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Question

Difficulty: MediumMonophthongs (Pure Vowels)

Match each given English word on the left with the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) symbol on the right that represents its main monophthong (pure vowel) sound.

  • suite/iː/
  • tomb/uː/
  • wolf/ʊ/
  • friend/e/

Answer

'suite' matches /iː/, 'tomb' matches /uː/, 'wolf' matches /ʊ/, and 'friend' matches /e/.
Each word maps directly to its corresponding IPA monophthong based on standard Received Pronunciation: 'suite' contains /iː/, 'tomb' contains /uː/, 'wolf' contains /ʊ/, and 'friend' contains /e/.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Transcribe the pronunciation of each target word to isolate its pure vowel sound.
'suite' -> /swiːt/, 'tomb' -> /tuːm/, 'wolf' -> /wʊlf/, 'friend' -> /frend/.
English orthography is irregular, so phonetic transcription is necessary to identify the exact monophthong quality.
2
Map each word's core vowel sound to its appropriate IPA symbol.
/iː/ for 'suite', /uː/ for 'tomb', /ʊ/ for 'wolf', /e/ for 'friend'.
Distinguishing long vs. short pure vowels ensures correct pairing with standard IPA notation.

Key Concept

Phonetic Symbol to Monophthong Sound Matching in English Orthography
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Topics

Monophthongs (Pure Vowels)

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