< re + source + es >

LEX™ researches and develops a growing selection of print resources to support the study of English orthography.

LEX™ Grapheme Deck

The LEX™ Grapheme Deck, our flagship resource, is a critical tool for the study of the orderly nature of English orthography. Based on linguistic research, the Deck offers a uniquely comprehensive inventory of graphemes in present-day English, including their pronunciation in Englishes around the world, and their etymological roles and relationships. This in-depth inventory is unmatched among word study resources, and provides evidence to help users determine the graphophonemic correspondences within a given word or morpheme.

The LEX™ Grapheme Deck provides meaningful study of the International Phonetic Alphabet for any teacher or student of language. Some language educators may find the deck useful for instruction and practice.

The Deck is organized into four parts:

  • Single vowel & consonant graphemes
  • Consonant digraphs & trigraphs
  • Vowel digraphs & trigraphs
  • Key Cards for IPA

The InSight™ Suite

LEX’™s InSight™ resources support the investigation of common English words, especially those that frequently end up on lists of the so-called “sight words” that other resources always fail to explain. Rather than encouraging blind memorization, the LEX™ InSight™ resources investigate the reasons these words have the spellings and pronunciations they do. Relying on the Four Questions of Structured Word Inquiry, the LEX™ InSight™ Words reveal and systematically reinforce the nature and structure of the writing system, one InSight at a time.

The InSight™ Suite consists of the following resources, each sold separately:

LEX™ InSight™ Word Decks (28 word cards each)

LEX™ InSight™ Word Supplement

LEX™ InSights™ into Inflections

  • Inflection is a change in the form and/or meaning of a word to express a grammatical function, such as a past tense or plural
  • 10 cards deeply investigating how inflection works in English, including the eight lexical inflections of English, pronominal declensions, foreign inflections in English, inflection in general, and a supplement card

LEX™ InSights™ into Auxiliaries

  • Auxiliaries are ‘helping’ verbs, function words used to form the grammatical features of the ‘main’ lexical verb in a verb phrase
  • 15 cards deeply investigating how auxiliaries work in English, including the 3 paradigmatic auxiliaries and 9 modals, studies of verbal constructions, and a supplement card.

Matrix Study Sheets

The Matrix Study Sheets offer teachers and scholars support for morphological and etymological word study.

Volume 1: 25 Lexical Matrices

  • Free base elements including <body> & <love>
  • Bound base elements including <fer> & <gn>
  • Twin base elements including <case~cade> & <move~mote>
  • Etymological relatives & non-relatives
  • Suffix addition patterns
  • Suggestions for further study

Volume 2: 25 Lexical Matrices

  • Expanded format with etymological family circles
  • Free base elements including <phone> & <tract>
  • Bound base elements including <lex> & <techn>
  • Twin base elements including <cape~capt> & <miss~mit>

Other Authors’ Resources

Why is a Tiger a Tiger by Dave Buchen

  • This beautiful soft-cover book presents the stories behind the names of some 70 animals accompanied by striking black and white paper cut illustrations
  • Features animals from around the world with names from Greek, Latin, Algonquin, German, Carib and many other languages
  • A friendly introduction to etymology, the book offers surprising stories of how we name the animals that share our world
  • Also available in Spanish

Teaching How the Written Word Works by Peter Bowers, Ph.D.

  • This 80-page spiral-bound book offers an introduction to the core concepts of how English Spelling works
  • Features a series of lessons designed to help teachers, tutors, and parents make sense of English spelling along with child or adult learners
  • Focuses on morphological analysis with the lexical word matrix and word sum, the central analytical tools of Structured Word Inquiry
  • Includes tools for the study and practice of the 3 suffix addition patterns of English
  • Based on a researched intervention study

Etymology Study Sheets by Scott Mills

  • Offers in-depth study of etymological word families
  • A great introductory resource