This question below is from my English book exercise:
Choose the word whose underlined part is pronounced differently from that of the other words
a. exactly
b. exist
c. exhaust
d. extinct
(Because I couldn't underline the part of each word in this post, I made it bold)
After trying reading aloud each word a few times, I couldn't notice any differences of the above 'ex' parts. Then I looked it up in Oxford Dictionary and it showed each word's phonetic transciption like this:
a. exactly /ɪɡˈzæktli/
b. exist /ɪɡˈzɪst/
c. exhaust /ɪɡˈzɔːst/
d. extinct /ɪkˈstɪŋkt/
If the /ɪɡ/ and /ɪk/ are at the end of the word, like 'big' or 'tick', I can see the differences and pronounce them easily. However, in the exercise, it seems to me that the /ɡ/ and /k/ of all the words are canceled or silent.
Could you advise me on whether I'm correct or not in this case?
/k/
or/g/
. – LMS Jan 8 '17 at 16:19