Check your knowledge

Exercise 1. Here are almost all words with i for [aI] followed by two consonant letters. Make them into rhyming families. Pay special attention to the four words, which do not fall into rhyming families.

Kind, child, sign, pint, wind, assign, bind, consign, behind, mild, resign, rind, ensign, remind, behind, grind, wild, find, mind, condign, blind, align, climb, hind, ninth, isle.

Exercise 2. Copy the words listed below, read them and analyse the ways the phoneme [I] is represented.

MODEL: ability 1[I] – i, in the closed accented syllable

2 [I] – i, in the suffix -ity

3 [I] – y, at the end of the suffix -ity

Anything, atheist, British, chimney, creative, criticism, copy-book, dictionary, disregardless, dynasty, economy, elaborate, electricity, elliptical, embody, encourage, excitedly, happiness, immediately, impossibility, intimate, military, mystery, physicist, poetry, polysyllabic, privilege, sixtieth, discoveries, enriches, expected, insisting, monkeys, refuses, simpliest, sympathies, villages, worrying.

Exercise 3. Use a word of the same root to check up the spelling of the unaccented syllables (see the italicized letter).

MODEL: poet ['pquIt] – poetical [pqu'etIkql]

Declare, edit, comedy, emphatic, envelope (n.), exhibit, explore, majesty, necessity, office, prevail, image, refer, relate, specific, timid.

Exercise 4. Write some more words having the same morpheme as in the words listed below (see the italicized part).

MODEL: disappear mistrust

disbelief misfortune

1. illogical, irregular, interview, misspell, librarian, ironical, justice, horrible, heroine, greenish, Marxism, definite, progressive, unity;

2. polysemantic, vacancy, emergency, accuracy, secondary, introductory, slavery, equality, cruelty, lovely;

3. behind, depart, exchange, prefer, renew, televise, bearded, landed, hostess, twentieth, fearless, leaflet, sickness;

4. passage, illiterate.

Exercise 5. Insert the missing letters for [I] or double [I].

An -ngl-sh tour-st found himself in Norway with only -nough mon- in his pock-t to pay his pass-ge back. He thought the matter over and d-cid-d that it was onl- a two days’ journ- and he could eas-l- do without food. So he went on board the steamer and bought a t-ck-t.

He closed his ears to the sound of the lunch bell. When the d-nner came he r-fused the -nv-tation to accompan- a fellow-traveller to the saloon, say-ng that he did not feel well. The next morning he did not go to breakfast pr-tending that he had overslept. At lunch time he again stayed in his cab-n, and again man-ged to keep out of the way. At d-nner time he was so hungr- that he could not stand it an- longer.

“I am going to eat”, he said, “even if they throw me overboard afterwards”.

At d-nner he ate ever-th-ng the steward put in front of him and felt read- for the com-ng row.

“Br-ng me the b-ll”, he said to the steward.

“The b-ll, sir?” said the man.

“Yes”, answered the traveler.

“There is not an- b-ll,” was the answer, “on the sh-p meals are -nclud-d in the pass-ge money.”

Exercise 6. Read the following words and copy them in columns under u and o.

Brush, above, butter, conjunction, mother, become, unbutton, cutlet, dumb, colour, dozen, unlucky, cover, duck, dull, hundred, front, hunger, husband, hut, glove, jump, just, honey, London, dove, interrupt, money, lungs, tongue, comer, love, mushroom, among, mustard, mutton, none, pronunciation, nut, punish, onion, done, rubber, run, other, shut, uncle, stomach, sponge, struggle, study, thorough, suffer, worry, hurry, custom, comfort, company, some, gun, luggage, among, puppet, govern, monkey, upper, supper, undercurrent, undone, subjunctive.

Exercise 7. Read the words given below and compose short sentences with them, making sure you know their meaning.

Son, sun; ton, tun; won, one; none, nun; some, sum.

Exercise 8. Copy the words listed below under ar and a + a consonant letter, read them.

Car, carpet, basket, glance, far, cigar, cast, farther, dark, darling, glass, half, halve, reprimand, command, regard, castle, calf, calves, alarm, rather, architect, telegraph, garden, scarf, mask, shan’t, nasty, past, plant, photograph, margin, balm, gasp, clasp, staff, sharp, class, demand, bath, party, yard, passed, disaster, France, cartoon, chance, charm, casket, master, transitive, harvest, paragraph, pardon, article, draft, advantage, advance, branch, calm, grasp, guard, garment, past, after, behalf, palm, path, vast, father, alms, parlour, market.

Exercise 9. Read the pairs of words given below and explain why we pronounce one and the same vowel letters (here italicized) differently in these words.

composer – composition consult – consultation negate – negative conduct (n.) – conduct (v.) demonstrate – demonstrative active – activity drama – dramatic historical – history

academic – academy opposite – oppose industrial – industry memorial – memory contract (n.) – contract (v.) man – policeman them – themselves

Exercise 10. Use a word of the same root to check up the spelling of unaccented [q].

EXAMPLE: history – historian

Accident, ability, addition, admire, analysis, category, colony, company, conduct, continent, demonstrate, drama, element, equal, excellent, industry, irony, Italy, biology, human, official, oppose, relative.