Rules and Roots

Rules

-for words from Greek and New Latin Latin f is spelled ph
-the connecting vowel in Greek is spelled o
-the connecting vowel in Latin is spelled i
-the ohn sound in French is spelled on
-the oh sound in French is spelled o, au, eau, or at the end of a word ot
(relating to the above is the rule that when a French singular word ends in -eau it becomes -eaux when plural which is pronounced oh or ohz, so it is important upon hearing the oh sound in French at the end of the word that you ask the part of speech of the word)
-the ot (like in rot) sound in French is spelled otte
-the g sound in French is spelled gu or gue at the end of words (look up madrague)
the ee sound in French is spelled ie, i, or is
-the oo sound in French is spelled ou unless there is an alternate pronunciation of yoo
-the oo-yuh sound in French is spelled ouill (look up mouillation, brouillon)
-the ay sound in French is spelled e normally but can also appear as ee, ais, ait, er, or et (roundelay is an exception)
-the el sound in French is spelled elle
-the wah sound in French is spelled oi in the middle of words and ois at the end of words
-the war sound in French is spelled oir (conversatoire, directoire, and repertoire are exceptions)
-the sh sound in French is ch
-the ayr sound (like in care) is spelled normally spelled ere but can be spelled aire
-the on sound in French is spelled en
-the ruh sound in French is spelled re
-the mahn sound in French is spelled ement (look up virement)
-the an sound in French is spelled in
-the ai sound in French is spelled aill in the middle of words and aille at the end of words
-the en sound in French is spelled enne
-French normally (notice I only say normally) does not like to end in consonants (I missed the word savate where this was the case)
-the nyuh sound in French is spelled gn
-the yuh sound is spelled ll in French and Spanish
-the ay sound in Spanish is normally spelled e but can be spelled ey at then end of words (jaguey)
-the kay sound in Spanish is spelled que
-the nyuh sound is spelled n in Spanish
-the nyuh sound in Italian is spelled gn
-the shuh sound in Italian is spelled sc
-the shuh sound in German is spelled sch
-the uh sound (called a schwa) in German is spelled e
-the uhl sound in German is el
-the ay sound in German is e
-the v sound in German is spelled w
-the f sound in German is spelled v
-the ai sound in German (as in kite) is spelled ei
-the ah sound in Afrikaans is spelled aa
-the ow sound (like in cow) in Afrikaans is spelled ou in the middle of a word and ouw at the end of a word
-the ayrow sound in Portugese is spelled eiro
-the oo sound in Portugese is spelled o at the end of a word(gentoo is an exception)
-the ay sound in Portugese is e
-then s sound in Hungarian is sz
-the sh sound in Hungaris is ss (fogas is an exception)
-the ay sound in Hawaiian, Maori, and Samoan is spelled e
-Indian, Hawaiian, Maori, and Samoan are phonetic languages meaning if guayou don’t know a word from one of those languages, then KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid)
-however kh and bh are quite common in Indian languages
-if you don’t know much about a language or a word you’re given, try to KISS again
-spanish w sound is hu (look up huerta and huapango) except for hoatzin
– ii-uh sound is aya like ayacahuite
-c sound in spanish is k

Roots

*First buy the book Words of Wisdom. It is written by Scott Remer, and you can find it on Amazon. The roots in this book help form an amazing foundation and are vital for success.