Written English is an alphabetic code that was developed to represent the sounds of Spoken English. When we read, we de-code this written alphabetic code. When we spell, we encode...or put the words back into the original written alphabetic code (as recorded in standardized English dictionaries).
In the mid-eighteenth century, British scholars standardized (or coded) the spelling of Written English. A standardized system of spelling was needed because the introduction of the printing press had resulted in a chaotic spelling dilemma: That is, no two publishers were in agreement over how words should be spelled. At that time, Samuel Johnson and his helpers systematized the spelling of English for the first standardized English dictionary.
How Was That Alphabetic Spelling Code Devised?
The alphabet familiar in England was used to standardize the spelling of Written English even though that familiar alphabet was NOT phonetically well-suited for English.
Spoken English had consonant sounds and vowel sounds. Each syllable had a vowel sound. The alphabet had to have letters to represent both consonant sounds and vowel sounds. The familiar alphabet had letters to represent both consonant and vowel sounds. The problem was (and still is): That familiar alphabet does not have even half enough vowel letters to represent every vowel sound in Spoken English.
If the familiar alphabet were to be used, each vowel letter would have to represent several different vowel sounds. To manage that dilemma, they devised a 3-way code that incorporated the three main elements that had to be dealt with.
The first code is a Phonics Code used for writing consonant sounds and reading consonant letters. 'Phonics' is lay terminology for 'phonetics'. In 'phonetics', with very few exceptions, one consonant letter represents only one consonant sound. For instance the letter 'b' always represents the sound /buh/...never /k/, /s/, etc. Consonant letters and sounds have a simple, letter-level, phonetic relationship and code.
The second code is a Syllabics Code used for writing stressed vowel sounds and reading stressed vowel letters. 'Syllabics' is the study of the relationships between the spelling and the pronunciation codes found in: (1) one-syllable words and (2) stressed syllables of multi-syllable words.
In the entire English language, there are only 6 different spelling patterns or codes. Each one of these 6 spelling codes has a predictable vowel pronunciation code.
This 'syllabics' or 'stressed vowel' code is NOT phonetic. Stressed vowels are coded (and decoded) syllabically, NOT phonetically. This complex code is made up of six spelling/pronunciation codes. One of these six spelling codes is hidden within each one-syllable word and within each stressed syllable of a multi-syllable word. This hidden spelling code tells readers whether to read the vowel(s) in that syllable with a long vowel sound, a short vowel sound, or some other vowel sound. This stressed vowel spelling/ pronunciation code works only for: (1) vowels in one-syllable words, (2) vowels in stressed syllables of multi-syllable words. Stressed vowel letters and sounds have a complex syllable level mono-syllable or syllabic relationship and code.
The third code is a Homophonics Code, used for writing unstressed vowel sounds and reading unstressed vowel letters in multi-syllable words. This unstressed vowel code is neither phonetic nor syllabic. With few exceptions it doesn't matter which vowel(s) an unstressed syllable has, and it doesn't matter which of the six spelling codes the unstressed syllable has, the GENERAL pronunciation for unstressed vowels in unstressed syllables is the schwa, or /uh/ sound as in the word 'up'.
Read How Learning to Read Really Works - Parts 2, 3 and 4 to understand more.
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