The schwa + r sound /ɚ/ is frequently a confusing feature of .

In many situations when a vowel is followed by an /r/, only the /r/ sound is heard. The vowel sound isn’t really heard at all! This is called the schwa + r /ɚ/.

The letter combinations or, er, ur & ir often have the /ɚ/sound. Here are some commonly used words that contain this sound. Even in stressed syllables this sound is fairly short in duration.

    word
    world
    work
    honor
    learn
    perfect
    jury
    sure
    surprise
    girl
    bird

The letter a + /r/ also sounds like /ɚ/ when it occurs in unstressed syllables. Words include: dollar, polar, grammar, collar.

The /ɚ/ creates a syllable but this syllable does not have a clear vowel sound. Please click here if you need to know about the schwa vowel sound.

Tags: , , , ,

Related posts