What Makes a Word Phonetic?

What makes a word phonetic?

Why does it matter?

I’ve experts who minimize the importance of phonics in reading instruction. Usually, they think our language is just too complex to be reduced in this way. So often, it seems they don’t understand when a word is phonetic and when it isn’t and why it matters. Naturally, they can’t come to a rational conclusion about why phonics might be important.

It’s easy to be confused about what is phonetic and what isn’t. However, once you have a clear understanding of just how phonics works, it’s all fairly. Once you get that far, it’s pretty obvious why it matters.

First, Let’s Define Phonetic

The word is derived from the Greek root “phone,” which means sound or voice. That root appears in hundreds of English words, all of them related to production of sound. To name just a few, think about telephone, microphone, symphony, and phonetic.

Both “phonetic” and “phonetics” relate to producing speech sounds. “Phonetics” is the study of the production of speech sounds. “Phonetic,” on the other hand is a label confirming that a letter represents a specific, predictable speech sound based on the recognized 44 sounds of English. You can find the list here.

Are There Degrees of Phonetic?

The best answer is no. Remember that “phonetic” applies to the letters within a word as well as the word itself. Words are either phonetic in total, or they are not. A word is only judged to be phonetic if all of its letter are also phonetic. If even a single letter is not phonetic, the word is not phonetic.

Nevertheless, it’s helpful for learning to see the concept of phonetic as a continuum rather than an absolute. This is how we approach it in 7 Sound Steps to Reading. We agree that, to be phonetic, all the letters in a word must predictably produce their expected sound. An S must make the sound in “snake;” an SH must make the sound in “shell,” and so on. On the other hand, when S makes the sound associated with Z, as it does in the word “is,”  it is not phonetic.

For the first half of our phonics lessons, any word that is not strictly phonetic is introduced as a sight word. Our first two sight words in Step 2.1 are “the” and “is.” A new reader cannot decode a word that is not phonetic. “Is” enjoys the predictable sound of short I, but “the” is completely nonphonetic.

However, since learning happens more like turning up the dimmer on a light rather than flipping a switch, we do work with the concept that there are “degrees of phonetic” in words, beginning in the second half of Step 2.

Bonus Words Are Quasi-Phonetic

In English, 15 to 16 percent of our words are nonphonetic, which classifies them as sight words. However, many of the words in this classification could be decodable. A student would need to know the “special” letters combinations that appear in a limited number of words. For example, when WR occurs at the beginning of a word, the W is silent. This occurs in fewer than 35 words. Nonetheless, a student who knows about this combination will be able to decode common words like write, wreck, wrong, wrist, and more.

As a result, we coined a term for  these types of words. We call them “bonus” words, and we introduce them in groups to show new readers the pattern. Bonus words are not phonetic, but they are decodable, which is as good as being phonetic, if the student knows the bonus letter pattern.

Why Does It Matter?

It matters because learning to read becomes easier when the process begins with phonics and proceeds with as much consistency as possible. It’s easier to expand a novice reader’s experience after the foundation has been laid. At the end of Step 2.6, halfway through the phonics program, we’ve covered A to Z, but it has only included the sounds of the consonants and the short vowels. All the reading has been controlled vocabulary, and there have been only 17 sight words in the first six parts of Step 2.

Once this foundation is established, it’s much easier to expand a student’s reading vocabulary. You can use a book like Frog on a Log to enhance confidence and the sense of actually reading. While bonus words don’t teach a universal phonics principles, they offer more learning potential than individual sight words. That’s why they are called “bonus!”

Ellen A. Anton

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