How to pronounce the AIR sound /eə/
/eə/ is a diphthong — a vowel that glides, moving mid front to central (glide). Start on the short E of 'bed', jaw half open. Let the tongue slide back to the middle into a schwa.
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How to make it
- 1Start on the short E of 'bed', jaw half open.
- 2Let the tongue slide back to the middle into a schwa.
- 3Keep the lips relaxed — no rounding anywhere in this sound.
- 4In American English the ending is a full r: 'hair' is said with the r pronounced.
- Lips
- Relaxed throughout.
- Tongue
- Starts mid front, glides back to the centre.
- Jaw
- Half open, closing slightly.
Feel it
Put a hand flat on your throat and say the sound. It should buzz under your fingers from the very start — if the buzz only arrives with the vowel, you are making the voiceless version.Where the sound appears
Keeping it through a whole line
Their parents shared a chair over there.
Be careful where you compare the fair prices.
Minimal pairs to drill
Each of these is two words separated by exactly one sound. If a listener hears the wrong one, the problem is the contrast, not the effort.
If your first language is…
Nothing here is about ability. Every one of these is a sound system doing exactly what it was built to do, applied to a language that asks for something else.
- HindiUrdu
Hindi and Urdu produce a vowel plus a tapped r, so 'hair' separates into two pieces.
- Mandarin
Mandarin has no vowel plus r ending of this kind, so 'hair' tends to lose its ending.
- Japanese
Japanese has no centring diphthong, so 'chair' gains a tap.
- Korean
Korean has no centring diphthong, so the two halves separate.
- Vietnamese
Vietnamese has no centring diphthong of this shape and no final r, so the ending is lost.
- Spanish
Spanish has no centring diphthong, so 'where' becomes an e plus a tapped r.
- French
French has an open e close to the first half, but its back-of-throat r replaces the glide.
- German
German turns a final r into a schwa-like vowel, so this diphthong transfers relatively well.
- Italian
Italian has no centring diphthong and a trilled r, so the ending is very audible.
- Russian
Russian has no centring diphthong and a trilled r, so the ending separates.
- Arabic
Arabic has no centring diphthong, so a long a or e plus a tapped r substitutes.
- Turkish
Turkish has no diphthongs, so 'where' becomes a vowel plus a tap.
Straight answers
Is /eə/ voiced or voiceless?
It is voiced. Put a hand on your throat and say it: you should feel a buzz the whole time. All English vowels are voiced, so the question only really separates the consonants.
What words start with the AIR sound?
Common ones include air, aircraft. In the middle of a word you get careful, parents, sharing, and at the end hair, where, chair. Every one of those links to its own pronunciation page here.
How is /eə/ spelled in English?
It is written "air", "are", "ear", "ere", "eir", "ayer". English spelling and English sound came apart centuries ago, so the same sound turns up under several spellings and the same spelling carries several sounds — which is why the sound, not the letter, is the thing to learn.
Why do Hindi & Urdu speakers find /eə/ hard?
Hindi and Urdu produce a vowel plus a tapped r, so 'hair' separates into two pieces.
Record the AIR sound and see if it landed
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