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Difficulty: HardDiphthongs

Oral English assessments require distinguishing subtle diphthong glides from similar vowel sounds despite misleading spellings. Which word from the given set contains the centring diphthong /eə/?

Answer:In the set of words (*tier*, *pierce*, *scarce*, *sheer*), the word that features the centring diphthong /eə/ is 【scarce】.

Answer

The word containing the centring diphthong /eə/ is 'scarce'.
The word 'scarce' is transcribed phonetically as /skeəs/, which contains the centring diphthong /eə/. By contrast, 'tier' (/tɪə/), 'pierce' (/pɪəs/), and 'sheer' (/ʃɪə/) all contain the centring diphthong /ɪə/.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the phonetic transcription of each word in the set according to Standard Received Pronunciation (RP).
*tier* is pronounced /tɪə/, *pierce* is pronounced /pɪəs/, *sheer* is pronounced /ʃɪə/, and *scarce* is pronounced /skeəs/.
Identifying exact phonetic transcriptions reveals the specific vowel glide present in each candidate word.
2
Compare the vowel sounds against the target centring diphthong /eə/.
The word *scarce* (/skeəs/) contains the glide from /e/ to /ə/ (/eə/), whereas *tier*, *pierce*, and *sheer* all contain the glide /ɪə/.
Comparing the vowel glides confirms that 'scarce' is the only word in the set produced with the /eə/ sound.

Key Concept

Identification of Centring Diphthongs (/eə/ vs /ɪə/)
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Topics

Diphthongs

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