Word Analysis Activities Prek-12 grade: Divergent

For the lower-level processors (i.e., orthographic & phonological), Moats (2020) asserts that “one can use phonic or dictionary symbols to transcribe the phonetic properties of words, but the disadvantage of such a phonic representation system is that many speech sounds must then be presented with letter combinations…” (pg. 32). 

 We will be analyzing the word divergent in the Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary 11th edition pg. 365.

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The phonetic transcription \də-ˈvər-jənt, dī-\. Note: these variants are based on geographical location and dialects, and for the purposes of this word, I will use the second transcription dī.  

 

1st 
sound 

2nd
sound 

3rd sound 

4th sound 

5th sound 

6th sound 

7th sound 

8th 
sound 

Phonemes

/ī/

 

 

/j/

/ə/

 

 

Graphemes

D

i

v

er

g

e

n

t


These points address what we hear and see when using the dictionaries phonetic symbols (i.e., less than dark print or pronunciation):

·      The first most common way to spell the sound /er/ are with the letters er. There are 14 different spelling patterns for the /er/ sound. This unit is defined as vowel-r (i.e., R-controlled) because the vowel sound is shaped by /r/.

·      The second most common way to spell the /j/ sound is with the letter g. Some refer to this as the soft g, when it is followed by e, i, or y.

 

·      The fourth common way to spell the /ə/ sound is the letter i. 

o   According to Moats (2020) vowels that represent the schwa sound occur in unaccented syllables. Further, “vowel reduction (to schwa) presents a problem for children learning to spell because schwa can be spelled with any of the vowel letters in standard orthography, so students must learn to spelling of vowels on the basis of other, related words or by memorization” (pg. 45). In fact, there are 28 ways to spell the /ə/ sound. 

·      The third most common way to spell the /ə/ sound is the e. The same principle applies above with the schwa. 

·      There are nine letters, but only eight sounds. 

Part 2

 

Students are then exposed to multiple meanings of the vocabulary word, which strengthens the meaning processor through accessing the dictionary definitions. The word is Latin, and the root is *wer- meaning to turn, bend. 

 

Part 3


Therefore, when we critically reflect on the word’s definition and consider all the elements learned, we can put the word into perspective (i.e., context) with the following activity. Direction: read the sentence and write a definition or synonym for the word. Use contexts clue to help you determine the words meaning. 


Sentence: The Senior candidates running for class president wielded divergent views on cigarette smoking and vaping.

Can you think of a sentence using the word? 


Until next time, 


Shawn Anthony Robinson PhD 

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