Change A Little,
Change A Lot Challenge
Example Word Pairs
The SpecGram Überlinguistaffen
& Ulfheðnar ber Sarkur
See the introductory article earlier in this issue for all the details, but the word pairs below show a large difference in pronunciation despite only differing by one letter—either added/subtracted or changed.
The words are grouped thematically, though somewhat haphazardly. As always, your dialect and/or transcription system may vary.
Related Words—often derivational affixes change the stress pattern in a word, causing most or all of the vowels to change:
| academe | academy |
| academics | academies |
| analyses (n.) | analyzes (v.) |
| attributes (n.) | attributed (v.) |
| auditors | auditory |
| concerto | concerts |
| depositors | depository |
| devoted | devotee |
| economics | economies |
| photographs | photography |
| product | produce (v.) |
| product | produce (n.) |
| specifics | specifies |
Names—possibly not fair, but there are some good ones.
| Arabia | Arabic |
| Anastasia | Anastasio |
| Agnes | ages |
| Bach | each |
| Boucher | voucher |
| Desiree | desired |
| Desiree | desires |
| Evangelista | evangelists |
| Gieger | ginger |
| Jung | Juno |
| Leah | yeah |
| Manx | many |
| Thai | thaw |
Short Words—when there are only three or four sounds and letters (or fewer!) involved, any change is, proportionately, a big one!
| abed | aced |
| abed | axed |
| ace | are |
| aches | ashes |
| aged | axed |
| ape/ate | are |
| ape/ate | aye |
| as | us |
| away | awry |
| awe | aye |
| awe | owe |
| awed | aced |
| awed | axed |
| bra | era |
| chef | chew |
| chem | chez |
| cher | chew |
| chew | chez |
| chic | chin |
| chic | chip |
| chow | show |
| chow | crow |
| do | so |
| ear | eat |
| ease | base |
| ere | eve |
| four | sour |
| gets | gels |
| gets | gems |
| huge | hug |
| how | low |
| if | of |
| key | hey |
| lire | wire |
| oar | our |
| ode | ore |
| of | on |
| of | or |
| off | of |
| oft | of |
| ouch | och |
| oui | our |
| oui | out |
| our | or |
| our | out |
| owl | own |
| rho | who |
| say | shy |
| sew | new |
| she | sue |
| shoe | hoe |
| show | how |
| shy | soy |
| sire | sure |
| sour | your |
| sure | sue |
| sure | surf |
| tee | the (/ðə/) |
| than | thaw |
| the | tie |
| the | toe |
| thew | they |
| tho | too |
| thy | toy |
| use | us |
| way | wry |
| who | why |
| whoa | who |
| whoa | whom |
| ye | bye |
| yes | ayes |
| yes | eyes |
Vowels vs Consonants—you often get some pretty big changes when you change a consonant to a vowel or vice versa:
| aroused | groused |
| based | eased |
| bonk | bony |
| busy | busk |
| busy | bust |
| chaos | chaps |
| chaos | chats |
| chase | chasm |
| chemise | chemist |
| chorale | chortle |
| cues | cups |
| cues | cuts |
| dunes | dunks |
| eases | gases |
| genie | genre |
| herb | hero |
| horsed | housed |
| hues | huts |
| mines | minks |
| months | mouths |
| muse | musk |
| muse | must |
| oases | vases |
| pates | paths |
| pines | pinks |
| punk | puny |
| resigned | resignee |
| rises | risks |
| ruses | rusts |
| tales | talks |
| whore | whorl |
| wines | winks |
| wings | winos |
| wink | wino |
More examples—generally consonant-to-consonant or plus/minus a consonant, arranged short to long:
| surge | sure |
| thank | than |
| angel | anger |
| bough | dough |
| dough | tough |
| echos | ethos |
| gouge | rouge |
| theme | there |
| there | therm |
| thine | thing |
| thine | think |
| youse | mouse |
| though | tough |
| boughs | coughs |
| boughs | toughs |
| cerise | derise |
| exiled | exited |
| mature | nature |
| pathos | patios |
| shough | though |
| youths | mouths |
| excited | exited |
| forgets | forges |
| thought | though |
| through | though |
| ballets | wallets |
| congest | longest |
| recipes | recites |
| regimen | regimes |
| schisms | schists |
| carousel | carouse |
| massages | passages |
| encourages | entourages |
| depreciated | deprecated |
Homographs—here we have some words that are spelled the same but pronounced differently, preferably very differently!
| anencephalic | /ænɛnsəfælɪk/ | /ænɪnsɛfəlɪk/ |
| archipelago | /ɑrkəpɛləgo/ | /ɑrt͡ʃəpəlego/ |
| aspirants | /æspɚənts/ | /əspaɪrəns/ |
| filleted | /fəled/ | /fɪlətɪd/ |
| kilometer | /kəlɑmətɚ/ | /kɪləmitɚ/ |
| leverage | /livɚɪd͡ʒ/ | /lɛvrəd͡ʒ/ |
| madame | /mædəm/ | /mədæm/ |
| minute | /maɪnjut/ | /mɪnət/ |
| oaths | /oðz/ | /oθs/ |
| paths | /pæðz/ | /pæθs/ |
| pecan | /pəkɑn/ | /pɪkæn/ |
| pecan | /pikɑn/ | /pɪkæn/ |
| record | /rəkɔrd/ | /rɛkɚd/ |
| resume | /rɛzəme/ | /rɪzum/ |
| unionized | /junjənaɪzd/ | /ənaɪənaɪzd/ |
| vase | /ves/ | /vɑz/ |
| vases | /vesəz/ | /vɑzɪz/ |
Homographic Anagrams—some of the homographic alternations are anagrams of each other!
| academicians | /ækədəmɪʃənz/ | /əkædəmɪʃənz/ |
| aggrandizement | /ægrəndaɪzmənt/ | /əgrændaɪzmənt/ |
| aggrandizing | /ægrəndaɪzɪŋ/ | /əgrændaɪzɪŋ/ |
| behemoth | /bihəməθ/ | /bəhiməθ/ |
| occasionally | /əkežnəli/ | /əkežənli/ |
| personally | /pɚsnəli/ | /pɚsənli/ |
| madame | /mædəm/ | /mədæm/ |
| sophisticated | /səfɪstəketɪd/ | /səfɪstɪketəd/ |
For even more fun, look for word pairs that differ by one phone and/or homophones with the maximum spelling differences!
