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Difficulty: Very hardConsonant Sounds

From the words lettered A to D, choose the word that has the SAME CONSONANT SOUND as the one represented by the letter(s) underlined in the word: of.

  1. StephenAnswer
  2. B
    off
  3. C
    orphan
  4. D
    cough

Answer

The word containing the same consonant sound is 'Stephen'.
The underlined letter 'f' in 'of' represents the voiced labiodental fricative consonant sound /v/. Among the options, the word 'Stephen' also produces the /v/ sound for its digraph 'ph', making it the correct phonetic match.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the phonetic consonant sound of the underlined letter in the target word.
The letter 'f' in the word 'of' is phonetically transcribed as the voiced labiodental fricative /v/.
English orthography uses the letter 'f' to represent /v/ in the preposition 'of'.
2
Analyze the phonetic realization of the target consonant sounds in each option.
'Stephen' is transcribed as /ˈstiːvn/ with /v/; 'off' is /ɒf/ with /f/; 'orphan' is /ˈɔːfən/ with /f/; 'cough' is /kɒf/ with /f/.
Distinguishing between voiced /v/ and voiceless /f/ is necessary to identify the exact match.
3
Match the sound /v/ from the stem to the corresponding option.
'Stephen' shares the identical /v/ consonant sound.
Both 'of' and 'Stephen' utilize the voiced consonant sound /v/ despite using different orthographic spellings ('f' and 'ph').

Key Concept

Voiced vs. Voiceless Consonant Sounds and Non-standard Orthographic Realizations (/v/ vs /f/)
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Topics

Consonant Sounds

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