Now I Know My A B C's . . .
Q. Did it ever occur to anyone that if you don't know how a word begins, you can't look it up in a dictionary?
A. Yes, but alphabetical order is firmly entrenched in dictionary construction. The problem, as you point out, is that the first letter of a word does not always look like it sounds. The following chart, which matches initial sound and spelling possibilities, appeared in my Handbook for Basic Writers (Prentice Hall, 1991), co-authored with Nancy Sheehan.
Initial Sound / Possible Spelling
• A as in ace: a (able), ae (aerate), ai (AIDS), ei (eight).
• CH as in chips: ce (cello), ch (church).
• E as in even: ae (Aesop), e (eviction), ea (eagle) ee (eel), ei (either).
• F as in fog: f (feeling), ph (photography).
• H as in happy: h (horror), wh (who).
• I as in ice: ai (aisle), ay (ayatollah), ei (Eiffel Tower), i (isolation), is (island).
• J as in job: g (giant), j (justice).
• K as in kitten: c (cowboy), ch (chorus), k (kilogram), qu (queue).
• KW as in quick: cui (cuisine), kw (Kwangtung), qu (question).
• N as in nine: gn (gnat), kn (knee), n (notice), pn (pneumonia).
• O as in over: au (au gratin), o (opening), oa (oak), ow (owner).
• R as in rest: r (reading), rh (rhetoric), wr (writing).
• S as in sister: c (cigar), ps (psalm), s (suspect), sc (science), sz (Szechwan).
• SH as in shut: ch (chef), sch (Schultz), sh (shovel), su (sugar).
• T as in turn: pt (ptomaine), t (tension).
• U as in use: eu (eulogy), ew (ewe), u (usually), yu (Yugoslavia).
• UH as in up: a (about), o (opponent), u (ugly).
• Z as in zero: cz (czar), ts (tsar), x (xenon), z (zebra).
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