Relationships between Sounds and Letters in English Monosyllables

Authors: Kessler B.; Treiman R.

Source: Journal of Memory and Language, Volume 44, Number 4, May 2001 , pp. 592-617(26)

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Abstract:

To get a better understanding of the nature of the English writing system, new techniques are introduced for measuring how strongly the orthography of one part of the syllable (onset, vowel, and coda) is influenced by the other two parts. The use of conditional consistency measures with permutation tests of significance determines how much more regular sound-letter correspondences become when other parts of the syllable are taken into account. A study of English monosyllabic words presents results for both reading (letters to sounds) and spelling (sounds to letters) and both adult and child vocabulary. In all cases, vowel and coda (which constitute the rime) are much more strongly conditioned by each other than are other pairs. These techniques and findings improve our understanding of the English writing system and provide a foundation for a better understanding of reading and spelling processes in children and adults. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.

Keywords: spelling; reading; rime; vowel; consistency; context sensitivity.

Language: English

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: Wayne State University

Publication date: 2001-05-01