Letter Clusters

Topic 4        Letter Clusters

A)  Vowel letter clusters                                                                                                                   

These are the arrangements of the English Vowel letters.

The ‘aeiou’ in vertical matches with the ‘aeiou’ in horizontal.  The following arrangements are the ‘aeiou’ in vertical to go with the ‘aeiou’ in horizontal

                (a)            (e)            (i)             (o)            (u)

(a)                            ae             ai              ao             au                                  

(e)            ea             ee             ei              eo             eu     

(i)             ia              ie              ii               io              iu

(o)            oa             oe             oi              oo             ou

(u)            ua             ue             ui              uo             uu

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From the table above, we can regroup the Vowel letter clusters with the same letters but different order together.

                (a)            (e)            (i)             (o)            (u)

                                ae             ai              ao             au           

                                ea             ia              oa             ua

                                                ei              eo             eu

                                                ie              oe             ue

                                                oi                              ou

                                                io                              uo

                                                ui

                                                iu

In English, the common Vowel letter clusters are:

                ea, ai, oa, au, ei, eo, ue, oi, ou, ui

(These are the double letter clusters.  Double ‘e’ and double ’o’ are the common letter clusters.)

                                ee             ii               oo             uu

The knowledge of the Vowel letter clusters makes the spelling of the English words so much easier.                                              (8)

B)  Consonant letter clusters                                                       

There are many letters combining with letter ‘l / r’.

In the initial position

bl      cl      fl      gl      pl      sl                           

black, blank,  bleak, blink, clean, clear, clank, clink, clip, fly, fling, flank, flop, glance, glare, glue, please, plan, plane, slim, slip, sleep, slap

At the back position ended in the letter ‘e’.

ble    cle    fle     gle    ple    sle    dle    kle    tle

able, table, bubble, uncle, cycle, bicycle, angle, tangle, eagle, people, apple, ample, tussle,  candle, paddle, peddle,  buckle,  tackle, pickle, little, kettle, bottle

In the initial position

br     cr     dr     fr      gr     pr                    tr

brake, bread, brand, create, crane, crate, drag, drain, drink, fry, friend, frame, green, great, grin,  grit, pray, prime, prone, train, try, trim

At the back position ended in the letter ‘e’.

cre            dre                                           tre   

acre          cadre                                                centre

The letter ‘h’ combines with the other letters

ch                     gh    ph                    th                  sh                wh

chair, change, watch,  teach, tough,  rough, enough,  physics,   photo  graph,  three,  thread,  them,  health, wealth,     teeth,  share,  wash, wish,   what, where, when, who, whose

The letters ‘hy’ combine with the other letters

chy   ghy   phy   shy   thy    why

mn    column

The letter ‘s’ with the other letters.

In the initial position

sc     scr    sm    sn     sp     spl    spr    sq     st      str    sty

                                                                                                9

scam, scan, scar, scare, scream, scratch, screech, screw, small, smell, smart, snail, snow, snack, spell, spoon, spill, splash, spleen, 

spread, spray, spring, square, squirt, squeak, squeal, steam, stem, steep,  stream, string, straight, styrofoam,

At the back position

                                sp     sple                  ste    stle   sty

grasp, ....sple,         taste, paste, waste,  rustle, castle, bustle, tasty, thirsty, 

The letter ‘y’ with the other letters.

by   cy    dy    fy    gy    ky   ly   my   ny   py  ry   sy,  sym   ty   vy   *wy

      cry   dry   fry   gry                                   pry           try        *wry       

lobby, baby, grubby, tendency, relevancy,  Lucy, lady, trendy, tidy, satisfy, ratify, rectify, alergy, energy, lucky,  picky, tricky, quickly, quietly, angrily,  roomy, gloomy, tiny, nanny, shiny,  sunny, grumpy,  lumpy,   bumpy, try, fry,  syringe,  syllable,  syllabus,  symphony,  sympathy, symbol,  twenty, thirty, forty, savy, envy, wavy, *

The double letter clusters

bb    cc     dd    ff      gg    ll       mm   nn    pp    rr      ss     tt      zz

bble          ddle  ffle    ggle                          pple          ssle   ttle    zzle

bubble,  broccoli,  laddle, raffle, giggle, till, ill, fulfill, common, communication, apple,  tassle, hassle, little, kettle, bottle, puzzle, muzzle, nuzzle

The letters ‘dge’

dge   edge         ledge        knowledge                 hedge       bridge       ridge

                                                                                               

C)  The Vowel and Consonant letter clusters

The Vowel letters ‘aeiou’ can combine with any single consonant letters.

 ‘a’   ab      ac     ad     af     ag     ah     aj      ak     al      am    an     ap

      aq       ar     as     at     av     aw    ax     ay     az

absent, abolish, aboard, able, acid, acoustic, active, acute, advice, adapt, adhere, adjust, admire, afraid, agree, ago, agent, age, ahead, ajar, akin, alarm, albeit, albino, album, align, ambulance, amazed, amend, amiable, analyse, anchor, ancestor, anger, apart, ape, apex, aptitude, aqua, aquatic, arid, arcade, arch, architect, argue, ascent, ascribe, atone, atom, atop, avian, average, avenue, awe, away, award, aware, axis,            10.

axle, axon, ayah, aye, ayurvedic, azalea, azure

‘e’     eb     ec     ecc   ed     eff    eg     egg   eh    ej      ek     el      em    en     ep     eq        er     es     et     ev     ew    ex     ey     

ebb, echo,  eclipse,  ecology, eccentric, edit, edition, edible, educate, effect, effete, efficient, egalitarian,  ego, egg,  eh, eject, ek,  laspse, elastic, elated, elbow, elder, elect, elegant, employ, emperor, embalm, embargo, enable, enact, encase, enchant,  epic, epicure, epidemic, equal, equator, equilibrium, erase, erect, erode, erotic, escape, eschew, escort, etch, eternal, even, event, evening,  crew , drew, blew, grew, excuse, exercise, exact, excel, prey,