Putting the Rules Together (1972)

[music] Can you read this word? It has just one vowel sound. E. The short sound of e. Stretch. Now this word has three vowel sounds. The first I has its long sound I in high. The second I has its short sound I in bis and the U has its short sound uh in cuss hibiscus. [music] [music] >> [music] >> Can you read this word behave? It has three single vowel letters in it. The first e has its long sound e in b. The a has its long sound a in have. and the final e is silent. Let's try to put all the rules about long vowel sounds and short vowel sounds together and see if we [music] can make them into one big rule. Wave sand. Remember that the sound of a single vowel depends on the letters that follow it. A single vowel usually has its long sound when it comes before a simple consonant spelling and another vowel. A wave. Wave. And it usually has its short sound when it comes before a complex consonant spelling. A sand. Sand. Use the long sound before simple consonants. A simple consonant can be a single consonant as in wave or wager. A consonant diagraph such as the th in bathe or paos. A single consonant plus l or r as in ladle or zebra. Can you remember them? Use the long sound before simple consonants such as a single consonant, a consonant diagraph, or a single consonant plus L or R. A single vowel letter usually has its long sound if it comes before any of these simple consonants and another vowel. Now, let's talk about short sounds. A single vowel usually has its short sound when it comes before a complex consonant spelling. Complex consonants can be a consonant cluster in which you pronounce two or more consonant sounds as in lunch or cluster. Twin consonants as in rabbit. any number of consonants at the end of a word as in mad or first. The consonants X and CK as in exit or chicken. Can you remember them? Use the short sound before complex consonants such as a consonant cluster, twin consonants, consonants at the end of a word, the consonants X and CK. Now, let's put it all together. And remember, the sound of a single vowel is determined by the letters that follow it. A vowel has its long sound when it comes before a simple consonant spelling. A vowel has its short sound when it comes before a complex consonant spelling. Let's try to read some words with this general rule in mind. See if you can say these words before I tell you what they are. Simple consonants can be a single consonant such as the D in wide or the T in item. Or simple consonants can be a consonant diagramraph such as the ch in ache or the th in python. A simple consonant can also be a consonant plus L or R, such as the L in rifle or the tr in nitrate. A single vowel has its short sound when it comes before a complex consonant. A complex consonant spelling can be a consonant cluster in which we pronounce two or more consonant sounds such as the TCH in patch or the SP in aspen. A complex consonant spelling can also be twin consonants such as the ss in fuss or the tt in button. A complex consonant spelling can also be any number of consonants at the end of a word, such as the T in pet or the FT in gift. A complex consonant spelling can also be the consonant X as in taxi or it can be ck as in cricket. Just try to remember that a single vowel letter has its long sound [music] when it comes before a simple consonant spelling and it has its short sound when it comes before a complex consonant spelling. Now let's try reading some long words. Centipede. What's the sound of the first vowel? It's e. The short sound of e. Scent. Why? Because it's followed by a complex consonant spelling nt. Centipede. The last part of the word sounds like peed. Do you hear the long sound of e? Why does e have its long sound? Because it's followed by a simple consonant spelling and another vowel. In this case, a final e. Centipede. But now, what happens to the i in the middle of this word? Should we call it centipede? That doesn't sound right. Notice we say the first and last vowels louder. We give them more stress than the middle one. Centipede. Vowels in words are either stressed or unstressed. A vowel that is unstressed always has the h sound. It's just like the short sound of u uh and it has that sound no matter what vowel letter is used to spell it. So instead of saying centipede, we say centipede. Let's try another long word. If you pronounced each vowel sound, you'd say abandon. But in this word, we only stress the middle vowel. We say abandon. The first and last vowels are unstressed, so each has the h sound. Abandon. Now, let's see if you can pronounce some words. You wouldn't say car die now. You'd say cardinal. The last two vowels are unstressed, so they each have the h sound. Cardinal. Would you say flamingo or flamingo? The first vowel is unstressed so it has the h sound. Flamingo. How do you pronounce words like this that you may never have seen before? Words in which a vowel may be unstressed? Well, you just have to try it out using the rules that you know and see if it sounds like any word you know. Which sound should e have in the first part of this word? It should have the short sound e because it comes before a complex consonant spelling. Which sound should I have in the last part of the word? It should have the long sound of I because it's followed by a simple consonant and a final e. Then is this word pronounced enginine? That doesn't sound quite right. Let's try it another way. If the second vowel is unstressed, it has the h sound. Engine. And that's a word we know. When you see a new word, try sounding it out using the rules you know. If a single vowel comes before a simple consonant, it has its long sound. And if it comes before a complex consonant, it has its short sound. If this rule doesn't seem to work, remember the unstressed sound uh and try that too. It will help you tune up a lot of long words. >> [music] [music]