PRACTICAL PHONOLOGY

Sometimes a particular consonant has more than one sound. When

consonants or vowels are combined in the same syllabic unit, the combination which
either be digraph or diphthong in some cases produces another distinct sound
1. Words where letter C in the English alphabet has k, s and sh sounds. The
following rules are not absolute in every rule. There may be exception.
1.1. in words C had K sound immediately followed by r ,a, o, u, I
cab cone cube clad crab
1.2 C has s sound when it is immediately followed by I ,e , y
ceiling cinema cycle
1.3 . C has sh sound when middle part of a word that is immediately followed by
either ia, ie, io or ea as in the following words:
musician , conscience , delicious, ocean
2. Words where the Ch unit has k , sh and ch sounds
2.1 ch has k sound
charisma, cholera, archaic, chemist, chronic, choral
2.2 . Ch has usually sh sound in words which are French in origin
chalet, chemise, parachute, chivalry, charade , crochet
2.3 Ch generally has the usual ch sound
cheer, channel, chicken, chocolate
3. If preceded by a consonant, the syllabi unit EAU takes a long o sound
bureau, beau, chateau, tableau
4. Words where the EX unit has egz or eks sounds .
followed by a vowel or h, ex takes egz sound,
example, execute, exaggerate
followed by a consonant, ex takes eks sound.
exceed, excess, expand
5. The vowel in any monosyllabic word ending with e is usually given a long sound,
nape, bane, bare ,bad, ban, bat
if the e is dropped, the remaining vowel is given a short sound as in the following:
note, pine, robe,pan, pin, rob
6. The ew syllabic unit in many words is pronounced as yoo, as in the following
curfew, few,, review
7. Words where letter G has either g or j sound.
7.1 . G has g sound when it is immediately followed by r ,a, o, u, l, in the
following words: gadget gossip guerilla glass gram
7.2. G has j sound when it is followed immediately by y, I ,e
gem gel gist gypsy
7.3. G is silent in words where it is immediately followed by n provided the g is
included as part of one syllabic unit, usually in adopted words which are
French in origin , as in the following:
align foreign gnom
7.4 . In some cases G is also silent when followed immediately by m in the
same syllabi unit, as in the following words
phlegm paradigm diaphragm
8. Words where the Gh unit has either g or f sound
8.1. Gh has g sound when used to start a word, as in the following:
Ghast, ghost
8.2. Gh has an f sound when used as a terminal part of usually
monosyllabic word as in the following:
cough laugh rough
The same applies even if suffixes are added to the rootwords as in the
following:
coughing laughable roughen
8.3. Gh is silent in some words when used at the mid section of a
syllabic unit and when preceded by either letter a or u as in the
following:
bought daughter
8.4. Letter h is silent in the following words:
honesty hour forehead

9. If immediately followed by a, e , or o , letter i is given a long sound if made

part of a diphthong as in the following words:
bias diet biology

10. Letter K is silent in words when it is immediately followed by n in the

same syllabic unit, as in the following:
knack knicker knob

11. When it is immediately followed by m in the same syllabic unit, letter L is

silent as in the following:
alms palmer psalm
12. 12.1. when the mb unit is used in usually monosyllabic words, the letter
b is silent , as in the following: bomb dumb tomb
lamb
12.2. The aforementioned guide also applies even when accepted derivatives
are added to the above-cited monosyllabic words even when compound
words are formed with them, provided the mb unit belongs to one syllable, as
in the following:
bomber bomb shell thumbnail

12.3. The immediately preceding guide does not apply on words in which the
m and the b belong to separate syllables of rootwords, as in the
following:
bombard gamble combine
12.4. When it is immediately followed by t in the same syllabic unit, letter b
also becomes silent as in the following words:
doubting doubtless debt
12.5. The final syllabic unit oir / oire of words is pronounced as war as in:
repertoire memoir reservoir

13. If it is immediately followed by n, s, or t letter p is silent as in the

following words:
pneumonia psychomotor ptarmigan

14. Generally, when the ph is used as part of a unit, it has f sound,

atmosphere metaphor graph
15. When a word ends with que which is made a part of the final syllable, the
que unit takes k sound, antique mystique
if it ends with gue and also made a part of the final syllable, the gue unit
takes g sound, as in the following word:
fatigue monologue

16. When used as a syllable of an English word Latin in origin, the syllabic
unit Quo take kwo sound as in the following:
quorum quota quote

17. When letter r is immediately followed by h in a syllabic unit, h is silent,

as in the following which are mostly Greek in origin:
rhapsodist rhetoric rhyme

18. When used to start a word, letter s if followed by a consonant is not given
a distinct syllabic sound, when s is preceded by e the es unit is articulated
as a distinct syllable. escalator snail espionage
19. When sandwich between i and l in a syllabic unit, letter s is silent in most
cases as in the followingaisle island except: Islam, Islamic
20. When a word ends in sm , s is pronounced as z and m is given a distinct
syllabic em sound, as in the following words which are mostly Greek in origin
anarchism euphemism prism

21. Letter t is silent in words which are mostly French in origin as in the
following words
beret crochet cabaret
22. In a final syllabi unit of ten, letter t becomes silent if preceded by s as in
the following words
chasten fasten moisten

23. Letter t has sh sound if it is immediately followed by ia, ion or ious, as in

the following words which are Latin in origin
action cautious initial

Exception: when it is preceded by s, letter t is given ch sound as in the

following words
bestial celestial

24. In a syllabic unit of the tle, the letter t becomes silent if preceded by s as
in the following words which are mostly Latin in origin
bristle castle whistle

25. Letter t is also silent if it is used as the last letter of a syllabic unit que,
pronounced ka as in the following words as in the following words:
bouquet tourniquet croquet

26. When followed by a consonant, letter u takes long sound if used to start
a rootword with any vowel as the 3rd letter is a consonant , u takes short
sound, as in the following examples:
Unicorn, unify, universe ( long u)
ulcer, ugly, umbrella (short u)
27. When letter u is preceded by e , the digraph eu unit is pronounced long u
as in the following:
feud eulogy Europe
28. When letter w is immediately followed by r , the wr combination, if used
in one syllable, is given r sound only as in the following:
wrack wrest written
29. Letter x has two sounds if used as the initial letter of words. If
immediately followed by a vowel, x takes z sound, if followed by a consonant,
x is given the equivalent of eks sound
Xavier Xerox
30. If preceded by either b, c, d, h, p, t, w ,x, or z in the same syllabic unit
letter y is generally given the long i sound as in the following words:
bye cycle dynamite
31. If preceded either by g,l, m, n or s in the same syllabic unit, letter y is
usually given short I sound as in the following word
gym lymph myth