The correct transcription of the word ‘chain’ is

• Let us consider the following points:
  • IPA stands for the International Phonetic Association which was first published in 1888. Its objective is to define sounds of speech that applies to all languages.
  • The transcription shows how the written word pronounced or sounds in written form will.
  • There are two kinds of transcription: first is Allophonic (or narrow) transcription or the sequence of significant functional units and the second is a Phonemic (or broad) transcription.
  • Transcription of the word ‘chain’ is /tʃeɪn/, here, it can be seen that ‘ch’ in the word ‘chain’ is represented as ‘tʃ’ and ‘ai’ is represented as ‘eɪ’ because the phonetic symbol ‘eɪ’ is a diphthong and used whenever there is a sound of ‘ey’, ‘ay’, or ‘ai’. For. e.g. train, say, plane, etc.
  • Note: A diphthong, also known as a gliding vowel, is a combination of two adjacent vowel sounds within the same syllable.

Hence, from the above explanation, it can be concluded that the correct transcription of the word ‘chain’ is /tʃeɪn/.