LESSON 171 TEACHER GUIDE & ANSWER KEY
ORTHOEPY • ETYMOLOGY • /f/ = GH / PH
Wheeler's Elementary Speller • Page 89
| Word | IPA | Digraph & Origin | Teaching Prescription |
|---|
| laugh | /lɑːf/ | gh (Old English hliehhan) | Guttural /x/ shifted historically to /f/. |
| enough | /ɪˈnʌf/ | gh (Old English genōg) | Short ŭ sound before terminal /f/. |
| phrase | /freɪz/ | ph (Greek phrasis) | Digraph ph = /f/; voiced s = /z/. |
| phantom | /ˈfæntəm/ | ph (Greek phantasma) | Apparition or ghost. ph = /f/. |
| orphan | /ˈɔːrfən/ | ph (Greek orphanos) | Circumflex over o before r; ph = /f/. |
| triumph | /ˈtraɪʌmf/ | ph (Latin triumphus) | Terminal ph = /f/; long i in open first syllable. |
Exercise 1 Sorting Key:
• Germanic gh: laugh, tough, rough, cough, enough, trough, draught.
• Greek ph: Philip, Ralph, phantom, phrase, photo, phone, orphan, triumph.
All 15 produce the voiceless labiodental fricative /f/.
Exercise 3 Solutions:
1. laugh.
2. trough.
Etymology Clinic: Teach children that if a word looks scientific or scholarly with /f/, it is almost certainly spelled with ph!
- Why is 'laugh' spelled with 'gh' instead of an 'f'?
- What language do words like 'phone', 'photo', and 'phrase' come from?
- Can you think of any other words that use 'ph' to make the /f/ sound?
Dictation & Oral Application Sentences (Read slowly at normal speaking pace):
1. A merry laugh rang out from the cheerful children.
2. Horses drank cool fresh water from the deep stone trough.
3. The brave soldiers celebrated a great and noble triumph.
4. He spoke a kind phrase to comfort the lonely orphan.
Wheeler's Elementary Speller • Lesson 171 • Teacher Master Key
Page 2 of 2 (Instructor Reference)