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Difficulty: Very hardMonophthongs (Pure Vowels)

Identify the word from the options provided that contains the exact monophthong sound represented by the underlined letters in the word s<u>er</u>geant.

  1. reservoirAnswer
  2. B
    term
  3. C
    serge
  4. D
    pierce

Answer

The word containing the identical monophthong sound as 'sergeant' is 'reservoir'.
In Received Pronunciation, the underlined letters 'er' in 'sergeant' are pronounced as the long open back unrounded monophthong /ɑː/. The word 'reservoir' (/ˈrezəvwɑː/) also ends with this identical pure vowel sound.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Isolate and transcribe the target monophthong sound in the stem word.
The underlined spelling pattern 'er' in 'sergeant' (/ˈsɑːdʒənt/) represents the long open back unrounded monophthong /ɑː/.
English orthography is non-phonetic; 'er' in 'sergeant' is an exceptional spelling rule producing /ɑː/ rather than the typical /ɜː/.
2
Analyze the phonetic realization of the vowel sounds in each option.
'reservoir' = /ˈrezəvwɑː/ (contains /ɑː/), 'term' = /tɜːm/ (contains /ɜː/), 'serge' = /sɜːdʒ/ (contains /ɜː/), 'pierce' = /pɪəs/ (contains /ɪə/).
Matching requires identifying the precise International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) pure vowel symbol for each word in Standard British RP.
3
Select the option that matches the target monophthong /ɑː/.
'reservoir' ends with the exact monophthong /ɑː/.
Both 'sergeant' and 'reservoir' share the pure long vowel sound /ɑː/.

Key Concept

Phonetic identification of pure monophthong /ɑː/ across irregular orthographic representations
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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Topics

Monophthongs (Pure Vowels)

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