How to pronounce the ER vowel /ɜː/
/ɜː/ is a long vowel made with the tongue central, mid, r-coloured. Set the tongue in the middle of the mouth, as for the 'cup' vowel. Bunch the middle of the tongue upward, or curl the tip back — either gives the r colour.
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How to make it
- 1Set the tongue in the middle of the mouth, as for the 'cup' vowel.
- 2Bunch the middle of the tongue upward, or curl the tip back — either gives the r colour.
- 3Round the lips a little and turn the voice on.
- 4Hold it: this is a long vowel, and in American English it carries the r right through.
- 5In most British accents the r is not pronounced after it, so 'bird' is a long vowel with no r sound.
- Lips
- Slightly rounded and pushed a little forward.
- Tongue
- Central, bunched up in the middle or with the tip curled back.
- Jaw
- Half open.
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
The early bird heard the first word on Thursday.
Her third turn at work was the worst.
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 tapped r after a plain vowel, so 'her' comes out as a vowel plus a distinct tap.
- Mandarin
Mandarin has an r-coloured vowel in 'er', so this sound is more available than for most learners.
- Japanese
Japanese has no r-coloured vowel, so 'work' can come out as 'waaku' with a tap inserted.
- Korean
Korean has a mid back unrounded vowel that substitutes, so the r colour is missing.
- Vietnamese
Vietnamese has a central vowel, which helps, but no r colour and no final r, so the ending is lost.
- Spanish
Spanish has no central r-coloured vowel, so 'bird' becomes 'beerd' or 'berd' with a tapped r after it.
- French
French has rounded central vowels, so its eu often substitutes and 'her' sounds rounded; the back-of-throat r also intrudes.
- German
German turns a final r into a vowel, so 'her' is close, but the American r colour is missing.
- Italian
Italian has no central vowel and a trilled r, so 'bird' comes out as two clear pieces.
- Russian
Russian has no central long vowel, so a trilled r follows a plain vowel instead.
- Arabic
Arabic has no r-coloured vowel, so a long vowel plus a tapped r substitutes.
- Turkish
Turkish has a tapped r and no central long vowel, so 'turn' becomes a plain vowel plus a tap.
Straight answers
Is /ɜː/ 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 ER vowel?
Common ones include early, earth, urgent. In the middle of a word you get bird, work, turn, and at the end her, were, prefer. Every one of those links to its own pronunciation page here.
How is /ɜː/ spelled in English?
It is written "er", "ir", "ur", "ear", "or", "our", "yr". 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 /ɜː/ hard?
Hindi and Urdu produce a tapped r after a plain vowel, so 'her' comes out as a vowel plus a distinct tap.
Record the ER vowel and see if it landed
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