* s - /s/ (one phoneme)
* ph - /f/ (one phoneme - "ph" is often pronounced as /f/)
* e - /ɪ/ (one phoneme)
* r - /r/ (one phoneme)
* e - /ə/ (one phoneme - the schwa sound)
Therefore, there are 5 phonemes in the word "sphere".
* s - /s/ (one phoneme)
* ph - /f/ (one phoneme - "ph" is often pronounced as /f/)
* e - /ɪ/ (one phoneme)
* r - /r/ (one phoneme)
* e - /ə/ (one phoneme - the schwa sound)
Therefore, there are 5 phonemes in the word "sphere".