Words in EwD - Didactic Groups

🚧 Work in progress: Being updated from EwD v3.3 to EwD v4.

Introduction

This document is a comprehensive resource designed to illustrate the application of diacritical marks in English according to the EwD system. This document provides several lists of words organized under didactic categories and EwD levels, showcasing how diacritics can aid in pronunciation learning and lexical understanding.

Pronunciation Rules

We encourage beginners to briefly take a look in the words from this page to get a feel of the EwD system and how it manages to solve many pronunciation ambiguities in an elegant manner. But before reading longer contents in EwD such as texts and lyrics, or even delving deeper in the words from here, we recommend consulting the English Pronunciation Rules. This document outlines the pronunciation rules that learners should follow in order to correctly read English words within the EwD system.

EwD Levels

EwD introduces a tiered learning system, structured into three levels, with the aim to gradually guide learners through the aspects of English pronunciation. Level 1 (L1) applies a moderate amount of diacritics, trying to reach a balance between phonetic clarity and not overwhelming beginners with too much diacritics or rules. The subsequent levels (L2 and L3) then gradually remove diacritics by introducing additional rules that make some no longer necessary. This results in L3 having a minimum amount of diacritics, thus preparing learners to transitioning from EwD-guided reading to independent English reading, which is the ultimate goal of EwD approach.

L1+ spellings

L1+ is the most phonetic presentation of the EwD system. It is not a standalone level, but a more detailed variant of the L1 level, applying additional diacritics for showing phonetic nuances* that plain L1 spellings ignore for the sake of simplicity and beginner-friendliness. Please note that, while these traits are not as crucial for comprehension than the ones already covered in L1, it's also important to assimilate them in order to achieve a solid English fluency, but this can be left to a more advanced stage of the learning process.

* These are mainly unstressed vowel nuances, but a few stressed vowel and consonantal nuances are also reserved for L1+.

Corpus

NOTE: For information on the notations used, hover over (or click on) each element. You can also refer to the Appendix section for the complete list of these notations and additional explanations.

Didactic Combos [D‍C]

Note 1 | Note 2

D-less	EwD (v4)	tags
though	thōugh
thought	tho̍ught ? t‍̤ho̍ught
through	thröugh ? t‍̤hröugh
throughout	thröugh꞉out ? t‍̤hröugh꞉out
thorough	thôro̱ugh ? t‍̤hôro̱ugh
tough	to᷍ug̈h
enough	eno᷍ug̈h ? GA: (ẹ/e̱/e̬)no᷍ug̈h GB: ẹno᷍ug̈h	{GA/GB}
chough	cho᷍ug̈h
cough	co̍ug̈h / cŏug̈h	{GA/GB}
bough	bough
──
laugh	lăug̈h
laughter	lăug̈hter ? lăug̈hte͜r
──
woman	woman ? w‹o͝o›ma̬n	[Eap](o=‹o͝o›)
women	wȯmẹn
──
value	vălue ? vălue̥
valor	valor ? valo͜r
──
heard	he͡ard
heart	he̥art
hearth	he̥arth
──
done	dône
none	nône
gone	gŏne
lone	lone
one	one ? ‹wun›	[Eap](one=‹wun›)
──
one	one ? ‹wun›	[Eap](one=‹wun›)
once	‹wun›ce ? once	[Eap](on=‹wun›)
only	ōnly
──
oven	ôven ? ôve̬n
over	over ? ove͜r
cover	côver ? côve͜r
──
danger	danger ? dānge͜r
anger	ang̩er ? ang̩e͜r
──
friend	fri̥end
fiend	fiend
──
circuit	circụit ? cı͡rcụi̥t
pursuit	pursuit ? pu͜rsui̥t
──
real	rea̬l ? rea̬l, real
realism	rea̬lism ? rea̬lism̬
realistic	rea̬listic ? rea̬lĭstic
reality	reălity ? reălity
realize	rea̬lize
realm	rĕalm
──
base	bas̩e
basement	bas̩ement ? bas̩e̥me̬nt
──
true	true ? true̥
truth	trūth
──
effect	effĕct ? (ẹ/e̬)ffĕct
electric	elĕctric ? (ẹ/e̬)lĕctric
expect	expĕct ? (ẹ/e̯)xpĕct
──
nature	nature ? natū͜re
mature	matūre ? ma̬tūre
──
beloved	belôvẹd ? bẹlôvẹd
naked	nakẹd
ragged	raggẹd
──
desert (Et2)	dĕsert ? dĕse͜rt
desert (Et1,Et3)	dese͡rt ? dẹse͡rt	[Hph]{dessert}
dessert	des᷼se͡rt ? dẹs᷼se͡rt	//
──
dialog	dialog ? dia̬lo̯g	[AS]
dialogue	dialo̯gue ? dia̬lo̯gue	[BS]
──
finite	fini̱te
infinite	ĭnf‌ini̯te ? ĭnf‌i̬ni̯te
infinity	infĭnity
──
possess	pos᷼sĕss ? po̬s᷼sĕss
possession	pos᷼sĕssion ? po̬s᷼sĕssio̬n
──
subtle	sub̥tle ? sub̥tl̬e
subtlety	sub̥tlety ? sub̥tl̬e̥ty
──
with	with
without	without
──
experiment (n.)	expĕriment ? ẹxpĕri̬me̬nt	[Hgr], [TL]
experiment (v.)	expĕrime̯nt ? (e̯/ẹ)xpĕri̬me̯nt	[Hgr], [TL]
experience	expērience ? ẹxpērie̬nce
──
proper	prŏper ? prŏpe͜r
properly	prŏperly ? prŏpe͜rly
property	prŏperty ? prŏpe͜rty
──
use (n.)	us̩e	[Hgr]
use (v.)	(use/us̩e)¹	[Hgr]
usage	us̩age ? (us̩ạge/usạge)
useful	us̩eful ? us̩e̥fu̬l
useless	us̩eless ? us̩e̥l(e̬/ẹ)ss

¹ TODO.

Didactic Singles [D‍S]

Note 1 | Note 2

D-less	EwD L1	EwD L2	EwD L3	tag(s)
albeit	al꞉be·it
bias	bias̩			[IT]
another	anôther			[Ne]
company	cômpany			[Ne], [Bu]
compass	cômpa̬ss			[Ne]
component	compōnent	<	compónent	[IT]
composite	{{ detbr }}{ co̬mpŏsi̯te / compo̬si̯te }">{ compŏsi̯te / composi̯te }	{ compŏsite / composi̯te }		{GA/GB}
create	creāte	<	cre̱ate
direct	dirĕct	<	adj.: diréct, v.: direct
event	evĕnt*	<	n.: evént, v.: event
everything	ĕve̥ry·t‍̤hing	ĕveryt‍̤hing	everything	[TL]
expertise	expertïse			[Bu]
flood	flo᷍od
hockey	hockey
hygiene	{{ detbr }}( hȳgiene / hy̱giene )">hȳgiene*	<	hýgiene*
interest	interest*
iron	iro̥n
laboratory	{ lăboratòry* / labŏratory* }	<	{ laboratòry / labóratory }	{GA/GB}, [TL]
language	languạge	language
locate	{ loca̱te* / locāte* }	<	locate	{GA/GB}
machine	mac‍̩hïne
observe	obse͡rve	obsérve	v.: observe, etc.: obsérve
pineapple	pine·apple
pizza	pïz‍̤za
process	{ prŏcess* / proce̯ss }	<	{ prŏcess* / procèss }	{GA/GB}
promise	prŏmi̯s̩e	<	prŏmis̩e
queue	qu̥eue̥	queue
rendezvous	rendez̥vo̤us̥*			{GA/GB}, [Eap](en=‹on›)
scarce	scārce
sugar	ṣügar
surface	su͡rface			{GA/GB}
survey	su͡rvèy	survèy
technique	te̯c‍̤hnïque	<	tèc‍̤hnïque	[Bu], [Sc]
temperature	{{ detbr }}( tempe͜rḁtū͜re / tempe͜ra̬tū͜re / tempe̥ra̬tū͜re )">temperature*
ubiquitous	u̱bĭquito͢us̩	ubĭquitous̩	ubíquitous̩
volcano	vo̯lcāno	<	vòlcáno
were	we͡re
worry	{ wo͡rry / wôrry }			{GA/GB}

Very Common Words

Note 1 | Note 2

Unstressed

D-less	EwD L1	EwD L2/L3	tag(s)
the	the / the̱¹	the
of	{{ detbr }}GA: o̬‹v›, o̬², ô‹v›<br>GB: o̬‹v›, o̬²">of		{GA/GB}, [Eap](f=‹v›)
to	to / to̤¹	to
and	and*
a	a
an	an
was	was
what	what
for	for
from	from

¹ Usual before vowel sound.

² Usual before consonant sound.

Stressed

D-less	EwD L1	EwD L2/L3	tag(s)
the	th(ê/ē)¹	th(ê/ē)¹
of	{{ detbr }}{ ô‹v› / ŏ‹v› }">{ ôf / ŏf }		{GA/GB}, [Eap](f=‹v›)
to	tö
and	ănd
a	ā
an	ăn
was	wâs*
what	whât*
for	for
from	from

¹ Both pronunciations are usual before vowel sound, but {thē} is more frequent.

Minimal Pairs [M‍P]

Note 1 | Note 2

D-less	EwD	tag(s)
service	service ? se͡rvice
surface	surface ? su͡rf{ạ/a̬}ce	{GA/GB}
──
close (Et1)	close	[Hgr]{close}
close (Et2)	clos̩e	//
──
lose	löse
loose	lo͞os̩e
──
father	fa̍ther ? fa̍the͜r	[Hph_sp](father)
farther	farther ? farthe͜r	//
──
holy	holy
wholely	w̥holely ? w̥hole̥ly	[AltS](wholly), [Ge]

Homophones [H‍ph]

Note 1 | Note 2

D-less	EwD (v4)	tag(s)
there	thĕre
their	their
they're	they're
──
your	yöur
you're	yöu're
──
sun	sun
son	sôn
──
one	‹wun› ? one	[Eap](one=‹wun›)
won	wôn
──
our¹^,²	our ? str: our	[Esp](our=‹ar›)
hour¹	h̥our
are²	a̍re
──
air	air
heir	h̥eir
──
lone	lone
loan	loan
──
desert (Et1,Et3)	dese͡rt ? dẹse͡rt	[DC](desert)
dessert	des᷼se͡rt ? dẹs᷼se͡rt	//
──
father³	fa̍ther ? fa̍the͜r	[Hph_sp]
farther³	farther ? farthe͜r	//

¹ Only the stressed form of "our" is homophone with "hour".

² Only the unstressed form of "our" is homophone with "are".

³ These words are homophones only in non-rhotic accents (such as GB).

Homographs [H‍gr]

Diacritics are especially useful for homographs in order to create a distinction between them in writing, thus helping to differentiate them. In many cases, homograph groups consist of actually different words spelled the same way.

Note 1 | Note 2

D-less	EwD	tag(s)
read (pr.)	read
read (p.)	rĕad
──
close (Et1)	close
close (Et2)	clos̩e
──
bow (Et1)	bōw
bow (Et2,Et3)	bow
──
desert (Et2)	dĕsert ? dĕse͜rt	[DC](desert)
desert (Et1,Et3)	dese͡rt ? dẹse͡rt	//
──
collect (Et1)	collĕct
collect (Et2)	colle̯ct ? co̬llĕct
──
prayer (Et1)	praye̥r
prayer (Et2)	prayer ? praye͜r
──
quart (Et1)	quaᷱrt ? q(u/u̥)aᷱrt
quart (Et2)	qu̥a̍rt
──
beloved (Et1)	belôvẹd ? bẹlôvẹd
beloved (Et2)	belôve̥d ? bẹlôve̥d
──
address (n.)	addrĕss ? a̬ddrĕss/ăddre̯ss
address (v.)	addrĕss ? a̬ddrĕss
──
segment (n.)	segment ? segme̬nt
segment (v.)	segme̯nt ? ( segme̯nt / se̯gmĕnt )
──
progress (n.)	prŏgre̯ss ? prŏgr(e̯/e̬)ss	{GA/GB}
progress (v.)	progrĕss ? pro̬grĕss
──
experiment (n.)	expĕriment ? ẹxpĕri̬me̬nt	[DC](experiment), [TL]
experiment (v.)	e̯xpĕrime̯nt ? e̯xpĕri̬me̯nt	[DC](experiment), [TL]
──
separate (etc.)	sĕparạte ? sĕp(a̬/ḁ)rạte	[TL]
separate (v.)	sĕparate ? sĕpa̬rate	[TL]

Alternative Spellings [A‍ltS]

Note 1 | Note 2

D-less	EwD	tag(s)
center	center ? cente͜r	[AS]
centre	centre ? centr͜e	[BS]
──
cliche	clïchë
cliché¹	clïché	//
──
naive	naïve ? na̬ïve
naïve²	naïve ? na̬ïve
──
wholly	w̥hōlly ? w̥hōlˌly	[Ge]
wholely	w̥hole̥ly	//
──
color	cŏlor ? cŏlo͜r	[AS]
colour	cŏlo͜ur	[BS]
──
endeavor	endĕavor ? ẹndĕavor	[AS]
endeavour	endĕavo͜ur ? ẹndĕavo͜ur	[BS]
──
favor	favor ? favo͜r	[AS]
favour	favo͜ur	[BS]
──
neighbor	neighbor ? neighbo͜r	[AS]
neighbour	neighbo͜ur	[BS]
──
dialog	dialo̯g ? dia̬lo̯g	[AS], [DC](dialog)
dialogue	dialo̯gue ? dia̬lo̯gue	[BS], //
──
catalog	cătalo̯g ? căta̬lo̯g	[AS]
catalog	cătalo̯gue ? căta̬lo̯gue	[BS]

¹ This acute is from standard spelling.

² This diaeresis is from standard spelling.

Neutralization [N‍e]

D-less	EwD
another	anôther ? a̬nôthe͜r

Trisyllabic Laxing [T‍L]

Note 1 | Note 2

D-less	EwD L1	EwD L2	EwD L3	tag(s)
every	ĕve̥ry*	ĕvery	every
animal	ănimal	<	animal
family	fămily	<	family
technology	te̯c‍̤hnŏlogy	<	tèc‍̤hnólogy
general	gĕneral*	<	general
represent	rĕpresĕnt	rĕpresĕnt	v.: represent
energy	ĕnergy	<	energy
probable	prŏba̬ble	prŏbable	probable
natural	nătural*	<	natural	[TLP](nature)
experiment (n.)	expĕriment	<	expériment	[DC](experiment), [Hgr]
experiment (v.)	e̯xpĕrime̯nt	<	èxpérimènt	[DC](experiment), [Hgr]
melody	mĕlo̬dy	mĕlody	melody
decimal	dĕcima̬l	<	decimal
separate (etc.)	sĕparạte*	sĕparate	separate	[Hgr]
separate (v.)	sĕparate	<	separate	[Hgr]
element	ĕlement	<	element
capital	căpital	<	capital
operate	ŏperate	<	operate
necessary	{{ detbr }}{ nĕce̬ssàry / nĕce̬ss(a̬/ḁ)ry }">nĕcessary*	<	necessary	{GA/GB}
colony	cŏlony	<	colony
particular	partĭcular	<	partícular
molecule	mŏlecule	<	molecule
similar	sĭmilar	<	similar
original	orĭginal	<	oríginal
populate	pŏpulate	<	populate
enemy	ĕnemy	<	enemy

Trisyllabic Laxing Pairs [T‍LP]

Note 1 | Note 2

D-less	EwD L1	EwD L2	EwD L3
eat	eat	eat	eat
edible	ĕdible*	ĕdible	edible
──
nation	nation	nation	nation
national	nătional	nătional	national
──
nature	nature	nature	nature
natural	nătural*	nătural	natural
──
prefer	prefe͡r	prefér	prefer
preferance	prĕferance	<	preferance
──
pronounce	pronounce	pronounce	pronounce
pronunciation	pronŭnciātion	pronŭnciation	pronùnciation

Trisyllabic Laxing Exceptions [T‍LE]

Note 1 | Note 2

D-less	EwD L1	EwD L2	EwD L3	tag(s)
dopamine	dōpami̤ne
dinosaur	dīnos̩aur

Gemination [G‍e]

Note 1 | Note 2

D-less	EwD	tag(s)
goddamn	god꞉dămn̥ / god·dămn̥	{interjection/intensifier}
solely	sole̥ly
unknown	un꞉knōwn
wholly	w̥hōlly ? w̥hōlˌly	[AltS](wholly)
wholely	w̥hole̥ly	//

Sciences [S‍c]

Note 1 | Note 2

D-less	EwD L1	EwD L2	EwD L3	tag(s)
England	Ėngland
English	Ėnglish
experience	expērience			[DC]{experiment}, [TLE], [Sc]
experiment (n.)	expĕriment	<	expériment	[DC](experiment), [Hgr], [TL]
experiment (v.)	e̯xpĕrime̯nt	<	èxpérimènt	[DC](experiment), [Hgr], [TL]
medic	mĕdic
medicine	mĕdici̯ne	<	medici̯ne
Latin	Lătin
serotonin	sĕrotōnin	<	serotónin
strepsirrhine	strepsirrhine*	strepsirrhine

False Etymology [F‍E]

Note 1 | Note 2

D-less	EwD
debt	deb̥t
island	īs̥land ? īs̥la̬nd
ghost	ghōst
scissors	scis᷼sors ? scis᷼so͜rs

Fun words

Note 1 | Note 2

D-less	EwD L1	EwD L2	EwD L3	tag(s)
Edinburgh	Ĕdinburgh*	<	Edinburgh*	[Eap](gh=‹ə›)
Lapras	Lăprạs̩
Leicester	Lĕice̥ster
Southwark	So᷍uthw̥a͜rk	So᷍uthw̥ark
Thames¹	Th̥ämes
Thames²	Thames
Worcestershire	Worce̥stershi̤re*			[Eap](or=‹o͝o›)

¹ Rivers in England and Canada, town in New Zealand.

² River in Connecticut.

Appendix

Abbreviations and Symbols

element	description
D‍-less	Diacriticless spelling. (This is how standard English spelling – which very rarely uses diacritics – is referred to in EwD didactics.)
EwD	English with Diacritics
E‍wD L1	EwD Level 1 spelling
E‍wD L1+	EwD Level 1+ spelling
E‍wD L2	EwD Level 2 spelling
E‍wD L3	EwD Level 3 spelling
<	Equal to the previous level.
[empty cell]	Equal to the last non-empty cell to the left.
n.	noun
adj.	adjective
v.	verb
pr.	present
p.	past
e‍tc.	any other grammatical class
Et(n)	Etymology n
//	Same tag as the word above.

tag	description
G‍A	General American accent
G‍B	General British accent (aka Received Pronunciation – RP)
Et(n)	Etymology n
[E‍ap]	Exception, all pronunciations
[E‍sp]	Exception, some pronunciations
[A‍ltS]	Alternative Spellings
[A‍S]	American spelling
[B‍S]	British spelling
[D‍C]	Didactic Combo
[D‍S]	Didactic Single
[M‍P]	Minimal Pair
[H‍ph]	Homophones
[H‍phsp]	Homophones only in specific pronunciation(s).
[H‍gr]	Homographs
[N‍e]	Neutralization
[T‍L]	Trisyllabic Laxing
[T‍LP]	Trisyllabic Laxing Pair
[T‍LE]	Trisyllabic Laxing Exception
[G‍e]	Gemination
[S‍c]	Sciences
[F‍E]	False Etymology

Words in EwD - Didactic Groups

Introduction

Pronunciation Rules

EwD Levels

L1+ spellings

Corpus

Didactic Combos [D‍C]

Didactic Singles [D‍S]

Very Common Words

Unstressed

Stressed

Minimal Pairs [M‍P]

Homophones [H‍ph]

Homographs [H‍gr]

Alternative Spellings [A‍ltS]

Neutralization [N‍e]

Trisyllabic Laxing [T‍L]

Trisyllabic Laxing Pairs [T‍LP]

Trisyllabic Laxing Exceptions [T‍LE]

Gemination [G‍e]

Sciences [S‍c]

False Etymology [F‍E]

Fun words

Appendix

Abbreviations and Symbols

Tags