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Question

Difficulty: MediumConsonant Sounds

Pair each word below with the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) symbol that represents the sound of its underlined consonant digraph.

  • chef/ʃ/
  • chasm/k/
  • chore/tʃ/
  • theme/θ/

Answer

'chef' matches /ʃ/, 'chasm' matches /k/, 'chore' matches /tʃ/, and 'theme' matches /θ/.
Each word features a distinct consonant sound for its highlighted digraph: 'chef' produces /ʃ/, 'chasm' produces /k/, 'chore' produces /tʃ/, and 'theme' produces /θ/.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze orthographic origin and pronunciation of 'chef'
Identify that 'chef' retains its French phonetic spelling where 'ch' produces /ʃ/.
Loanwords from French often maintain /ʃ/ for 'ch'.
2
Analyze 'chasm' phonetics
Identify that 'ch' in 'chasm' represents /k/.
Words of Greek origin spelled with 'ch' frequently take the hard /k/ sound.
3
Analyze 'chore' phonetics
Identify that 'ch' in 'chore' represents the regular English affricate /tʃ/.
Native English roots typically render 'ch' as /tʃ/.
4
Analyze 'theme' phonetics
Identify that 'th' in 'theme' is voiceless /θ/ rather than voiced /ð/.
'Theme' is pronounced without vocal cord vibration.

Key Concept

Consonant Digraph Variances and Phonetic Realizations
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Topics

Consonant Sounds

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