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Thursday, August 24, 2017

Sound-symbol correspondence: I

One of the most frustrating things about English is the weak relationship between spelling and pronunciation. At the request of some students, I'm going to go through some of the patterns. Today I'll explain "i" pronunciation in single-syllable words (音節が一つ "a" 母音). There are only two different pronunciations and three patterns:

#1. In CiC words: "i" = [I]
C = 子音
Examples: Brim, chick, fig, him, limb, pins, win

In the following video, Rachel uses "EE" instead of [i] and "IH" instead of [I]. But that's just a spelling difference.




#2. In CiCe words: "i" = [ai]
This sounds the same as "アイ."

Examples: bribe, chime, fine, knife, lime, slide

#3. In Cind words: "i" = [ai]
This sounds the same as "アイ."

Examples: bind, find, grind, mind

It's certainly possible that I missed other single-syllable "i" patterns. Please let me know if you think I did!