irregular

Rule Core

Special phonics refers to letter patterns that break regular phonetic rules, often due to loanwords or historical spelling. Sounds may be reduced, merged, or shifted. In buddhist, the cluster ddh simplifies to /d/, while in pizza, zz becomes /ts/ under Italian influence.

Articulation Guide

Focus on phonemes, not letters. For buddhist, place the tongue on the alveolar ridge for a clean /d/, with no audible /h/. For pizza, start with a brief /t/ stop, then release into /s/, creating a tight affricate.

Word Analysis

• buddhist: /ˈbʊdɪst/, silent h, stress on the first syllable.
• pizza: /ˈpiːtsə/, zz never pronounced /z/.

Pitfall Alert

Avoid letter-by-letter decoding; memorize these as lexical exceptions.