Alvars can be found around Canada’s National Capital Region.
Some letter combinations
─ae— is found in words derived from Latin and may have different pronunciations, depending on regional dialects.
Aesop (an ee sound)
palaeontology (ee or A sound)
aerial (ai sound)
aesthetic (soft e sound)
─ar ─ The letter R may change the pronunciation (this is called an R-controlled vowel).
arch, arbour, archangel, argon, argument, ark, arm, art
Exceptions: Arab, arid, arise, array, arrest, arrive
─au─ The au letter combination is not pronounced the same way each time. A diphthong is a way to slide a sound. Try these out.
auburn, auction, audio, August, aura, Australia, auto, automatic, autumn, because, caught, cause, clause, daughter, faucet, fault, Paul, sauce, taught, taut, vault
In some ─au─ words, this letter combination is not pronounced as a diphthong.
aunt, beautiful, quay (pronounced key)
The aw and ay combinations are also diphthongs. Try these words.
─aw─
caw, claw, crawl, dawn, draw, flaw, gnaw, hawk, jaw, law, lawn, macaw, paw, pawn, raw, slaw, straw, thaw, Warsaw, yawn
─ay─
ay, aye (yes), ayah (Hindu nurse)
─air─ is a common combination in many words. Are these diphthongs?
chair, fair, hair, lair, pair, stair
Exception: naïve [French]
─all─ is a common combination in many words.
all, allow, ball, fall, hall, small, wall
─alt─ is a common combination in many words.
alternate, cobalt, halt, malt, salt
─alk─ is a common combination in many words.
alkaline, chalk, stalk, talk, walk
Exercises
- Read through the lists of words. Can you think of any more to add in each category?
- Play with the words a little. Act them out. Write them up in the air using your left hand and your right. Write them down on paper.
- Listen to your friends. Do they pronounce the letter a differently? Which words do they pronounce and how? What do you prefer?
Special reading assignment
An alvar is a limestone plain with little or no soil and unique vegetation.
English Manual: Letter by Letter 