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Question

Difficulty: HardDiphthongs

Consider the phonetic structure of the word bough. Which candidate word is pronounced using the exact same diphthong vowel sound?

  1. droughtAnswer
  2. B
    dough
  3. C
    rough
  4. D
    through

Answer

The word 'drought' is the correct answer because it contains the diphthong /aʊ/, matching 'bough'.
The word 'bough' is phonetically transcribed as /baʊ/, featuring the diphthong /aʊ/. Among the given choices, 'drought' (/draʊt/) is the only word that shares this exact diphthong sound.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the phonetic vowel sound in the target word 'bough'.
The word 'bough' is transcribed phonetically as /baʊ/, containing the diphthong /aʊ/.
Accurate sound identification requires isolating the glide sound represented by the letter sequence '-ough' in 'bough'.
2
Transcribe and analyze the vowel sounds of each provided option.
'drought' is /draʊt/ (/aʊ/), 'dough' is /dəʊ/ (/əʊ/), 'rough' is /rʌf/ (/ʌ/), and 'through' is /θruː/ (/uː/).
English spelling can be deceptive; the grapheme '-ough' yields multiple distinct monophthongs and diphthongs across different words.
3
Match the target diphthong /aʊ/ with the corresponding word choice.
'drought' shares the exact /aʊ/ diphthong sound with 'bough'.
Only 'drought' replicates the precise two-target vowel glide /aʊ/.

Key Concept

Identification and phonetic matching of the English diphthong /aʊ/
Estimated Time:1m 30s
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Topics

Diphthongs

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