All the terms used in Spellzone are fully explained at each stage of the course, when they are first used. For a quick reference they are also listed here, in alphabetical order:
Definitions of terms in bold print can be found elsewhere in the table
Term |
Definition |
Breve |
A mark often used to show a short vowel sound e.g. ă ĕ ĭ ŏ ŭ |
Compound word |
Two words joined together to form a new word e.g. seasick topspin hotspot lighthouse paperwork
|
Consonants
Consonant blend
Consonant digraph |
The letters: b c d f g h j k l m n p q r s t v w x y z Note: the letter y can be a vowel or a consonant, depending on its sound: y in yellow is a consonant
When two consonants blend together e.g. spit stop snap list sand sent
When two consonants together make a different sound e.g. shop check think phone
|
Contraction |
A word formed by shortening (contracting) two other words e.g. did not > didn’t they are > they’re it is > it’s
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Homophones |
Words which sound the same but have different meanings and different spellings e.g. meet - meat piece - peace current - currant These words are called homophones from the Greek words:
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Macron |
A mark often used to show a long vowel sound e.g.
|
Mnemonic |
A device to help the memory: inventing mnemonics can help you remenber difficult spellings e.g. a piece of pie. (The word mnemonic starts with a silent m. It comes from an ancient Greek word mnemonikos, meaning 'mindful').
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Prefix |
Letters added at the start of a word to affect the meaning e.g. disagree incorrect preview
|
Root word (or base word) |
The main part of a word, without a prefix or suffix e.g. landed camping hopeless return unhappy misprint
|
Schwa sound |
The very weak vowel sound often found in an unstressed syllable e.g. dis - tant pa - per station com - pan - y (The word schwa is pronounced ‘shwar’, to rhyme with ‘car’. It’s a Hebrew word meaning ‘empty’.) |
Suffix
Consonant suffix |
Letters added on the end of a word to affect the meaning e.g. hand + ed = handed camp + ing = camping hope + less = topless
A suffix that begins with a vowel e.g. -ed -er -est -ing -able -y
A suffix that begins with a consonant e.g. -less -ful -ment -ly
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Syllables
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The number of beats in a word e.g. tax-i: 2 syllables, bi-cy-cle: 3 syllables, hel-i-cop-ter : 4 syllables Each syllable has one vowel sound e.g. Manchester hippopotamus teacher courageous
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| Stressed syllables | In longer words, the syllables are not all pronounced with the same strength. Usually one syllable will be stronger than the rest; this is the stressed syllable e.g. ladder pilot hospital dictionary assist attract collect Atlantic computer independent
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| Unstressed syllables | A syllable which is not stressed e.g. Si - mon dis - tant pa - per pi - lot Often this syllable will have a very weak vowel sound, called the schwa.
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Vowels
Long vowels
Vowel digraphs |
The letters a e i o u Note: the letter y can be a vowel or a consonant, depending on its sound:
The long sound of a vowel is the same as the name of the letter e.g age even icon oval uniform
These are examples of short vowel sounds: ash egg insect office upset
Where two vowels, or a vowel and a consonant are used together to make one vowel sound e.g. train stay hb shirt horse coat room new shout crown tie sweet head toy
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"Thank goodness for Spellzone during this remote learning phase. The site is easy for students to navigate independently and they're really enjoying the activities and spelling games. You get an awful lot for your money with Spellzone. Really reassuring is the very prompt response with helpdesk queries. I've very rarely needed the helpdesk, but when I have, the issue has been addressed and sorted within a very short time."
Sarah Taggart, Oasis Academy Lord's HillConnect with us at: 
