| sea |
sē |
/siː/ |
Long /ē/ spelled ea |
Open root word; homophone with see |
| season |
sē's'n |
/ˈsiː.zən/ |
Long /ē/ spelled ea + schwa |
2 syllables (sea • son); -on voiced as /zən/ |
| reason |
rē's'n |
/ˈriː.zən/ |
Long /ē/ spelled ea + schwa |
2 syllables (rea • son); -on voiced as /zən/ |
| lead |
lēd / lĕd |
/liːd/ or /lɛd/ |
Heteronym: long /ē/ vs short /ĕ/ |
Verb 'to guide' (/liːd/); noun 'metal' (/lɛd/) |
| leader |
lēd'ẽr |
/ˈliː.dər/ |
Long /ē/ spelled ea + agent -er |
2 syllables (lead • er); base lead + suffix -er |
| clean |
clēn |
/kliːn/ |
Initial blend cl- + long /ē/ ea |
Closed syllable ending in alveolar nasal -n |
| team |
tēm |
/tiːm/ |
Initial stop t- + long /ē/ ea |
Closed syllable ending in bilabial nasal -m |
| mean |
mēn |
/miːn/ |
Initial stop m- + long /ē/ ea |
Multiple meanings; base word for meant |
| meant |
mĕnt |
/mɛnt/ |
Short /ĕ/ spelled ea |
Irregular past tense of mean; rhymes with bent |
| read |
rēd / rĕd |
/riːd/ or /rɛd/ |
Heteronym: present /ē/ vs past /ĕ/ |
Present rhymes with feed; past rhymes with bed |
| ready |
rĕd'y̆ |
/ˈrɛd.i/ |
Short /ĕ/ spelled ea + suffix -y |
2 syllables (read • y); ea represents short /ĕ/ |
| case |
cāse |
/keɪs/ |
Long /ā/ with silent -e (-ase) |
Exception to -ace spelling pattern (race, face) |
| care |
câre |
/kɛər/ |
R-controlled /ār/ spelled are |
Base word; silent -e changes vowel to /ɛər/ |
| scare |
scâre |
/skɛər/ |
Initial blend sc- + /ār/ spelled are |
Rhymes with care, share, bare, dare |
| animal |
ăn'ĭ-m'l |
/ˈæn.ɪ.məl/ |
Short ă + short ĭ + schwa al |
3 syllables (an • i • mal); academic content noun |