Final answer:
Understanding the pronunciation of vowels in English requires recognizing patterns like strong vowels followed by stressed weak vowels and rules for doubling consonants when adding vowel-starting suffixes to words ending in CVC patterns, especially when last vowels are stressed.
Step-by-step explanation:
When we analyze the phonetics of English vowels, particularly in spelling patterns, it's important to recognize how vowels can be pronounced in different contexts. A strong vowel followed by a stressed weak vowel can affect the pronunciation and the spelling of a word, especially when it comes to the addition of suffixes. For example, in a word that has a vowel-consonant-vowel (VCV) pattern where the first vowel is strong and stressed, that vowel is typically pronounced with a long vowel sound.
Conversely, in the vowel-consonant-hash (VC#) pattern, where the hash symbol (#) represents the end of a word, and the vowel is stressed, this will generally result in a short vowel sound. Hence, understanding these patterns can greatly assist in determining the pronunciation of vowels in various words. Additionally, there is a rule for word construction when adding suffixes that begin with a vowel: you double the final consonant of a word that ends in a consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) pattern if the last vowel is stressed.