Phonics

Phonics is the study of the sounds that make up words. In reading education, children are taught the sounds of letters and how those letters combine to form words.

The European languages share the Roman alphabet, while many of the Slavic languages used the Cyrillic alphabet. Some European languages have many irregularly pronounced words, which children must memorize. English has hundreds of "spelling words" for children to learn.

In the phonic method of teaching English, the schoolchildren are taught the following rules in English pronunciation:

Each letter is like an animal, which has a name and the sound(s) that it makes. e.g. A cat says "meow", a G has a name of "Gee" but it says "Gaa" (with the Aa sound suppressed.)
Each vowel has two sounds: one long and one short. The long sound is the same as its name, namely, Aye, Eat, Eye, Oh, and You. Their short equivalents are A (a as in at), E (e as in eggs, I (i as in it), O (o as in hop), and U (u as in up).
Each syllable is made by blending the sounds of each component. e.g. reading the word by adding one sound at a time, as in -e, -ed, bed.
When a vowel is in the middle of a word (or syllable), it usually says its short sound. e.g. "Got", "Bed". But there are many exceptions to this rule. See irregular vowels below.
When a vowel is in the end of a word (or syllable), it usually says its long sound (or its name.) e.g. "Go", "Be".
When two vowels go hand in hand in the same word (or syllable), the first vowel usually says its own name (long sound) and the second vowel stays silent. e.g. "Bake" (Ay sound + silent E), "Goal" (Oh sound + silent A) etc. But there are many exceptions to this rule. See irregular vowels below.
Irregular vowels: Many combinations of letters do not following the single or two vowel rules mentioned above. These special combinations and sounds must be memorized. e.g.
- IGH as in "High" vs. "Sight"
- ING as in "King"
- OST as in "Most", use the long sound instead of the usual short sound.
- OW as in "Low" vs. "Cow"
- ED as in "Lifted", "Walked", "Played".
- OI does not follow the two vowels rule, e.g. "Moist", "Boil".
- Double O has two different sounds as in "Book" and "Loose".
- OUS as in "Nervous".
- AU as in "Fault", "Haul" etc.
- SION and TION are pronounced as "shun".
- OUGH has up to 6 different sounds, such as "Cough", "tough", "Thought", "Through", "Trough", "Bough" etc.
- ... the list goes on.
Many words does not follow these rules, they are called sight words. Sight words must be memorized since the regular rules do not applied. e.g. "The", "Are", "You".

Some educators who support the phonic method believe that when children master the pronunciation rules, they can read on their own. The children will be able to tie the written words with the verbal English they hear on TV and around the house. The educators who oppose this method believe knowing the sound without knowing the meaning of the word does not work. On the other extreme, some educators do not teach the pronunciation rules, words in books are read aloud in class. The children are supposed to remember how each word sounds one by one as they encounter them in the context of a story or other reading materials. Some smarter kids recognize certain pronunciation patterns on their own and they can extrapolate on how to read new words. Some unfortunate kids become illiterate if they fail to do enough reading exercise along with teachers or older kids. Kids who have parents who don't know English would have a hard time to learn reading this way.

Some school systems, such as California's, flip-flopped between the two controversial extremes over the years. Nowadays, some schools would do both Phonic and the whole language approach because most educators now recognize that the two systems complement each other and each alone has its drawbacks.

External links

wikibooks:Systematic Phonics (wikibooks)

Modern Usage: Phonics

Commercial Usage: Phonics

Domain	Title
Books	My First Phonics Board Book (reference) (more book examples)

Theater & Movies	Phonics (reference) Rock 'N Learn: Phonics (reference) Sound It Out Land Phonics 1 (reference) (more DVD examples; more video examples)

Music	Funky Phonics...and more (reference) One Little Sound - Fun With Phonics And Numbers (reference) Phonics (reference) (more classical music examples; more popular music examples)

High Tech	COSMI Phonics 4 Kids Deluxe (Windows) (reference) Phonics 4 Kids (reference) Reader Rabbit Learn To Read With Phonics! Preschool-Kindergarten (reference) (more camera examples; more video game examples; more computer examples; more electronic examples; more software examples)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Usage Frequency: Phonics

Frequency of Internet Keywords: Phonics

Modern Translations: Phonics

Language		Translations for "phonics"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.
Albanian		fonikë, akustikë (acoustic, acoustics). (various references)

Bulgarian		метод за преподаване на четене, звукотехника, акустика (acoustics). (various references)

Greek		φωνητικά σύμβολα (phonetics), φωνολογία (phonetics, phonology). (various references)

Hungarian		hangzástan. (various references)

Pig Latin		onicsphay

Portuguese		falado ou cantado (phonal, vocal). (various references)

Romanian		foneticã (phonetics, phonology). (various references)

Russian		акустика (acoustics). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian		fonacija. (various references)

Spanish		fónica, acústica (acoustic, acoustics). (various references)

Swedish		ljudmetod, akustik (accoustics, acoustical, acoustics). (various references)

Ukranian		акустика (acoustics). (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

Ancestral Language Translations: Phonics

Derivations & Misspellings: Phonics

Rhyming with "Phonics"

# of Phoneme Matches	Pronunciation	Word(s) rhyming with "phonics" (pronounced fÄ"niks)
5	-Ä" n i k s	avionics, conics, electronics, harmonics, histrionics, ionics, microelectronics, mnemonics, Nucleonics, onyx, sonics, tectonics, tonics.
4	-n i k s	beatniks, calisthenics, clinics, cynics, ethnics, eugenics, kibbutzniks, mechanics, panics, Phenix, Phoenix, pyrotechnics, refuseniks, sputniks, Technics.
3	-i k s	academics, acoustics, acrobatics, acrylics, aerobatics, aerobics, aerodynamics, aeronautics, aesthetics, affix, alcoholics, analgesics, analytics, anesthetics, anorexics, antibiotics, antics, apparatchiks, appendix, asthmatics, astronautics, astrophysics, athletics, atmospherics, attics, automatics, ballistics, basics, batiks, bioethics, biologics, biophysics, bishoprics, Calix, calyx, catholics, ceramics, cervix, characteristics, charismatics, civics, classics, clerics, comics, cosmetics, Criminalistics, critics, demographics, diabetics, diagnostics, diuretics, domestics, dynamics, eccentrics, econometrics, economics, electrics, electrodynamics, epics, epidemics, ergonomics, ethics, exotics, fabrics, fanatics, forensics, generics, genetics, geometrics, geopolitics, geriatrics, gimmicks, graphics, gymnastics, helix, hemodynamics, heroics, hieroglyphics, hydraulics, hypnotics, hysterics, informatics, italics, kinetics, limericks, linguistics, logistics, lyrics, macroeconomics, Magnetics, mathematics, matrix, mavericks, medics, metaphysics, metrics, microeconomics, micrographics, mimics, mosaics, mystics, narcotics, numismatics, obstetrics, onomastics, optics, orthodontics, oryx, paramedics, Pediatrics, phonetics, photovoltaics, physics, plastics, polemics, prefix, prosthetics, psychics, publics, relics, reprographics, republics, robotics, romantics, semantics, semiotics, skeptics, specifics, statistics, stoics, suffix, synthetics, systematics, tactics, theatrics, therapeutics, thermoplastics, topics, toxics, tropics, workaholics.
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Anagrams: Phonics

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams
	Direct Anagrams: chopins.
	Words within the letters "c-h-i-n-o-p-s"
	-1 letter: chinos, chopin, phonic, siphon.
	-2 letters: chino, chins, chips, chops, cions, coins, icons, opsin, phons, pinch, pions, pisco, scion, sonic.
	-3 letters: chin, chip, chis, chon, chop, cion, coin, coni, cons, cops, cosh, hins, hips, hisn, hons, hops, ichs, icon, inch, ions, nips, nosh, phis, phon, pics, pins, pion, pish, piso, pois, pons, posh, scop.
	Words containing the letters "c-h-i-n-o-p-s"
	+1 letter: aphonics, chopines, siphonic.
	+2 letters: champions, ciphonies, hypnotics, pachinkos, phenolics, phonemics, phonetics, photonics, pinochles, symphonic.
	+3 letters: censorship, choppiness, clothespin, consulship, cousinship, hopsacking, hypersonic, nephrotics, nightscope, pincushion, rhinoscopy, saxophonic, splotching.
	+4 letters: cacophonies, censorships, chairperson, champignons, checkpoints, clomiphenes, clothespins, cochampions, colophonies, consulships, cousinships, hopsackings, hydroponics, ionospheric, mesonephric, microphones, morphactins, neophiliacs, nightscopes, nonphysical, phenocopies, phonemicist, pincushions, psychogenic, sycophantic.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.

Context	Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).
Teaching	Phonics; rote, rote memorization, brute memory; cooperative learning; Montessori method, ungraded classes.
Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

Domain	Usage
Screenplays	I can't read, and your hooked on phonics. (Kevin Spencer; writing credit: Rick Kaulbars; Greg Lawrence)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Parts of Speech	Percent	Usage per 100 Million Words	Rank in English
Noun (plural)	71.43%	5	157,705
Noun (singular)	28.57%	2	245,945
Total	100.00%	7	N/A

Expression	Frequency per Day	Expression	Frequency per Day
hooked on phonics	1,303	visual phonics	32
phonics	1,081	jolly phonics	30
the phonics game	243	phonics save	30
teaching phonics	145	phonics song	29
phonics worksheets	115	audio phonics	27
lesson plan on phonics	106	phonics spelling	27
phonics program	79	phonics workbook	26
hook on phonics	76	phonics for kid	26
reading phonics	67	phonics tutor	25
phonics activity	59	phonics game online	21
saxon phonics	56	free phonics game	20
phonics rule	56	phonics pathway	19
free phonics	55	kindergarten phonics	19
phonics lesson	53	phonics online	18
free phonics worksheets	48	phonics sound	16
phonics software	47	phonics vs whole language	16
zoo phonics	38	teach phonics	15
phonics book	37	learning phonics	15
phonics instruction	35	adult phonics	14
frontline phonics	33	phonics article	12
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Language	Period	Translations
Greek	700 BCE-300 CE	phone. (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Derivations
	Words ending with "phonics": aphonics, microphonics, quadraphonics, quadriphonics. (additional references)
Misspellings
	"Phonics" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: fonic, fonics, opsonic, optonics, pahinuis, peonic, phanic, Philnico, phocids, pholic, Phomis, phonix, phoric, Photius, phtonics, pionic, poncins, poncs, ponic, ponics. (additional references)
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

Phonics

Definition: Phonics

Phonics

Noun

Synonyms within Context: Phonics

Teaching

Specialty Definition: Phonics

External links

Modern Usage: Phonics

Screenplays

Commercial Usage: Phonics

Books

Theater & Movies

Music

High Tech

Usage Frequency: Phonics

Frequency of Internet Keywords: Phonics

Modern Translations: Phonics

Albanian

Bulgarian

Greek

Hungarian

Pig Latin

Portuguese

Romanian

Russian

Serbo-Croatian

Spanish

Swedish

Ukranian

Ancestral Language Translations: Phonics

Derivations & Misspellings: Phonics

Derivations

Misspellings

Rhyming with "Phonics"

Anagrams: Phonics

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

Alternative Orthography: Phonics

50 68 6F 6E 69 63 73

.--. .... --- -. .. -.-. ...

Bibliographic Items: "phonics"

Public Service or Web Sites Triggered by: Phonics