What is the first sound in the word 'pump'?

What is the first sound in the word 'pump'?

• A. /p/
• B. /m/
• C. /u/
• D. /b/

Answer: (A)

Identifying the first sound in a spoken word is about recognizing the initial phoneme that starts the word. In “pump,” the very first sound is /p/, a voiceless bilabial stop produced by bringing the lips together and releasing a momentary burst of air without vibrating the vocal cords. The rest of the word contains /ʌ/ (the vowel sound after the first consonant) and the final /mp/ cluster, but the first sound you hear is /p/. The other options don’t fit because /m/ is a different lip-based sound produced with the mouth closed and air through the nose, /b/ is the voiced counterpart of /p/, and /u/ is a vowel sound, not a consonant. So the initial sound is /p/.

Identifying the first sound in a spoken word is about recognizing the initial phoneme that starts the word. In “pump,” the very first sound is /p/, a voiceless bilabial stop produced by bringing the lips together and releasing a momentary burst of air without vibrating the vocal cords. The rest of the word contains /ʌ/ (the vowel sound after the first consonant) and the final /mp/ cluster, but the first sound you hear is /p/. The other options don’t fit because /m/ is a different lip-based sound produced with the mouth closed and air through the nose, /b/ is the voiced counterpart of /p/, and /u/ is a vowel sound, not a consonant. So the initial sound is /p/.