What is the alphabetic principle?

• A. A pattern where letters represent only whole words.
• B. A rule that letters do not represent sounds.
• C. The concept that letters and letter patterns represent spoken sounds.
• D. A memory aid for spelling words.

Answer: (C)

The alphabetic principle is the understanding that letters and letter patterns represent the sounds we hear in spoken language. This is the foundation for decoding and spelling: readers blend the sounds of letters and letter groups to form words, and writers map sounds to letters when spelling. It’s about how sounds correspond to letters, not about letters representing whole words, and it’s more than just a memory trick for spelling. Recognizing that letters and patterns carry spoken sounds—even though those sounds can vary by context—captures the essential idea.