The English Alphabetic Code
simple code
phonemes
complex code
graphemes
key words
key pictures
/s/ s
snake
-ss -ce -se ce ci cy sc
glass
palace
house
cents city bicycle scissors
/a/ a
teddy
/i/ i
insect
castle
ps
apple
/t/ t
-stpseudonym
-tt -ed
letter
skipped
-y
cymbals
Copyright 2008 Debbie Hepplewhite and www.PhonicsInternational.com
/p/ p
pan
/n/ n
net
/k/ c
-pp
puppet
-nn kn gn -ine
bonnet
k
cat
/e/ e
knot
gnome
engine
-ck ch qu que
kit
duck
chameleon
bouquet
plaque
ea ai
egg
head
said
/h/ h
hat
Copyright 2008 Debbie Hepplewhite and www.PhonicsInternational.com
/r/ r
-rr wr rh
rat
/m/ m
map
/d/ d
dig
/g/ g
girl
/o/ o
orange
arrow
write
rhinoceros
mm -mb -mn -me
hammer
thumb
columns welcome
-dd -ed
puddle
rained
-gg gu gh gue
juggle
guitar
ghost
catalogue
wa qua alt
watch
qualify
salt
Copyright 2008 Debbie Hepplewhite and www.PhonicsInternational.com
/u/ u
umbrella
/l/ l
o
-ou -ough
son
touch
thoroughfare
-ll
ladder
/ul/
shell
-le -il
kettle
/f/ f
pencil
-al -el
hospital
camel
-ff ph -gh
feathers
/b/ b
bat
cliff
photo
laugh
-bb bu
rabbit
buildings
Copyright 2008 Debbie Hepplewhite and www.PhonicsInternational.com
/j/ j
jug
-ge ge gi gy dge
cabbage
gerbil giraffe gymnast
fridge
/y/ y
yawn
/ai/ ai
aid
/w/ w
web
ay a
tray
table
sundae
cakes
prey
eight
break
wh
wheel
/oa/ oa ow o
oak
ae a-e -ey eigh -ea
bow
piano
oe o-e -o
oboe
rope
dough
Copyright 2008 Debbie Hepplewhite and www.PhonicsInternational.com
plateau
eau
/igh/ -igh -ie
tie
i
night
-y
behind
/ee/ ee ea e
eel
eat
emu
fly
-y
/aw/
fork
/z/ z
zebra
dawn
-zz -s
jazz
fries
/ng/ -ng -n
gong
sauce
bike
e-e
eider
key
chief
*sunny concrete *monkey *movie
/or/ or aw au al
or
i-e ei
chalk
sardines
oar oor ore our
oars
door
-se -ze
cheese
-ine
snore
four
/or/ war
breeze
or
/aw/
wardrobe
augh ough quar
jungle
caught
Copyright 2008 Debbie Hepplewhite and www.PhonicsInternational.com
thought
quarter
/ngk/ -nk
ink
/v/ v
-ve
violin
dove
/oo/ oo oul
book
/oo/
should
oo -ue u-e -ew -ui -ou -o
moon
/ks/ -x
fox
blue
flute
crew
fruit
soup
-ks -kes -cks
books
cakes
ducks
Copyright 2008 Debbie Hepplewhite and www.PhonicsInternational.com
move
ough
through
/gz/ -x
exam
/chu/ ture
/ch/ ch -tch
chairs
picture
patch
/sh/ sh ch -ti -ci -ssi
sheep
chef
station magician
admission
/th/ th
thistle
/th/ th
there
/kw/ qu
queen
Copyright 2008 Debbie Hepplewhite and www.PhonicsInternational.com
/ou/ ou ow -o
ouch
/oi/ oi
ointment
/yoo/
owl
plough
oy
toy
-ue u
statue
/er/ er
u-e ew eu
unicorn
ir
new
pneumatic
ur ear wor
mermaid birthday
/ar/ ar a
artist
tube
father
nurse
earth
world
mixer
alm alf alv
palm
half
calves
Copyright 2008 Debbie Hepplewhite and www.PhonicsInternational.com
-our -re
humour theatre
/air/ air are ear ere
hair
hare
bear
where
/eer/ eer ear ere ier
deer
ears
adhere cashier
/zh/ -si -s
-z
television treasure
azure
-g
courgette
-ge
collage
*-y, *-ey, *-ie as word endings are often pronounced between /i/ and /ee/. On this chart examples appear in the /ee/ row.
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, /u/ thorough
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
6-12 /air/, /eer/, /zh/, split digraphs, complex code 6th
7th
8th
9th
5th
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 2008 Debbie Hepplewhite and www.PhonicsInternational.com