chirp
PronouncedCHERP
nounA short, sharp sound made by a bird or insect.
verbTo make a short, sharp sound like a bird or cricket.
verbTo speak in a high, quick voice.
Syllables
1 syllable
Letters
Phonics breakdown
Phonics Rule: CH Digraph
Sound“ch”·/tʃ/
C and H together make a new sound: “ch”, like in 'chop' and 'much'.
When C and H are together, they don't say /k/ + /h/. They make a completely new sound: “ch”. This is called a digraph — two letters making one sound.
Tip
CH — choo choo goes the train!
Examples
Phonics Rule: R-Controlled IR
Sound“er”·/ɜːr/
When R comes after I, it makes the “er” sound, like in 'bird' and 'first'.
IR makes the same “er” sound as ER and UR. There's no difference in pronunciation — only in spelling.
Tip
The bird in a shirt says “er”!
Examples
Phonics Rule: Letter P
Sound“p”·/p/
The letter P makes the /p/ sound, like in 'pan', 'pig', and 'pot'. Both lips press together then pop open.
P is a voiceless bilabial stop — both lips press together and release with a puff of air but no voice. It pairs with B (which is the voiced version of the same mouth position).
Tip
P pops open — press your lips and let it POP!
Examples
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