More Fun with Spelling
What do the words alfalfa, monotonous and
headache have in common?
In the first
Willowwood blog entry, I explained that the reason I chose
"Willowwood" as the blog name was mainly that I'm fond of the word, because it's
fun to spell out loud.
Janice recently reminded me of several other such words that we discovered many years ago when I was helping her prepare to compete in spelling bees (at which she did quite well, winning the school-district championship twice, as I recall). All these words involve some sort of rhythm, rhyme or repetition, but each has its own special charm.
The simplest example is "alfalfa". The repetition here is obvious even in print, but it seems more interesting with stress added and the sounds of the letter names flowing together, so "eh-el-ef-eh-el-ef-eh" becomes more like "EH-el-uh-FAY-el-uh-FAY" or even "AIL-uh-FAIL-uh-FAY". I have to be careful to avoid extra repetitions: "AIL-uh-FAIL-uh-FAIL-uh-FAIL-uh-FAY".
In the word "monotonous", the repeating letter "o" yields a rhythm that can be, well, monotonous, especially if the speaker exaggerates the effect: "EM-oh-EN-oh-TEE-oh-EN-oh-you-ess".
One of our favorite spelling words is "headache", where the repetition is not so obvious in the printed word. As with "alfalfa", much of the effect comes from the way the letter names flow together, so "aitch-ee" sounds much like "eh-chee". We tended to stress the repeating "eh" sounds: "EH-chee-EH-dee-EH-see-EH-chee".
If you think it might help, you can listen to me spelling these words. Of course, in an actual spelling bee, it would be inadvisable to spell quickly, or slur the letter names, but when you're practicing several hundred words in a session, it's good to have some fun when you can!
Janice recently reminded me of several other such words that we discovered many years ago when I was helping her prepare to compete in spelling bees (at which she did quite well, winning the school-district championship twice, as I recall). All these words involve some sort of rhythm, rhyme or repetition, but each has its own special charm.
The simplest example is "alfalfa". The repetition here is obvious even in print, but it seems more interesting with stress added and the sounds of the letter names flowing together, so "eh-el-ef-eh-el-ef-eh" becomes more like "EH-el-uh-FAY-el-uh-FAY" or even "AIL-uh-FAIL-uh-FAY". I have to be careful to avoid extra repetitions: "AIL-uh-FAIL-uh-FAIL-uh-FAIL-uh-FAY".
In the word "monotonous", the repeating letter "o" yields a rhythm that can be, well, monotonous, especially if the speaker exaggerates the effect: "EM-oh-EN-oh-TEE-oh-EN-oh-you-ess".
One of our favorite spelling words is "headache", where the repetition is not so obvious in the printed word. As with "alfalfa", much of the effect comes from the way the letter names flow together, so "aitch-ee" sounds much like "eh-chee". We tended to stress the repeating "eh" sounds: "EH-chee-EH-dee-EH-see-EH-chee".
If you think it might help, you can listen to me spelling these words. Of course, in an actual spelling bee, it would be inadvisable to spell quickly, or slur the letter names, but when you're practicing several hundred words in a session, it's good to have some fun when you can!
Posted: Fri - February 16, 2007 at 10:21 AM by email
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Published On: Feb 25, 2007 07:18 PM
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Published On: Feb 25, 2007 07:18 PM