grapheme < ck >.
The full story is in Kit 2 Theme B, but it could be touched on now.
Here is the formal wording of the pattern:

➪ A base word which has only one vowel letter and

whose last letter is < k > must have a letter between
that single vowel letter and the final < k >. If there isn’t one
between the vowel letter and the final < k >, then write
< ck > instead of just < k >.

KD (vi) OHP TRANSPARENCY for photocopying

a base word
When you are sure you understand this diagram
yourself, make an OHP transparency of it to share
k the pattern with your students.
single
vowel
letter
• The shaded rectangle represents a base word.
If there isn’t already
• The target word must be one that ends with letter
a letter here then write < c >
< k > ( not < ke > ).

You could illustrate the principle in action with these sets of words.

look / lock think / thick bark / back cheek / check

Kit K D Teaching Notes: page 12

Be prepared!—Other themes which may come up NOTES
• The suffix <-ic >. A case of < c > at the end of a word that
might perplex your students is in words like < music >
< magic > < graphic > and < panic >. In these four words,
however, the <-ic > is a suffix, not a base word, so there is
actually no problem with them.
There are just a few base words that do end with < c > for / k /.
In most of these, it is a final syllable < ic >: < public > < traffic >
< picnic >.
Even more occasionally, a final < c > may appear in place of the
expected < k > in order to distinguish homophones: examples
are < ark > / < arc > and < disk > / < disk >.

• The grapheme < ck > inside a base word. On rare occasions

we find < ck > inside a base word. These are all cases of the
strings <-acket > <-icket > < ocket > or <-ucket >. Check the
etymology of such words; almost always the <et> represents
what was originally a suffix.

• Using < ce > for writing / s / at the end of a base word.

There are three ways of writing / s / at the end of a base word.
1 After a ‘long’ vowel — usually < ce >
— much less frequently < se >
2 After a ‘short’ vowel — < ss >.

• Other graphemes where < c > occurs. There are other

graphemes which contain < c >. The grapheme < ch >, as in
such words as < school >, can represent / k / in words of
Greek origin. This is dealt with in Kit 3 Theme B.
When the string < c + i > occurs in such words as < magician >
and < special > the string can represent / ∫ /. This is dealt
with in Kit 4 Theme K.

Kit K D Teaching Notes: page 13

 K D (i) OHP TRANSPARENCY
NOTES

/k/
�����
/s/

Kit K D Teaching Notes: page 14

 K D (ii) OHP TRANSPARENCY
NOTES

/k/
�����
�
� �
�
/s/

Kit K D Teaching Notes: page 15

 K D ((iii) OHP TRANSPARENCY
NOTES

��� � ���
���� ������
������
��� ������
�������
���� ������
������ ����
�����
����� ������
��� ������

��� � ���

Kit K D Teaching Notes: page 16

 K D ((iv) OHP TRANSPARENCY
NOTES

<k> /k/
< kn > /n/
kn

Kit K D Teaching Notes: page 17

 K D ((v) OHP TRANSPARENCY
NOTES

����������������������������������������������������� �

��� ���� ���� ����

����� ��� ���� �����

���� ���� ����� ����

��� ���� ����� �������

���� ���� ����� �����

� � ���

Kit K D Teaching Notes: page 18

 K D ((vi) OHP TRANSPARENCY
NOTES

a base word

k
single
vowel
letter

If there isn’t already

a letter here then write < c >

Kit K D Teaching Notes: page 19

 NOTES

Kit K D Teaching Notes: page 20