Download LIST OF SPELLING TERMS

LIST OF SPELLING TERMS
Accents
Voiced emphasis.
In pronunciation, syllables have primary,
secondary, or tertiary stress when vocalized. Accents allow
students to decode pronunciation.
Acronym
A word formed from the initial letters in a phrase, such as scuba
(from self-contained underwater breathing apparatus).
Affixes
(Ad_fix means “fastened to”) are units of meaning that attach to
words to derive new meanings. Affixes may change a word’s part
of speech (friend to friendly) or meaning (bacterial to antibacterial).
Prefixes (such as bi, un, and hemi) attach to the beginning of
words (pre means “before”). Suffixes (such as tion, ous, and
ment) attach to the end of words (suf, being a form of sub, means
“under”). Many affixes may be joined together, as in nonsensically
and reinvestment.
Alphabetic
principle
An assumption underlying alphabetic writing systems that speech
sounds are represented by letters.
Amelioration
word
A word which has developed a more favorable meaning over time,
e.g. queen used to mean woman or wife.
Analogy
In spelling, using a known word to help in the spelling of other
words.
Approximated
spelling
Children’s attempts to spell words, mainly on the basis of the
sound/symbol relationships they know.
Base word
A word to which prefixes and/or suffixes are added. In return-ing,
the base word is turn. Compare to the word root.
Blend
The joining of sounds represented by two or three letters with
minimal change in those sounds—for example, spl in split.
Blended word
A word formed from portions of two words—for example,
smog=smoke+fog. The meaning of a blended word is also a
combination of the meaning of the two words it came from.
Comparative
form
A Form of an adjective or adverb to compare two items.
Compound word
1. A word having as its meaning the meaning of the two or more
smaller words within it—for example, the compound word
roommate relates to the meanings of room and mate
2. A word consisting of two or more free morphemes (the smallest
units of meaning) with a meaning that is unrelated to the
meanings of the morphemes—for example, butterfly.
Consonant
1. A speech sound made by partial or complete blockage of the
breath
2. A letter of the alphabet representing any of these sounds
Contraction
The shortening of a spoken or written expression by the omission of
one or more sounds or letters. There are two types of contractions:
one is formed from two words in which the omitted letters are
represented by an apostrophe (we’re); the other is the shortened
form of one word in which the omitted letters are not represented by
an apostrophe (Dr.).
Derivative
An English word or portion of a word derived from other languages
such as Greek, Latin, or Old French.
Derivational
suffix
Suffix added to a word which changes the form and the part of
speech (ness + happy = happiness, al + sign = signal).
Digraph
Two or more letters that represent one speech sound—for
example, the vowel digraphs eigh and ai and the consonant
digraphs th and ch. See also Spelling pattern.
Diphthong
A vowel sound created by combining two vowel sounds, such as in
buy.
Eponym
A word derived from the name of a person, a place, or an
institution—for example, pasteurization, after Louis Pasteur.
Etymology
Word origin and history
Functional
spelling
Children’s attempts to spell words mainly on the basis of the
sound/symbol relationships which they know.
Generalization
In spelling, a general conclusion about how written English works.
High-frequency
words
Words used often in reading and writing.
Homographs
Words that sound different, but are spelled the same and have
different meanings—for example, minute (time) and minu/te (small).
Homonyms
Words that sound the same and are spelled the same, but have
different meanings—for example, table (furniture) and table (math).
Homophones
Words that sound the same, but are spelled differently and have
different meanings—for example, hear and here.
Inflectional
suffix
Suffix added to a word which changes form but not the part of
speech; added to nouns to change number (girl to girls); case
(Mary to Mary’s); or gender (host to hostess). They are added to
verbs to change tense (walk to walked) or person (do to does).
They may also be added to adjectives to change degree (big to
bigger or biggest).
Interactive
writing
A writing partnership in which the teacher and the students plan
and compose texts together, and the teacher shares the pen with
the students.
It provides opportunities for the teacher to
demonstrate and the children to practice strategies good writers
and the spellers use.
Invented spelling See Functional spelling.
Letter name
A consistent label given to each letter of the alphabet.
Meaning
strategy
Using the structural relationships between words when attempting
to spell unknown words—for example, using the generalization that
past tenses is often indicated by the suffix ed when attempting to
spell an unknown word in the past tense.
Mnemonic
A memory trigger.
Modeled
writing
Demonstrating writing in front of students or introducing previously
written print. (All print is a form of modeled writing).
Morpheme
Smallest unit of meaning in the language. A morpheme may be a
word ‘cat’, or a component in a word—‘s’ in ‘cats’.
Morphemic
Having to do with the meanings of language.
Onset
The consonant or consonants preceding the vowel in a syllable—
for example, /l/ in look. See also Rime.
Orthography
Conventionally accepted spelling system of a language.
Palindrome
A word or group of words which are spelt the same way forwards or
backwards, e.g. radar.
Perjoration
word
A word which has developed a less favorable meaning over time,
e.g. gossip: which used to mean friend.
Phoneme
The smallest sound unit of spoken language. For example, the
word telephone has seven phonemes: /t/-/e/-/l/-/e/-f/-/o/-/n/.
Phonetic
Having to do with the way in which speech sounds are produced.
Phonemic
awareness
Awareness of the separate sounds (phonemes) in words.
Phonic strategy
Using the sound-letter relationships in words when attempting to
spell unknown words—for example, using the generalization that
the /w/ sound is usually represented by the letter w when
attempting to spell an unknown word with the /w/ sound.
Phonics
A letter-sound correspondence in a language.
Phonogram
A graphic sequence composed of a vowel and an ending
consonant, e.g. ad as in bad, mad, sad.
Phonological
awareness
The ability to hear and manipulate sound units in the language,
such as syllables, onsets and rimes, and individual sounds in words
(phonemes).
Phonology
The study of speech sounds and their functions in language.
Portmanteau
word
A word made by putting together parts of other words, e.g. ‘hotel’
and ‘motor’ to make ‘motel’.
Prefix
An affix attached before a base word that changes the meaning of
the base word.
Rime
The first vowel and any following consonants or vowels of a
syllable—for example, /ook/ in look. See also Onset.
Root
A Greek or Latin meaning unit to which prefixes and suffixes are
added, as chron, derm, spect, fer, mem. Most word roots are not
complete words. Compare base word.
Schwa
In English, the mid-central vowel in an unstressed syllable. For
example, /a/ in above, and /u/ in industry.
Semantics
The study of meaning, particularly the relationships between
concepts or objects and the names used to label them.
Shared writing
A writing partnership in which the students and the teacher together
compose a piece of writing, then the teacher writes the piece.
Unlike interactive writing, the pen is not shared between the
students and the teacher, even though the students may suggest
how the words should be spelled.
Spelling pattern
A group of letters representing a sound, including groups of letters,
such as ould and ear, and digraphs. See also Digraph.
Stress
The emphasis or degree of loudness placed on a syllable.
Suffix
An affix attached to the end of a base word that changes the
meaning or grammatical function of the word.
Superlative form
Form of an adjective or adverb used to compare more than two
items.
Syllable
The smallest unit of sequential speech sounds consisting of either a
vowel sound or a vowel sound with one or more consonant sounds.
Syntax
The order of words in language, or the rules which govern this.
Visual strategy
using the visual relationships between words when attempting to
spell unfamiliar words—for example, knowing that the spelling
pattern eigh represents the /ay/ sound in eight when attempting to
spell the word weigh.
Vowel
1. A voiced speech sound made without stoppage or friction of the
air flow as it passes through the vocal tract.
2 A letter of the alphabet representing any of these sounds: the
letters a, e, i, o, u.
Word family
A group of words related in meaning. Words in a word family might
be derived from the same base word and have different prefixes
and/or suffixes added to it. For example, the word replays is
derived from the base word play; the prefix re and the suffix s have
been added to form a new word related in meaning to the base
word, play. Compound words may also be part of a word family.
//
Used to indicate a sound.