Kword was developed to help learners of English as a second language recognize the multiple spellings of some of the same phonemes in the English language. Below is a list of phonemes used in the English language. There are approximately 41 phonemes yet when we write the English language there are approximately 77 different spellings of these 41 phonemes. It's no wonder learners of English as a second language have so much difficulty!
In Kword we have developed one spelling for each of the 41 phonemes. Kword is a translation program that will translate standard English into a form of English that is totally phonetic. Comparing standard English to a phonetic English will help learners correctly pronounce and recognize the multiple spellings in the English language. Below are lists of words that contain these multiple spellings followed by the Kword spelling.
🔤 Long Vowels
In standard English the long vowel sound for each vowel is spelled many different ways. In Kword the long vowel sound is spelled with the double letter of that vowel. Some examples are: play = plaa • eat = eet • light = liit • show = shoo • mute = muut
Long /a/ vowel phonemes • kword = aa
Standard English
kword
table
taabl
take
taak
train
traan
eight
aat
day
daa
steak
staak
vein
vaan
trey
traa
Long vowel /e/ phonemes • kword = ee
Standard English
kword
be
bee
bean
been
sleep
sleep
key
kee
mete
meet
shield
sheeld
happy
hapee
weird
weerd
Long vowel /i/ phonemes • kword = ii
Standard English
kword
tiger
tiigr
bike
biik
fight
fiit
mild
miild
by
bii
pie
pii
Long vowel /o/ phonemes • kword = oo
Standard English
kword
go
goo
hole
hool
goat
goot
window
windoo
gold
goold
toe
too
Long vowel /u/ phonemes • kword = uu
Standard English
kword
music
muusik
mute
muut
feud
fuud
few
fuu
argue
orguu
📝 Short Vowel Sounds
Kword spells the short vowel sounds with the single letter of the vowel. Some examples would be cat, sit, sub and top. There is one exception. The vowel team ea can also make the short /e/ sound.
Standard English
kword
bread
bred
sweat
swet
🎯 "R" Controlled Vowels
When the letter "r" stands behind the vowel it can modify the sound that vowel makes.
Standard English
kword
car
kor
corn
koorn
her
hr
bird
brd
turn
trn
🔧 Special Consonant Spellings
In standard English sometimes the letter s is used to spell the /z/ phoneme. In Kword the letter z will always be used to spell the /z/ phoneme.
Standard English
kword
is
iz
his
hiz
rise
riiz
In standard English the phoneme /f/ can be spelled with the letter f or the letters ph. In Kword the phoneme /f/ is only spelled with the letter f.
Standard English
kword
phone
foon
graph
graf
In standard English the phoneme /k/ can be spelled with the letter k, the letter c, or the letters ck together. In Kword only the letter k is used to spell the /k/ sound.
Standard English
kword
keep
keep
cup
kup
truck
truk
In standard English the "ch" phoneme is spelled two different ways. The first spelling is ch like in the word bench. The second spelling is tch like in the word ditch. The Kword spelling is ch.
Standard English
kword
match
mach
batch
bach
pitch
pich
In standard English the phoneme /s/ can be spelled with the letter s or the letter c. In Kword only the s will be used to spell the phoneme /s/.
Standard English
kword
city
sitee
cyst
sist
cent
sent
In standard English the /j/ phoneme can be spelled with the letter j, the letter g, or the letters dge. In Kword only the letter j will spell the /j/ phoneme.
Standard English
kword
jump
jump
large
lorj
fudge
fuj
↔️ "Y" as a Consonant or a Vowel
In standard English the letter "y" can be a consonant, or a vowel. When the letter "y" is a consonant it is pronounced like the "y" in the word yes. The "y" can also make the short vowel sound of "i" like in the word hymn, the long vowel sound of "I" like in the word dry, and the long vowel sound of "e" like in the word candy. In Kword the letter "y" is used to spell the consonant sound of the letter "y". The long and short vowel sounds the letter "y" can make are spelled using Kword spellings for the respective vowels.
Standard English
kword
yet
yet
try
trii
system
sistem
handy
handee
🏷️ Three Different Spellings for the Suffix "Ed"
In standard English the suffix "ed" can be pronounced three different ways. The first pronunciation of the suffix "ed" is /d/ like in the word learned. The second pronunciation of the suffix "ed" is /t/ like in the word worked. The third pronunciation of the suffix "ed" is /id/ like in the word planted.
Standard English
kword
smelled
smeld
helped
helpt
added
adid
🌊 Diphthongs
In Kword, the diphthong /oo/ like in the word moon is spelled uo. The diphthong /oo/ like in the word book is spelled ou.
Standard English
kword
room
ruom
took
touk
In standard English the digraph "ow" is pronounced /o/ like in snow and /ow/ like in cow. In the Kword spelling the word cow is spelled short vowel "o" and the letter "w".
Standard English
kword
town
town
down
down
grow
groow
row
roow
In standard English the sound "ou" like in the word ouch can be pronounced two different ways. The first is /ou/ like in ouch. The second is /ou/ like in soup. In Kword the first sound ouch is spelled ow, (short vowel "o" sound with the letter "w"). The second sound /ou/, like in the word soup is spelled uo, like in the Kword word muon "moon".
Standard English
kword
cloud
clowd
group
group
In standard English the digraph "aw" like in the word saw can be spelled three different ways. It can be spelled aw like in saw, au like in haul, or al like in talk.
Standard English
kword
saw
sau
haul
haul
talk
tauk
In standard English the diphthongs "oi" and "oy" are pronounced long "o" consonant "y" like in the word boil and boy. In Kword these diphthongs are pronounced /ooy/.
