PRIMARY SPELLING & PHONICS • GRADE 2–3 MORPHOLOGY • AGENTIVE -ER • DISYLLABLES STUDENT WORKSHEET • PAGE 1 OF 2

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Unaccented Syllable Reduction • Terminal -er = ẽ (/ər/) • Agentive Suffix

“In words of two syllables ending in -er, the vowel e has the sound of e in her, slightly softened by lack of accent: toil&etilde;r, moth&etilde;r, work&etilde;r.”

Wheeler's 12 Core Disyllables:
toiler • ever • hover • other • caller • never • cover • mother • worker • proper • speller • brother

1 12-Word Disyllable Orthographic Matrix

Copy each word with syllable division hyphens and place the tilde (~) over unaccented &etilde;r:

toil-er • ev-er • hov-er

oth-er • call-er • nev-er

cov-er • moth-er • work-er

prop-er • spell-er • broth-er

2 Agentive Suffix Morphology (-er = "one who does")

Break down the 4 agentive nouns into their base action verb and the suffix -er:

toiler:
toil + er

caller:
call + er

worker:
work + er

speller:
spell + er

3 Kinship Group & Short O Vowel Sound

Identify the 3 words where o has the short sound of u (/ʌ/) before voiced th:

1. Female parent / Male sibling / Different one:

2. Write a complete sentence using both mother and brother:

Wheeler's Orthography Rules • Disyllables in -er

1. 1. Agentive Suffix -er: Adding suffix -er to an action verb forms an agent noun naming the person or instrument that performs the action (work → worker).

2. 2. Unaccented Syllable ẽ: In English disyllables, the primary accent falls on the first syllable; the second syllable -er softens into unstressed ẽ (/ər/).

3. 3. The Kinship Trio: Mother, brother, and other share Anglo-Saxon roots with letter o sounded as short ŭ (/ʌ/) followed by voiced digraph th.