Silent E Saves Words from Ending with I, U, or V

Traditional English Words do Not End With I, J, U, or V transcript

Thinking about words like tofu, origami, ski, broccoli, raj, improv, and caribou, shows that words ending with I, J, U, or V, have either been imported from other languages or are new to any language. Of course, there are a couple of exceptions that your students, you, and I just have to live with.

The letters I and Y have a very close relationship. There are some differences in how and when they are used. For example, Y is used instead of I at the end of most words.

Y has a long I sound at the end of one syllable words and in longer words as well: my, try, apply, comply, and identify.

Y represents the long E sound at the end of multi-syllable words when the final syllable is not stressed: honey, many, fluffy, berry, and family.

The final silent E is used to prevent words from ending with the letter I. This can be seen in words such as: pie, tie, prairie, movie, brie, and cookie.

Y is used as a consonant in words like: yo-yo, yet, yack, yum, and yellow.

I is used as a consonant in very few words, including: billion, million, and onion. (Depending on how you pronounce these words.)

Final silent E is also used to prevent words from ending with a U or V. Here are some examples of words that might otherwise end with U or V: have, live, glove, blue, cue, venue, vague, avenue, halve, twelve, solve, and octave.

This excerpt is from Twelve Blue Moose: Reasons for Final Silent E ~ an asynchronous, online professional development course offered by UnCommon-Core.com.