0 - 9 Core Consonants / Sounds

Question 1

0

Answer 1

s, soft c, z, x (in xylophone)

Zero begins with z (and /z/). Upper case S and Z, as well as lower case s and z, have zero vertical strokes each, as with the numeral 0. The alveolar fricatives /s/ and /z/ form a voiceless and voiced pair.

Question 2

1

Answer 2

t, d , th (both in thing and this)

Upper case T and D, as well as lower case t and d have one vertical stroke each, as with the numeral 1. The alveolar stops /t/ and /d/ form a voiceless and voiced pair, as do the similar-sounding dental fricatives /θ/ and /ð/, though some variant systems may omit the latter pair.

Question 3

2

Answer 3

n

Upper case N and lower case n each have two vertical strokes and two points on the baseline.

Question 4

3

Answer 4

m

Lower case m has three vertical strokes. Both upper case M and lower case m each have three points on the baseline and look like the numeral 3 on its side.

Question 5

4

Answer 5

r

Four ends with r (and /r/ in rhotic accents).

Question 6

5

Answer 6

L

L is the Roman numeral for 50. Among the five digits of one’s left hand, the thumb and index fingers also form an L.

Question 7

6

Answer 7

ch (in cheese and chef), j, soft g, sh, c (as sounded in cello and special), cz (as sounded in Czech), s (as sounded in tissue and vision), sc (as sounded in fascist), sch (as sounded in schwa and eschew), t (as sounded in ration and equation), tsch (in putsch), z (in seizure)

Upper case G and lower case g look like the numeral 6 flipped horizontally and rotated 180° respectively. Lower case script j tends to have a lower loop, like the numeral 6. In some serif fonts, upper case CH, SH and ZH each have six serifs. The postalveolar affricates /tʃ/ and /dʒ/ form a voiceless and voiced pair, as do the similar-sounding postalveolar fricatives /ʃ/ and /ʒ/. CHurch has six letters.

Question 8

7

Answer 8

k, hard c, q, hard g, ch (as sounded in loch),

Both upper case K and lower case k look like two small 7s on their sides. In some fonts, the lower-right part of the upper case G looks like a 7. G is also the 7th letter of the alphabet. The velar stops /k/ and /ɡ/ form a voiceless and voiced pair.

Question 9

8

Answer 9

f, ph (in phone), v, gh (as sounded in laugh)

Lower case script f, which tends to have an upper and lower loop, looks like a figure-8. The labiodental fricatives /f/ and /v/ form a voiceless and voiced pair.

Question 10

9

Answer 10

p, b

Upper case P and lower case p look like the numeral 9 flipped horizontally. Lower case b looks like the numeral 9 turned 180°. The labial stops /p/ and /b/ form a voiceless and voiced pair.

Question 11

Unassigned

Answer 11

h, y, w, a, e, i, o, u, silent letters, c (in packet and chutzpah), d (in judge), j (in Hallelujah and jalapeno), ll (in tortilla), the first p in sapphire, t (in match), one of doubled letters in most contexts

Vowel sounds, semivowels (/j/ and /w/) and /h/ do not correspond to any number. They can appear anywhere in a word without changing its number value.