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Difficulty: Very hardDiphthongs

In English phonetics, distinguishing diphthongs from monophthongs requires identifying vocalic glides despite deceptive orthography. Which word correctly completes the phonological analysis statement below?

Answer:From the set of words ('yeoman', 'league', 'broad', 'hearth'), the word that contains the diphthong sound /əʊ/ is 【yeoman】.

Answer

yeoman
The word 'yeoman' is pronounced as /ˈjəʊ.mən/, containing the English diphthong /əʊ/ in its initial stressed syllable. The spelling 'eo' is orthographically deceptive, but phonetically it glides from the mid-central vowel /ə/ to the rounded /ʊ/.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Transcribe the phonetic vowel sound of each given candidate word.
'yeoman' is transcribed as /ˈjəʊ.mən/, 'league' as /liːɡ/, 'broad' as /brɔːd/, and 'hearth' as /hɑːθ/.
Phonetic transcription isolates the actual vowel sound from deceptive spelling patterns.
2
Identify the target diphthong /əʊ/ among the transcribed vowels.
The first syllable of 'yeoman' features the diphthong glide /əʊ/.
The vowels in 'league' (/iː/), 'broad' (/ɔː/), and 'hearth' (/ɑː/) are pure monophthongs, whereas 'yeoman' contains a diphthong glide.

Key Concept

Identification of the /əʊ/ diphthong in words with misleading vowel spellings
Estimated Time:1m 15s
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Topics

Diphthongs

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