2. The Primary and the Secondary Meaning of Letters

In English one letter can denote a few different sounds (polysemantic letters). That’s why there are the primary and the secondary sound meanings of them. The primary meaning of a letter is the sound which this letter:

1. denotes in the alphabet: a – [eI], e – [i:]. E.g. bake, be;

2. doesn’t correspond to the alphabetical letter: a – [æ]. e.g. cat;

3. approximates the alphabetical letter: f – [f], y – [aI].

The secondary meaning of a letter is the one which differs from its primary alphabetical meaning and depends on the consonants preceding or following this letter. E.g. a – [ a:] - staff, [o ] – wander, [ɔ:] – war.

The sound formation of the English language distinguishes long and short vowels. According to this peculiarity in English each stressed vowel can have two meanings: alphabetical (long) and short.

Reading of vowels in stressed syllables

Letter	Primary meaning		Secondary meaning
	long	short	Vowel + r	Vowel +re
a	Kate	cat	car	hare
e	he, Pete	hen, help	her	here
i\y	I, Mike, mine	sit, gym	bird, Byrd	hire, tyre
o	no, stone	not	for	more
u	use	but	turn	cure

3. The Primary Sound Meanings of Vowels in Different Types of Syllables

In disyllabic and polysyllabic words the vowel letter has its alphabetical (long) primary meaning if:

1. it is used in word final position e. g. he, no, my;

2. it is separated from the following vowel letter or from the combinations –le, -re by only one consonant letter e.g. pilot, idle, fibre;

3. it is followed by a consonant + r +vowel e.g. library, April;

4. in some vowel combinations* e.g. diet, going.

The vowel letter has its short primary meaning:

1. if it is separated from the following vowel or the combination –le by two or more consonants e.g. render, silly, fiddle.

2. if the vowel letter (apart from “u”) is in the third stressed syllable from the end e.g. family, cylinder; but: funeral;

3. if the vowel letter is followed by a single letter “v” e.g. river, never; but: uvula [^\ju:vju:lə], fever [^\fi:və], over [^\əυvə];

4. if the vowel letter is followed by a consonant and one of the combinations, such as –-ic, -ish, -ity e.g. tragic, polish, cavity;

5. in disyllabic words with the sound [I] and [ju:] in the last unstressed syllable the vowel letter of a stressed syllable has a short meaning: e.g. tribune, facet; but: stupid.

But if the word ends in –y, -ie as in the words ladies, Edie the letters “a”, “e” have their alphabetical (long) meaning.

*For more information about the rules of reading of vowel combinations (digraphs), see further rules.

Reading single vowel letters in stressed non-final syllables

Meaning	Spelling	Examples	Exceptions
I. Primary long	1) vowel + vowel	diet
	2) vowel + consonant + vowel vowel + consonant + “r” + vowel vowel + consonant + “le” vowel + consonant + “re”	pilot library idle fibre
II. Primary short	1) vowel + consonant cluster + vowel vowel + consonant cluster +“le”	Render fiddle
	2) vowel + consonant + “ic” vowel + consonant + “ish” vowel + consonant + “ity”	tragic polish cavity
	3) vowel + “v” + vowel	never	∙fever ∙over ∙uvula
	4) vowel + syllable + syllable	fa∙mi∙ly	cases with “u”: funeral
	5) vowel + [ı]-closed syllable vowel + [(j)u:]-closed syllable	fa∙cet tri∙bune	stupid

Ex. 3.1 ( , track 2)

Read the following names and decide, from their spelling, if the vowel is short or long. (If there is more than one vowel, focus on the vowel receiving most stress.) If you are not sure, check the recording.

Example: Mick = short Susan = long

Mick	Susan	Dean	Sammy	Cathy
Martha	Jane	Luke	Tammy	Rose
Bert	Muriel	Patty	Pete	Ross
Ted	David	Becky	Bud	Simon
Beth	Mike	Mary	Tom	Jean
Timmy	Joan	Bonnie	Sheila	Bill

Primary short meaning	Primary long meaning

Ex. 3.2 Read these words according to the rules:

Letter “A” (primary short and long meanings):

barrel	gas	bat	land	shall
angry	cab	bag	band	marry
tangle	fat	tan	pack	cattle
back	has	sand	dad	carry

sail brain paper

baby lady main

able bacon wait

parade famous mate

lain pain fate

Letter “E” (primary short and long meanings):

best	clever	led	met	peck
bell	seven	set	beg	shell
send	very	men	lend	merry
berry	when	pen	bend	kettle

he	we	these	agree	evening
she	be	me	even	deep

Letters “I/Y” (primary short and long meanings):

thimble thin chips

wish wiggle scribble

twin little picnic

fiddle kitchen history

ministry primitive system

why mine vice imply		rise idle license while	by fly nylon byre	rhyme arrive bicycle triangle	line kite file white		why mine vice imply

Letter “U” (primary short and long meanings):

crumple under humble hungry	duck must funny ugly	begun thus thunder bungle	buck lust fuss yuck	cluck bud puck luck
tube duty dual	music tune computer	tune muse humour	unit use student	human cube tunic

Letter “O” (primary short and long meanings):

	dot stop chop flop	cost doctor bottle body	robber coffee promise fox	cod shot stock con	cock cop wop doll
so nose go probe phone open			hope rose joke	note whole quote	tone hole drove

Ex. 3.3

A: Here are the twelve pairs of rhyming words. In each case, one has an expected spelling for the particular sound and one has not. Choose which has the more predictable spelling.

Example: cheque neck

(compare neck with peck, deck, wreck, speck and so on)

1	dome	some	5	rich	stitch	9	file	style
2	mash	cache	6	chest	breast	10	taste	waist
3	steak	make	7	wand	bond	11	want	pant
4	moon	prune	8	blood	mud	12	cut	put

Ex. 3.4 ( , track 3)

A: In this section the spelling is 100% predictable from the pronunciation. Listen to the recording and write these individual words down.

1	________	5	________	9	________	13	________
2	________	6	________	10	________	14	________
3	________	7	________	11	________	15	________
4	________	8	________	12	________	16	________

B: Now see if you can read the following words aloud before you listen to them on the recording. Remember that the pronunciation is still predictable from the spelling.

1	scoop	5	patched	9	puddle	13	shun
2	muted	6	rotter	10	stutter	14	candle
3	glitch	7	hugged	11	handy	15	rumbled
4	spine	8	treck	12	budge	16	trash

C: Now do the same with the following nonsense words.

1	flape	5	snork	9	frake	13	spump
2	spline	6	preck	10	drumble	14	flinge
3	smotted	7	glumpy	11	duddle	15	chinker
4	gatter	8	chandy	12	shunker	16	strended

It doesn’t matter if you don’t know what the words in A and B mean; you can always check them in a dictionary afterwards. Don’t look in a dictionary for the nonsense words in C.

Ex. 3.5 Find and practice reading vowels in their short meanings:

Letter” A”

a) Read as quickly as possible:

A cat, a black cat, a black cat sat, a black cat sat on a mat, a black cat sat on a mat and ate. A black cat sat on a mat and ate a fat rat.

b) Read the sentence:

There was a red van traveling West, and several cars and vans behind it. The van driver suddenly turned and crashed into the taxi. The taxi driver wasn’t badly hurt, but he was very angry.

Can you imagine an imaginary menagerie manager, imagining an imagery menagerie.

c) Proverbs and idioms:

Flat as a pancake.

A hungry man is an angry man.

d) Rhymes and tongue-twisters:

Pat’s black cat is in Pat’s black hat.

Pussy-cat, pussy-cat

Can you catch that bad fat rat?

If you catch that bad fat rat,

You will have some milk for that.

Letter “E”

a) Hens, red hens, best red hens, ten best red hens, Ted sells ten best red hens. Every day Ted sells ten best red hens.

b) Only ten per cent of Kensington Express readers take regular exercise. Ten per cent felt that they were healthy or very healthy.

c) All’s well that ends well.

d) Better late than never.

e) Lesser leather never weathered wetter weather better.

f) Fred fed Ted bread and Ted led Fred bread.

g) Can you retell ten texts in twelve seconds?

Letters “I, Y”

a) As fit as a fiddle.

b)Which witch wished which wicked wish?

c) Needles and pins, needles and pins,

When a man marries, his trouble begins.

d) I slit the sheet, the sheet I slit, and on the slitted sheet I sit.

Letter “O”

a) Bob’s dog got a hot pot of porridge and some chops.

b) I’ve got a job in a sports shop at the moment.

c) Honesty is the best policy.

d) A proper cup of coffee from a proper copper coffee pot.

Letter “U”

a) A duck, an ugly duck, an ugly duck was in a cup, an ugly duck was in a funny cup, an ugly duck was in a funny cup on Sunday. An ugly duck was in a funny cup on a sunny Sunday.

b) Lucky in cards unlucky in love.

c) Mummies munch much mush.

d) Double bubble gum bubbles double bubbles.

Ex. 3.6 Practice reading vowels in their long meanings:

Letter “A”a) This amazing lake in Wales is a famous place for great races.

b) I can explain. The Daily Mail came late.

c) Make hay while the sun shines.

A stitch in time saves nine.

d) Rain, rain, go away,

Come again another day.

e) Billy, Billy, come and play

While the sun shines bright today.

Letter “E”

a) A man of words and not of deeds

Is like a garden full of weeds.

b) He speaks Chinese and Japanese with equal ease.

c) Easy come easy go.

Letters “I, Y”

a) Mike likes spicy pies with fried pike.

b) Hi, Mike! I’m busy typing. I have ninety-nine pages to type by Friday.

c) Out of sight out of mind.

Variety is a spice of life.

d) Why do you cry, Willy?

Why do you cry?

Why, Willy, why, Willy?

Why, Willy, why?

Letter “O”

a) The road below goes from Rome to the south coast. We are very close to our home.

b) Chip-chop, chip-chop,

Chipper-chopper Joe,

One big blow.

Oh! My toe!

Ex. 3.7 Put the words given below into a suitable column according to the rules of reading of stressed vowels:

Twilight, crying, Friday, magic, transport, limit, fiddle, panic, student, trying, bypass, never, uncle, letter, river, alphabet, timid, numeral, being, stupid, apricot, atomic, cinema, majority, better, hunting, visit, novel, palace, luggage, sentence, alcoholic, beginner, British, cucumber, famine, forever, Labrador, laser, microphone, noble, novel, poet, printer, puritan, puzzle, regular, Roman, secret, stupidity, syllabic, typical.

Primary long meaning	Primary short meaning

Ex. 3.8 Read the following words and see how –e changes the pronunciation

WITHOUT –e: WITH –e:	fat cat am plan hat gate late name plane hate	NOW PRONOUNCE: man same take that lemonade bale safe tap tape
WITHOUT –e: WITH –e:	sit in begin if swim invite fine wine wife time	NOW PRONOUNCE: fit inside still mile hid ride tide like pipe strip
WITHOUT –e: WITH –e:	stop top not hot clock hope home note nose smoke	NOW PRONOUNCE: job stone rose God joke dome bone on spot coke
WITHOUT –e: WITH –e:	bus run pub sun just excuse June tube rude use	NOW PRONOUNCE: much fuse cube cub fuss tune gun fun duke luck
EXCEPTIONS: some come one have give live love

Ex. 3.9 Place the following words in the grids according to their vowel sound:

Rich, curl, month, cart, suit, breath, flashed, loom, herd, still, hemmed, torn, scene, cruise, floor, dock, just, don, sword, hoop, banned, rang, bin, love, hat, bird, stabbed, hood, farm, ought, ridge, ton, cloth, chalk, hoot, son, link, next, calm, germ, hymn, cab, wood, breath, creep, itch, blood, cough, should, could, black, said, foot, monk, dog, stood, piece, arch, move, purr, feast, palm, pearl, edge, shopped, eve, barred, soup, leaf, bard, begged.

Short vowel sounds

[I]	[æ]	[e]	[υ]	[o]	[Λ]

Long vowel sounds:

[i:]	[3:]	[ɑ:]	[o:]	[u:]