How many phonemes are in the word "sitting"?

In the word "sitting," there are five phonemes: /s/, /ɪ/, /t/, /ɪ/, and /ŋ/. Breaking it down, the initial sound is the /s/ phoneme, followed by the short vowel sound /ɪ/, then the /t/ consonant sound. The next sound is another /ɪ/, and finally, the word ends with the nasal sound /ŋ/ (as in "sing"). Therefore, when counting the distinct sounds in "sitting," we arrive at a total of five phonemes. This understanding of phoneme segmentation is crucial for literacy development, allowing learners to grasp how sounds correspond to letters and contribute to word formation.