In the word spoon, which part is the rime?

In the word spoon, which part is the rime?

• A. onset
• B. rime
• C. phoneme
• D. grapheme

Answer: (B)

The part after the initial consonant cluster that carries the vowel and any following consonants is the rime. In spoon, the starting consonants "sp" form the onset, and the rest of the syllable—"oon"—is the rime, since it includes the vowel sound "oo" and the final consonant "n." This rime is what you’d hear in rhymes with moon or soon, showing how the same rime can appear in different words. Phoneme is the smallest sound unit, and grapheme is the written letter or letter combination, so they don’t describe the part of the word after the onset.

The part after the initial consonant cluster that carries the vowel and any following consonants is the rime. In spoon, the starting consonants "sp" form the onset, and the rest of the syllable—"oon"—is the rime, since it includes the vowel sound "oo" and the final consonant "n." This rime is what you’d hear in rhymes with moon or soon, showing how the same rime can appear in different words. Phoneme is the smallest sound unit, and grapheme is the written letter or letter combination, so they don’t describe the part of the word after the onset.