Broad O and Third Sound of U
We pronounce the broad sound of o and the third sound of u exactly the same. We hear this sound in words like do, move, flute, and rude. In addition to o and u, the phonograms oo, ou, and ui also represent this sound in words such as soon, soup, suit.
Spelling Analysis with /ö/
When we are teaching students to analyze words and mark them in order to understand the spelling better, we need to add a symbol to the existing letter in the word, not replace the letter with a different letter or symbol. So in this context, which marking you add will depend on which phonogram you are marking. The following examples illustrate each phonogram:
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Example 1: u saying /ö/ |
flute |
Since u is making one of its long sounds in this word, we mark it with a macron (straight line): flūte |
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Example 2: o saying /ö/ |
do |
Since o is making its broad sound in this word, we mark it with an umlaut (two dots): dö |
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Example 3: ou saying /ö/ |
soup |
Since the phonogram ou is making its third sound in this word, we write a three over it. The consonants and multi-letter phonograms do not have standard markings associated with their sounds like the single-letter vowels do, so when one of them is saying a sound besides its first (most common) sound, we mark it with a number indicating which of its sounds is heard in that word. ₃ |
See and hear all 75 basic phonograms on our interactive phonogram chart!