Using the Word List Generator

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The Word List Generator allows users to search through the dailycues Cued English Dictionary to create a list of words that fit certain criteria.

Search Syntax

Search Syntax refers to the symbols and their order used to specify the features for word that you want to include in your list. You can look for words that start with, contain, or end with certain sounds or types of sounds (e.g., a list of words that contain /g/ somewhere in the word.) You can also create lists that specify certain kinds of consonant-vowel constructions (e.g., CVC words like bat, cat, goat, goat, home, yolk). You may also search for words by cues (e.g., words that contain handshape 1, 2, 3 and the mouth placement). This feature is useful for instructors preparing introductory materials and for students new to the system. The symbols are used to build a search expression which is the actual command you provide that specifies exactly what kinds of words should populate your list.

Limiting the Scope of Your Word List

All searches begin by limiting of the scope of your search expression as Starts With, Contains, Ends With, or Exactly.

Starts With

Select "Starts With" to specify what comes at the beginning of a word. For example, to find all words that begin with /m/, you would use "Starts With" and type "m" into the search box. This will create a list of all words that start with /m/ listed in alphabetical order. For example, (mad, magic, many, mass, mast, mat, mats, etc.)

Contains

Select "Contains" to specify what the features you want to occur anywhere in the word. For example, to find all words that contain /m/, you would use "Contains" and type "m" into the search box. This will create a list (in alphabetical order) of all words that have /m/ somewhere in the word. (e.g., amicable, imagine, magic, mat, tram, etc.)

Ends With

Select "Ends With" to specify what comes at the end of a word. For example, to find all words that end with /m/, you would use "Ends With" and type "m" into the search box. This will create a list of all words that end with /m/ listed in alphabetical order (e.g., am, beam, brim, came, dam, damn, film, firm, gum, home, etc.) Note that all the examples end with the phoneme /m/ eventhough they do not all end with the letter "m".

Exactly

Select "Exactly" to limit your list to only those features you specify. If you selected "Exactly" and typed /m/ into the search box (as in previous examples), you would not generate any words since no words in English are exactly made up of only /m/. 

Search Symbols

_ (Underscore)

$ (Dollar Sign)

The symbol $ is used to stand for any one single consonant. 

@ (The At Symbol)

The symbol @ is used to stand for any one single vowel. For example, a seach for Exactly "b@" would find all words that start with the phoneme /b/ followed by any single vowel: bay, bee, bough, bow, boy, bur, bye, etc.

$( ) (Dollar Sign Followed by Parentheses)

@( ) (The At Symbol Followed by Parentheses)

To limit the consonants in a search expressions, name list the consonants, separated by commas, and place them in parentheses immediately following the $ symbol. For example, the expression Exactly $@$(t,d) would look for all words that start with any consonant, followed by any vowel, and end with only one of the consonants /t/, /b/, or /d/. The list of words would include: bad, bat, bead, bird, boat, bud, but, cat, coat, dad, fad, fat, feat, feed, feet, gate, get, goat, god, gout, etc.

1 (Number One)

Use 1 to stand for any single phoneme cued by handshape 1. For example, the search expression Exactly 1@1 would generate a list of words where the first phoneme is any consonant cued by handshape 1, followed by any vowel, and ending with one consonant cued by handshape 1. The list of words word include: dad, deed, deep, did, dud, dude, pad, paid, pawed, pod, etc.

2 (Number Two)

Use 2 to stand for any single phoneme cued by handshape 2. For example, the search expression Exactly 2@ would generate a list of words where the first phoneme is any consonant cued by handshape 2, followed by any vowel. The list of words word include: caw, coo, cow, coy, K, key, the, thee, they, though, V, vie, etc.

3 (Number Three)

Use 3 to stand for any single phoneme cued by handshape 3. For example, the search expression Exactly 3@ would generate a list of words where the first phoneme is any consonant cued by handshape 3, followed by any vowel. The list of words word include: hay, he, hi, hoe, how, raw, ray, row, rye, say, see, sigh, sir, so, sow, etc.

4 (Number Four)

Use 4 in a search expression to stand for any single phoneme cued by handshape 4. For example, the search expression Exactly 4@4 would generate a list of words where the first phoneme is any consonant cued by handshape 4, followed by any vowel, and ending with one consonant cued by handshape 4. The list of words word include: babe, bean, bib, bob, bub, burn, naan, nine, none, noon, when, etc.

5 one single phoneme from handshape 5

6 one single phoneme from handshape 6

7 one single phoneme from handshape 7

8 (Number Eight)

Use 8 in a search expression to stand for any single phoneme cued by handshape 8. For example, the search expression Contains 8 would generate a list of any words that, when cued,  contain at least one occurence of handshape 8. The list of words word include: aching, chart, chop, hitting, itch, sing, song, thing, thank, yarn, yellow, etc.

M (Capital M)

Use M in your search expression to stand for one single phoneme cued by the mouth placement. For example, a search for: Exactly "bMd" would look for words that begin with /b/, followed by a vowel from the mouth placement, and end with /d/. The word list would contain the words bead and bird.

C (Capital C)

Use C in your search expression to stand for one single phoneme cued by the chin placement. For example, the search expression Exactly "sCz" would look for words that begin with /s/, followed by any one vowel cued by the chin placement, and ending with /z/. The word list would include: saws, says, sues, etc.

T (Capital T)

Use T in your search expression to stand for one single phoneme cued by the throat placement. For example, the search expression Exactly 3T1 would look for words that, when cued, begin with handshape 2, followed by any one vowel cued by the throat placement, and ending with handshape 1. The word list would include: had, hid, hood, rad, rid, sad, sap, sip, Syd, etc.

SF (Capital SF)C one single phoneme from
T one single phoneme from
SF one single phoneme from
SD one single phoneme from
SA

(CT) (Capital CT in parentheses)

Use (CT) in your search expression to stand for one single phoneme cued by the chin-throat diphtong. For example, a search for: Exactly "b(CT)" would look for words that begin with /b/, followed by a vowel cued by a chin-throat diphthong. The word list would contain the words bay and boy.

(ST) (Capital ST in Parentheses)

Use (ST) in your search expression to stand for one single phoneme cued by the side-throat diphtong. For example, a search for: Exactly "b(ST)" would look for words that begin with /b/, followed by a vowel cued by a side-throat diphthong. The word list would contain the words bough and bye.

 

* (Asterisk) 

Use *, an asterisk, in your search expression to stand for a single occurence of the flick. For example, a search for: Contains * would look for all words that contain a flick somewhere in the word.

*[ ]

Specify handshape that gets flicked

Combining Search Symbols/ Sample Search Strings

  • Words starting with br
  • Any words with flicks

 

Saving Searches

Sharing Searches

Once you generate a list, you can share it with others. This is a useful tool for instructors to