How many phonemes are in the word gopher?

Answer 1

This depends on the country and region.

In American English, wherever there is a strong rhotic accent, there are five distinct speech sounds - g / o / ph/ e / r. The 'ph' forms a blend with a single phoneme, or speech sound.

However, in non-rhotic accents such as Australian English, for example, there are just four, as the "r" is not emphasised, and the final two letters from a schwa, or unstressed syllable with a single speech sound. The phonemes are g / o / ph/ er.

Answer 2

4