How many voiced phonemes are in the word 'sphinx'?

Study for the Structured Literacy Test. Explore flashcards and multiple choice questions, each with hints and explanations. Get ready for your exam!

In the word 'sphinx', there are actually three voiced phonemes. A voiced phoneme is one that is produced with the vibration of the vocal cords.

To break it down, 'sphinx' can be phonetically transcribed as /s/ /f/ /ɪ/ /ŋ/ /k/s. In this transcription, the sounds /s/, /f/, /k/ are voiceless, meaning they do not use the vocal cords for sound production. The only voiced sound in this word is the vowel /ɪ/, which is produced with vocal cord vibration.

Therefore, the correct understanding of the phonemic structure leads us to conclude that the total number of voiced phonemes in the word 'sphinx' is one. This highlights the importance of analyzing each sound in words to appropriately identify voiced versus voiceless phonemes.

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