The English Alphabetic Code

simple code complex code

phonemes graphemes
and and
key words key words for North America and Canada

/s/ s -ss -ce -se ce ci cy sc -st-

snake glass palace house cents city bicycle scissors castle

/a/ a alf /s/ ps

apple pseudonym
half

/t/ t -tt -ed

tent letter skipped

/i/ i -y
insect cymbals
Copyright Debbie Hepplewhite and www.PhonicsInternational.com 2009
/p/ p -pp
pan puppet

/n/ n -nn kn gn -ine

net bonnet knot gnome engine

/k/ c k -ck ch qu que

cat kit duck chameleon bouquet plaque

/e/ e ea ai
egg head said again

/h/ h wh
hat who

Copyright Debbie Hepplewhite and www.PhonicsInternational.com 2009

/r/ r -rr wr rh
rat arrow write rhinoceros

/m/ m mm -mb -mn -me

map hammer thumb columns welcome

/d/ d -dd -ed

dig puddle rained

/g/ g -gg gu gh gue

girl juggle guitar ghost catalogue

/o/ o wa qua alt

octopus watch qualify salt

Copyright Debbie Hepplewhite and www.PhonicsInternational.com 2009

/u/ u -o -ou
umbrella son touch

/l/ l -ll
ladder ladder shell

/ul/ -le -il -al -el

kettle kettle pencil hospital camel

/f/ f -ff ph -gh

feathers cliff photo laugh

/b/ b -bb bu
bat rabbit building

Copyright Debbie Hepplewhite and www.PhonicsInternational.com 2009

/j/ j -ge ge gi gy dge
jug cabbage gerbil giraffe gymnast fridge

/y/ y
yawn

/ai/ ai ay a ae a-e -ey eigh -ea

aid tray table sundae cakes prey eight break

/w/ w wh
web wheel

/oa/ oa ow o oe o-e -ough eau

oak bow yo-yo oboe rope dough plateau

Copyright Debbie Hepplewhite and www.PhonicsInternational.com 2009

/igh/ -igh -ie i -y i-e ei
night tie behind shy bike eider

/ee/ ee ea e * -y e-e -ey -ie -ine

eel eat emu * sunny concrete key chief sardines
*monkey *movie

/or/ or oar oor ore our war quar

fork oars door snore four wardrobe quarter

/aw/ aw au al augh ough

dawn sauce chalk caught thought

/z/ z -zz -s -se -ze

zebra jazz fries cheese breeze
Copyright Debbie Hepplewhite and www.PhonicsInternational.com 2009
/ng/ -ng -n /ngk/ -nk
gong jungle ink

/v/ v -ve
violin dove

/oo/ oo -oul /oo/ ough

book should through

/oo/ oo -ue u-e -ew -ui -ou -o -eu

moon blue flute crew fruit soup move pneumatic

/ks/ -x -ks -cks -kes /gz/ -x

fox books ducks cakes exam

Copyright Debbie Hepplewhite and www.PhonicsInternational.com 2009

/ch/ ch -tch /cher/ ture
chairs patch picture

/sh/ sh ch -ti -ci -ssi

sheep chef station magician mission

/th/ th
thistle

/th/ th
there

/kw/ qu
queen

Copyright Debbie Hepplewhite and www.PhonicsInternational.com 2009

/ou/ ou ow -ough
ouch owl plough

/oi/ oi oy
ointment toy

/yoo/ -ue u u-e -ew

barbecue unicorn cubes a few

/er/ er ir ur ear wor -our -er

mermaid birthday nurse earth world humour theater

/ar/ ar
artist

Copyright Debbie Hepplewhite and www.PhonicsInternational.com 2009

/air/ air -are -ear -ere
hair hare bear where

/eer/ eer ear -ere -ier

deer ears adhere cashier

/zh/ -si -s -z -ge

television treasure azure collage
*-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 Hepplewhite’s 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
Debbie’s 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