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Difficulty: MediumRhymes and Sound Matching

Select the word that produces an exact phonetic rhyme with phlegm.

  1. A
    realm
  2. gemAnswer
  3. C
    gleam
  4. D
    phlegmatic

Answer

gem
The target word 'phlegm' is pronounced /flɛm/, where the 'g' is silent. The word 'gem' is pronounced /dʒɛm/. Both words share the exact same nuclear vowel /ɛ/ and final nasal consonant /m/, creating a perfect phonetic end rhyme.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Determine the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) transcription of the target word
The target word 'phlegm' has a silent letter 'g' and is pronounced as /flɛm/.
Identifying silent letters is essential to determining the true phonetic ending sound of a word.
2
Transcribe the given option choices to isolate their ending vowel and consonant sounds
'realm' = /rɛlm/, 'gem' = /dʒɛm/, 'gleam' = /ɡliːm/, 'phlegmatic' = /flɛɡˈmætɪk/.
Rhymes depend on matching identical vowel-consonant final sound combinations regardless of spelling.
3
Match the target word's final sound sequence /ɛm/ with the corresponding option
'gem' (/dʒɛm/) perfectly matches 'phlegm' (/flɛm/).
Both words end in the identical phonetic pattern /ɛm/.

Key Concept

Phonetic End Rhymes and Silent Consonants
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Topics

Rhymes and Sound Matching

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