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Difficulty: Very hardMonophthongs (Pure Vowels)

Match each of the following English words featuring deceptive orthography to the correct International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) symbol representing its stressed monophthong (pure vowel) sound.

  • quay/i:/
  • bury/e/
  • plait/æ/
  • bosom/ʊ/

Answer

The correct pairings are: 'quay' matches /i:/, 'bury' matches /e/, 'plait' matches /æ/, and 'bosom' matches /ʊ/.
Each target word exhibits non-standard grapheme-to-phoneme mapping: 'quay' corresponds to /i:/, 'bury' corresponds to /e/, 'plait' corresponds to /æ/, and 'bosom' corresponds to /ʊ/.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Determine the phonetic transcription of 'quay'.
'quay' is transcribed as /ki:/.
The digraph 'ay' in 'quay' represents the long pure vowel /i:/ rather than the diphthong /eɪ/.
2
Determine the phonetic transcription of 'bury'.
'bury' is transcribed as /ˈber.i/.
The vowel letter 'u' in 'bury' produces the short front monophthong /e/, making it a homophone of 'berry'.
3
Determine the phonetic transcription of 'plait'.
'plait' is transcribed as /plæt/.
The digraph 'ai' in 'plait' produces the short open front monophthong /æ/, rhyming with 'flat'.
4
Determine the phonetic transcription of 'bosom'.
'bosom' is transcribed as /ˈbʊz.əm/.
The letter 'o' in the stressed syllable of 'bosom' produces the short near-back rounded monophthong /ʊ/.

Key Concept

Orthographic Discrepancies in English Monophthongs
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Topics

Monophthongs (Pure Vowels)

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