WAEC 2019 English Language · Question 127

/ɪə/ — Choose the word that contains the sound represented by the given phonetic symbol

Question

Choose the word that contains the sound represented by the given phonetic symbol. /ɪə/

A.care
B.delicate
C.crate
D.fears

Answer: D. fears

Explanation written with AI and checked against the answer key

Analyze the question: You are asked to find the word containing the diphthong /ɪə/. This is the sound in words like here, beer, and idea.

Concept: /ɪə/ is a centring diphthong. It begins with the short "i" sound /ɪ/ and glides to the weak vowel /ə/. It is commonly spelled ear, eer, ere or ier, as in near, deer, sphere and pier.

Check each option:

A. care is /keə/. It has the diphthong /eə/, as in air and hair. This is not /ɪə/.
B. delicate is /ˈdelɪkət/. It has the short vowels /e/, /ɪ/ and /ə/ in separate syllables. These do not form the diphthong /ɪə/.
C. crate is /kreɪt/. It has the diphthong /eɪ/, as in day. This is not /ɪə/.
D. fears is /fɪəz/. The "ear" spelling gives /ɪə/, the same sound as in ears and tears (crying).

Answer: D. fears contains /ɪə/.

Tip: Watch the spelling patterns. ear (as in fear) and eer usually give /ɪə/, while are and air usually give /eə/. Also, do not mistake the separate sounds /ɪ/ and /ə/ in a word like delicate for the diphthong. A diphthong is a single glide within one syllable.

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