In the context of language development, how many graphemes are present in the English word 'weight'?

• A. Six
• B. Four
• C. Five
• D. Seven

Answer: (C)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Understand that a grapheme is the smallest unit of a writing system of any given language, representing a single sound (phoneme) or a combination of letters that correspond to a single sound.
2. Look at the word 'weight' and identify the individual letters: w, e, i, g, h, t.
3. Recognize that some letters combine to form a single grapheme representing one sound. In 'weight', the letters 'igh' combine to represent a single vowel sound.
4. Break down the word into graphemes: 'w', 'ei' (which together represent a single vowel sound), 'gh' (silent but part of the grapheme), and 't'. However, since 'ei' and 'gh' function together in the pronunciation, consider how many distinct graphemes they form.
5. Count the total graphemes based on the phoneme-to-grapheme correspondence, which leads to five graphemes in the word 'weight'.