Glossary+of+terms

GLOSSARY

So in **leg** the short e sound can be heard, in **log**, the short o sound. The short i sound can be heard in **pig**. The short u sound in **dug** and the short a in **lad**. ||
 * Short Vowel Sounds ||  || A short vowel sound is the sound you hear a vowel make in a three letter word with a consonant either side.
 * Long Vowel Sounds ||  || **The long vowel sounds basically make the sounds of the letters' name**. It can be confusing as many of the letters when written in different combinations can make the long vowel sounds of other vowels. Overtime these begin to make more sense as you become more familiar with the many spelling patterns of English.

Long A can be heard in **spade**. The e on the end of the word, sometimes called the silent e or magic e makes the vowel sound long. Long E can be heard in **eagle** (because it is next to an a the first e is a long e sound). Long I can be heard in **like** and is often made by a y when it is used as a vowel like in **fly**. Long U can be heard in **tube** and Long O in **load**. || Like in this example, a mouse or, the mice. ||
 * Noun ||  || Refers to a thing, object or concept. It is straight forward when we say a table is a noun. It is more confusing to say that independence is a noun. Here we are talking about a concept as if it is a thing so it is a noun. We might say, "Her parents should respect her independence." ||
 * Verb ||  || Refers to an action or movement. The verb is usually done to or by the noun. The girl is skipping. (skipping is the verb, the girl is the noun). ||
 * Adverb ||  || This is a describing word for a verb. She was skipping fast (fast is the adverb as it describes skipping, the verb) ||
 * Adjective ||  || This is also a describing word but for a noun. It was a fast car (this time fast is an adjective because it describes a noun). ||
 * Synonym ||  || A word with the same or similar meaning as another word. Cold, icy, chilly etc ||
 * Antonym ||  || A word with the opposite meaning to the word. Hot and cold ||
 * Prefixes ||  || The small letter clusters or patterns which are added to the beginning of words to change their meanings. In is a prefix added to complete **in**complete. ||
 * Suffixes ||  || The small letter clusters or patterns which are added to the ends of words to change their meanings. tion is a suffix added to complete in the word completion. Sometime the base or root word is changed a little when these are added. ||
 * Affixes ||  || Prefixes and Suffixes are Affixes. An affix is the name given to little word patterns that are built up to make words. When this happens in the middle of a word it is sometimes referred to as an affix or it can be called an infix. ||
 * Consonant ||  || Is any letter that is not a vowel. This is sometimes y but sometimes y is used like a vowel. ||
 * Vowel ||  || A, E, I, O U are the vowels and Y is sometimes used like a vowel. ||
 * Digraph ||  || This is when letters are pronounced together. So rather than saying the two sounds sperately letters join to make a new sound. It is usually two but sometimes three letters. There can be consonant digraphs like (sh) where s and h do not make their sounds but form a new sound. Or a vowel digraph where the long vowel sound of the first vowel is usually said (like in **ea**gle). Digraphs can have a combination of vowel and consonants too. ||
 * Blend ||  || A blend means that letters are blended quickly together. This is usually two consonants like b and l in the word blend. The two letters make their own sounds but in a blended sound. ||
 * Letter Patterns ||  || Describes the patterns we are exploring to make spelling and reading easier to remember. Once you can remember a spelling pattern and identify and write it you can spell all of the words which also use that same pattern. English has many confusing patterns, multiple patterns that make the same sounds or patterns which make different sounds. This is due to the many languages which have influenced English. Remembering patterns can help you attempt to spell new words and may help you recognise when words do not look right. ||
 * Silent Letter ||  || A silent letter is a letter written in a word which is not pronounced. Like the g in gnome, or the k in knit or knee. ||
 * Homophones ||  || Homophones are words that are pronounced or said the same but are spelt differently and have different meanings. Crews and Cuise are homophones, we say them the same but they are spelt differently and one means a group of people usually on a boat and one means sailing. Sweet and suite are also homophones, one is sweet tasting like a lolly while the other is like a set of matching furniture, lounge suite. ||
 * Root Word ||  || Also called the base word. This is the part of the word that holds the main part of the meaning, the suffixes and prefixes are joined onto this word. ||
 * Etymology ||  || This is basically the history of words, the word origin of the words we use today in English. ||
 * Alliteration ||  || When several words written or spoken together all begin with the same sound. Wicked Wednesday! ||
 * Abbreviation ||  || A shortened form of a word or phrase. Usually but not always using the first letter of each word to create the abbreviation. ANZAC (Australia and New Zealand Army Corps) ||
 * Singular/ Plural ||  || Singular relates to single or solo meaning one. When we talk about one object we say a table, when we talk about two or more (plural) we might say the tables, adding a s to the end. Sometimes the word completely changes when there is a plural.
 * Malpropism ||  || The misuse of a similar sounding word. ||