Language Lab - Textbook

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Last edited 11 days ago by Learn LoopHQ.

Chapter: 08. Ode To A Butterfly

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Language Lab: Understanding Silent /gh/ Sounds

Welcome to the Language Lab! Today, we’re going to explore a common feature in English spelling: the silent ‘/gh/’ sound.

You might have noticed that in many English words, the letters ‘g’ and ‘h’ appear together, but you don’t actually hear them when you say the word aloud. This happens in words like ‘bough’, ‘caught’, ‘bright’, ‘daughter’, ‘dough’, and ‘neighbour’. In these words, the ‘/gh/’ combination is there for historical reasons (often related to old English pronunciation), but over time, the sound it represented has disappeared.

How to self-learn and practice:

Listen Carefully: When you come across a word with ‘/gh/’, first try to say it aloud. Do you hear a ‘g’ sound or an ‘h’ sound? If not, it’s likely silent.

Pronunciation Practice: Practice saying words like ‘light’, ‘night’, ‘high’, ‘though’, ‘through’. Pay attention to how your mouth and tongue move – you’ll notice you skip over any sound for ‘gh’.

Identify Patterns: Often, ‘/gh/’ is silent when it appears:

At the end of a word, especially after a vowel (e.g., high, through, weigh).

In the middle of a word after a vowel (e.g., caught, daughter, neighbour).

Exceptions (when ‘gh’ is not silent): Sometimes, ‘gh’ is pronounced as an /f/ sound, especially at the end of a word (e.g., cough, rough, tough, laugh, enough). This is why the ‘odd one out’ exercise is useful!

Use a Dictionary: If you’re unsure about a word, always look it up in a dictionary. The phonetic transcription will show you exactly how to pronounce it, and you’ll see if the /gh/ makes a sound or not.

By practicing these steps, you’ll become much better at recognizing and correctly pronouncing words with silent /gh/ sounds!

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Read these sets of words aloud. Find the odd one out from each set. (Note: Since the actual word sets were not provided in the original content image, typical examples of such word sets are used below to demonstrate the exercise.)

Set 1: light, night, fight, cough

Answer: cough (In ‘light’, ‘night’, and ‘fight’, the ‘gh’ is silent. In ‘cough’, the ‘gh’ is pronounced like an /f/ sound.)

Set 2: though, through, tough, thought

Answer: tough (In ‘though’, ‘through’, and ‘thought’, the ‘gh’ is silent. In ‘tough’, the ‘gh’ is pronounced like an /f/ sound.)

Set 3: high, sigh, weigh, laugh

Answer: laugh (In ‘high’, ‘sigh’, and ‘weigh’, the ‘gh’ is silent. In ‘laugh’, the ‘gh’ is pronounced like an /f/ sound.)

Set 4: neighbor, straight, plough, enough

Answer: enough (In ‘neighbor’, ‘straight’, and ‘plough’, the ‘gh’ is silent. In ‘enough’, the ‘gh’ is pronounced like an /f/ sound.)

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