The Four-Part Processor in action
What do the four processors do when confronted with a word?
spell the word 'kicked'
Phonological Processor
- There are 4 phonemes are heard in the word ‘kicked’
- /k/i/k/t/
- The middle vowel sound is short.
Orthographic Processor
- The letters <ck> never appear at the start of a word.
- The initial letters, <ki>, are plausible here but <ci> are not.
Meaning/morphological Processor
- 'kicked' = past tense
- Base word is 'kick'. To strike with the foot.
- To mark the past tense, the letters <-ed> are needed and not the letter <t>.
Meaning Processor
Context Processor
- Does <kicked> make sense in the context of this sentence?
Context Processor
Back to the Meaning Processor...
- 'kicked' = past tense
- Base word is 'kick'.
- to strike with the foot [nice kick!]
- to function with vitality and energy [alive and kicking]
- to recoil when fired [his shoulder ached from the shotgun kick]
- to go from one place to another as circumstance or whim dictates [just for kicks]
- to run at a faster speed during the last part of a race [the final kick made all the difference]
- to remove from a position or status [kicked off the team]
- to heap reproaches upon (oneself) [don't kick yourself]
- to free oneself of something [kick the habit]
- the point at which something has been totally exhausted [dude, this keg is kicked]
- not to be confused with 'kicks' [sneakers/shoes]
The keg is kicked.