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Difficulty: Very hardMonophthongs (Pure Vowels)

English orthography frequently masks the underlying phonetic structure of words through deceptive spelling patterns. Which of the following words contains the exact same monophthong (pure vowel) sound as the underlined letter in c<u>o</u>lonel?

  1. scourgeAnswer
  2. B
    colonial
  3. C
    cough
  4. D
    colander

Answer

The word containing the exact same monophthong sound is 'scourge'.
In the word 'colonel' (/ˈkɜːn.əl/), the first vowel sound represented by the letter 'o' is the long central monophthong /ɜː/. The word 'scourge' (/skɜːdʒ/) also uses the monophthong /ɜː/ represented by the spelling 'our'. Thus, both words share the exact same pure vowel sound.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Determine the phonetic transcription and specific monophthong in the target word.
The word 'colonel' is transcribed phonetically as /ˈkɜːn.əl/. The underlined letter 'o' represents the long central monophthong /ɜː/.
Identify the underlying target vowel sound independent of orthographic representation.
2
Analyze the vowel sounds in each of the given options.
'scourge' contains /ɜː/ (/skɜːdʒ/), 'colonial' contains /əʊ/ (/kəˈləʊniəl/), 'cough' contains /ɒ/ (/kɒf/), and 'colander' contains /ɒ/ (/ˈkɒlɪndə/).
Isolate the primary monophthong or diphthong sound present in each candidate option.
3
Match the target monophthong /ɜː/ to the correct option.
'scourge' is the only option that shares the monophthong /ɜː/.
Both words feature the same long central unrounded pure vowel.

Key Concept

Monophthongs (Pure Vowels)
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Topics

Monophthongs (Pure Vowels)

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