Curious sound. I love it. I'm lucky of being capable of pronouncing it without struggle. Although I wasn't aware of it in words like world or mother. Now I know I've been pronouncing them wrong this whole time. Well, guess you learn something new every day.
Hi! Thank you for this question :) I have actually read that both /ɝ/ and /ɚ/ are tense, and I've also read that /ɝ/ is tense and /ɚ/ is lax. (!!) I need to do more research about this to find the true answer, but I think I agree with you that /ɝ/ has more tension than /ɚ/, so /ɝ/ must be tense and /ɚ/ must be lax. I hope this was helpful! :)
I'd never thought of that before...but I think so! I definitely feel more tension in my tongue when I say the stressed ER /ɝ/ sound, like in "bird", compared to the unstressed ER sound /ɚ/, like in "mother". And maybe that's what is actually happening - my tongue is pulling back more for the stressed ER /ɝ/ sound. I'll have to do some research and see if anyone has actually measured the tongue retraction between these two sounds!
@@ramzy-6566 Yes - I agree. /ɝ/ has more muscular tension than /ɚ/, so you will feel more of a "muscle squeeze" in the tongue, lips, and possibly jaw, and that could mean the tongue is retracting a little bit more for /ɝ/. Thank you for your comments!
Hi Albertt - Thanks for your question. The stressed ER is used whenever the ER vowel is in a stressed syllable, like in "worry". But this isn't due to the fact that the ER sound is in the "middle" of the word, because depending on the stress, that "middle" ER sound could also be unstressed, like in the word "exercise". In "exercise" the ER is the unstressed ER vowel (due to the stress pattern). It's related to the stress pattern of the word, not the location of the ER sound. I hope this helps! :)
You'll have to check the IPA transcription in a dictionary (I like the Cambridge Online dictionary) or rely on your ears to hear the stress pattern in the word. I hope this helps! :)@@alberttusgerman
1- are /ɝ/ - /ɚ/ Monophthongs 2- are /ɪr/ /ɛr/ /ɑr/ /ɔr/ Diphthong 3- what about /ʊr/ as in tour /tʊr/
what about /ær/ as in married /ˈmæɹ.ɪd/ 4- what about /aɪr/ , /aɪər/ Triphthong as in layer noun /ˈleɪər/ , /ˈleɪɚ/ how many R-colored Vowels in the American English. Thank you.
Thank you for your questions! The answers may depend on who you ask - a linguist might have a different answer than me. And I might be wrong on some of them...but I'll do my best! 1) Short answer: Yes. Long answer: As I understand it, the ER vowels /ɝ, ɚ/ are technically R-colored vowels, but the vowel is not pronounced so all you are left with is the R portion. That is why ER sounds just like R, when it is said by itself. Since there is only one sound, and the ER functions as a vowel (i.e., it can force a syllable to occur), the ER sounds are usually included on the list of monophthongs in American English, and this is how I teach them. But technically, I think they are R-colored vowels that have turned into monophthongs. 2) Short answer: No. Long answer: The definition of a diphthong is one sound that is made up of two vowels, and you glide from the first vowel to the second vowel. I think that the R portion of /ɪr/ /ɛr/ /ɑr/ and /ɔr/ is technically a consonant, so you're not gliding from a vowel to a vowel - you're gliding from a vowel to a consonant. This is why they have a special name - R-colored vowels (also called R-controlled vowels). But they are similar to diphthongs in that they are one sound made up of two units - a vowel and a consonant. 3) The /ʊr/ sound is a lesser-known R-colored vowel! I'll include a video about it in my R-colored vowel series. "married" uses the AIR /ɛr/ R-colored vowel: /mɛr.id/. The IPA symbol that you used /ær/ is not a sound in American English. 4) /aɪr/ , /aɪər/, /ˈleɪər/ , /ˈleɪɚ/: I don't use triphthongs in my accent (I'm from California), so I don't teach triphthongs in my pronunciation courses. I think it is debatable if triphthongs exist in American English, but I don't think they do (though I'd need to talk to a linguist about this!). I pronounce the word "layer" like this: /ˈleɪ.ɚ/, as two syllables, LAY - er. That is also how I pronounce the word "fire": /faɪ.ɚ/, as two syllables, FAI - er. The vowel in the first syllable is a diphthong, and the last syllable is just the ER sound. There might be some areas of the United States that pronounce the word "fire" as one syllable, /faɪr/, but even then, the vowel is a diphthong, not a triphthong. This is different from Received Pronunciation in the UK, in which the word "fire" is pronounced with a triphthong: /faɪə/. Received Pronunciation has other triphthongs, too. I consider there to be 7 R-colored vowels (if you count 2 ER sounds): ER /ɝ, ɚ/, (bird, mother), EAR /ɪr/ (here), AIR /ɛr/ (bear), AR /ɑr/ (car), OR /ɔr/ (door), and OOR /ʊr/ (tour). Thank you for the interesting questions! I hope these answers are helpful :)
i know /ɚ/ sound is unstressed only as in mother. but /ɝ/ sound it can be stressed as in bird /bɝd/ and unstressed as in thirteen /ˌθɜɹˈtin/ . Am i right. Thank you.
Hi! Thanks for your question :) The stress pattern of some numbers can change depending on how that word functions in the sentence, so the word "thirteen" might have stress on the first syllable (THER - teen) or stress on the second syllable (ther - TEEN). When the first syllable is stressed, then the ER vowel is the stressed ER /ɝ/, like in this sentence: "He's thirteen years old." But when the stress shifts to the second syllable, the ER vowel in the first syllable changes to the unstressed ER vowel /ɚ/. The word "thirteen" has stress on the second syllable in this sentence: "I stopped reading at page thirteen." I hope this was helpful! :)
Hi! I use the AH /ɑ/ vowel, /sɑŋ/. It becomes nasalized because it is next to the nasal consonant, NG /ŋ/, so it might not sound exactly like the pure AH /ɑ/ vowel.
0:49 Nope, the IPA does NOT have separate symbols for the stressed and unstressed rhotacized mid central vowels. Popular broad transcription systems of the phonemes of English do, but such systems are not strictly part of the International Phonetic Alphabet. The distinction seems silly to me since I see no evidence that the NURSE and lettER vowels are different phonemes - we don't call FLEECE and happY different phonemes even though they differ in stress. The reversed epsilon symbol was originally intended to represent a "variant of schwa," but now its definition has changed to represent an open mid vowel. It's absurd to use it for the NURSE vowel since that vowel is definitely not lower than the lettER vowel in major rhotic accents (and probably not to any significant degree in most non-rhotic accents either).
Hi, and thank you! I don't notice a clear difference in my jaw opening/teeth opening when I say "bird" versus "mother", so I think the jaw opening/teeth opening is about the same. Thank you for your question!
Hi! Thank you for your question! The /ɛr/ symbol represents the AIR vowel, like in the words "chair", "bear", and "care". This vowel has two sounds in it: the EH /ɛ/ vowel and the R /r/ sound, so you should feel movement in your mouth/tongue as you say this sound. I created a video about this vowel; here's the link: th-cam.com/video/hDfSjJs2EZ4/w-d-xo.html The /ɝ/ symbol represents the ER vowel, like in the words "bird", "fur", and "word". This vowel is really just one sound, so there isn't any extra movement in your mouth/tongue as you say it. And it sounds just like the R consonant sound. So /ɛr/ and /ɝ/ are two separate vowel sounds in American English, and they sound different. I hope this helps!
Thanks for your question! As I understand the /ɜ/ symbol, it is not the same as /ɝ/. The /ɜ/ doesn't contain the R portion that /ɝ/ has. For example, the British English pronunciation of the word "hurt" is this: /hɜt/, and when you hear it pronounced, it doesn't contain the R sound. But the American English pronunciation of "hurt" is this: /hɝt/. The American English pronunciation uses the full R pronunciation, but the British pronunciation does not. Some people use the /ɜ/ and the /r/ symbol together to represent the ER /ɝ/ sound. So this means the word "hurt" could be transcribed as /hɝt/ or /hɜrt/, and both would be correct. I prefer to use the /ɝ/ symbol to represent the stressed ER sound because that is what I was taught when I learned about the IPA. In the General American accent, the /ɜ/ symbol is never used by itself. It always occurs with the /r/ symbol, /ɜr/, to represent the ER sound. I'm not 100% sure about the other US accents, but from my research, I haven't seen the /ɜ/ symbol used by itself in any American English transcription. I hope this helped! Let me know if you'd like more explanation! :)
Anyone else have trouble hearing? I never had my speech impediment corrected. I always replaced “r” with an “h”. Now I’m trying to work at it but my brain can’t seem to tell the difference between the right and wrong way anymore.
Hi Michael - Thanks for your comment :) That is very interesting how your hearing difficulties have impacted your ability to pronounce R and H, and I'm sure it must be very frustrating. You might want to consider mentioning this to a medical doctor and asking if you qualify for any speech/hearing help from a speech-language pathologist or any other medical professional who is qualified to help in this situation. Good luck! :)
I have a different question, hope you answer this. Do you find it pretentious or maybe wannabe when a foreigner tries to have an American accent or do you find it encouraging and hardworking? Because I'm trying to have an American accent rn and even though I'm doing okay at it, I'm not sure if I can get it fully, like 100%. And I don't want that to put me in a position where I sound funny rather than American.
Hi Eren - thanks for your comment :) I find it very encouraging when non-native speakers try to imitate the accent of whatever second language they are speaking! That is the best way to sound both clear and natural to the native speakers of that language. So keep trying for the American accent - I think it's great that you are working at it, and it will get easier the more you practice :) Good luck!!
Hi! Thank you for your question! I'm not sure if I understand what you are asking, but I think you're asking about the vowel sounds in the word "daughter"? There are 2 vowel sounds. The first syllable is DAH, and it has the AH /ɑ/ˈvowel. The second syllable is "ter", and it has the ER /ɚ/ vowel. Here is the full IPA transcription: /dɑ.ɾɚ/. The T in "daughter" is pronounced with a flap /ɾ/ in American English - this is similar to a light D sound. Please let me know if I didn't answer your question - I'd be happy to explain it again! :)
That's really good :>, thanks for your explanation, though I've noticed that most Americans don't pronounce the unstressed version fully, they replace it with a schwa when speaking fast!
Is the unstressed ɝ in /θɝːˈtiːn/ and /ˈriː.sɝːtʃ/ the same as ɚ? If they are the same why are not they transcribed as just ɚ instead of an unstressed ɝ in the dictionary?
Hi! Great question! Though unfortunately I'm not 100% sure why some dictionaries use stressed ER symbol /ɝ/ here. I'm guessing it's because the dictionaries are transcribing those syllables as having secondary stress, though they don't show that in the IPA either. Sorry I can't be of more help here! But personally, I would use the unstressed ER /ɚ/ symbol in my transcriptions.
Thank GOD! Finally i got the best teacher on YOUTube... your way of explanation is outstanding
Thanks Fardeen! I'm so glad that you like my teaching style :) thanks for the comment!
Thank you so much. Miss. Julie. for this video.
You're welcome, Ramzy!
I really enjoyed watching this video.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you very much! this is really helpful!
Awesome, @YoaCardoso! I'm so glad to hear that! :)
Your are a great teacher !
Thanks so much for your comment, Rose! :)
Spectacular.... That is the clear explanation I needed!
Thanks very much...
Shahin from Argentina.
Hi Shahin - You're welcome! I'm so glad the video was helpful :)
I thought there were different sounds. Thank you so much for your explanation
Hi Elizabeth - You're very welcome! I'm glad this video was helpful! :)
Curious sound. I love it. I'm lucky of being capable of pronouncing it without struggle. Although I wasn't aware of it in words like world or mother. Now I know I've been pronouncing them wrong this whole time. Well, guess you learn something new every day.
Hi Jorge - Thanks so much for your comment! I'm glad this video helped you to learn a new sound in English! :)
nice explain thank you
Hi Kirito - Thanks for your comment! I'm glad my video was helpful! :)
Thank you for academic video.
You're welcome! :)
Awesome !
Thanks Algenis! Glad you liked the video :)
Great!
Wonderful! Thanks, Faye! :)
- is /ɝ/ tense.
- is /ɚ/ lax.
Hi! Thank you for this question :) I have actually read that both /ɝ/ and /ɚ/ are tense, and I've also read that /ɝ/ is tense and /ɚ/ is lax. (!!) I need to do more research about this to find the true answer, but I think I agree with you that /ɝ/ has more tension than /ɚ/, so /ɝ/ must be tense and /ɚ/ must be lax.
I hope this was helpful! :)
is the tongue pulls back for ɝ sound more than ɚ sound
I'd never thought of that before...but I think so! I definitely feel more tension in my tongue when I say the stressed ER /ɝ/ sound, like in "bird", compared to the unstressed ER sound /ɚ/, like in "mother". And maybe that's what is actually happening - my tongue is pulling back more for the stressed ER /ɝ/ sound. I'll have to do some research and see if anyone has actually measured the tongue retraction between these two sounds!
@@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent maybe i have this feeling because /ɝ/ is tense and /ɚ / is lax. and the lips more rounded in /ɝ/ sound.
@@ramzy-6566 Yes - I agree. /ɝ/ has more muscular tension than /ɚ/, so you will feel more of a "muscle squeeze" in the tongue, lips, and possibly jaw, and that could mean the tongue is retracting a little bit more for /ɝ/.
Thank you for your comments!
@@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent Thank you so much.
@@ramzy-6566 You're welcome - I'm happy to help :)
So it looks like stressed r is used if -er is in the middle of the word, right?
Hi Albertt - Thanks for your question. The stressed ER is used whenever the ER vowel is in a stressed syllable, like in "worry". But this isn't due to the fact that the ER sound is in the "middle" of the word, because depending on the stress, that "middle" ER sound could also be unstressed, like in the word "exercise". In "exercise" the ER is the unstressed ER vowel (due to the stress pattern). It's related to the stress pattern of the word, not the location of the ER sound. I hope this helps! :)
@@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent Thanks for the reply. I want to ask one more question. How can I know whether - er in a word stressed or not?
You'll have to check the IPA transcription in a dictionary (I like the Cambridge Online dictionary) or rely on your ears to hear the stress pattern in the word. I hope this helps! :)@@alberttusgerman
1- are /ɝ/ - /ɚ/ Monophthongs
2- are /ɪr/ /ɛr/ /ɑr/ /ɔr/ Diphthong
3- what about /ʊr/
as in tour /tʊr/
what about /ær/
as in married /ˈmæɹ.ɪd/
4- what about /aɪr/ , /aɪər/ Triphthong as in layer noun /ˈleɪər/ , /ˈleɪɚ/
how many R-colored Vowels in the American English. Thank you.
Thank you for your questions! The answers may depend on who you ask - a linguist might have a different answer than me. And I might be wrong on some of them...but I'll do my best!
1) Short answer: Yes. Long answer: As I understand it, the ER vowels /ɝ, ɚ/ are technically R-colored vowels, but the vowel is not pronounced so all you are left with is the R portion. That is why ER sounds just like R, when it is said by itself. Since there is only one sound, and the ER functions as a vowel (i.e., it can force a syllable to occur), the ER sounds are usually included on the list of monophthongs in American English, and this is how I teach them. But technically, I think they are R-colored vowels that have turned into monophthongs.
2) Short answer: No. Long answer: The definition of a diphthong is one sound that is made up of two vowels, and you glide from the first vowel to the second vowel. I think that the R portion of /ɪr/ /ɛr/ /ɑr/ and /ɔr/ is technically a consonant, so you're not gliding from a vowel to a vowel - you're gliding from a vowel to a consonant. This is why they have a special name - R-colored vowels (also called R-controlled vowels). But they are similar to diphthongs in that they are one sound made up of two units - a vowel and a consonant.
3) The /ʊr/ sound is a lesser-known R-colored vowel! I'll include a video about it in my R-colored vowel series.
"married" uses the AIR /ɛr/ R-colored vowel: /mɛr.id/. The IPA symbol that you used /ær/ is not a sound in American English.
4) /aɪr/ , /aɪər/, /ˈleɪər/ , /ˈleɪɚ/: I don't use triphthongs in my accent (I'm from California), so I don't teach triphthongs in my pronunciation courses. I think it is debatable if triphthongs exist in American English, but I don't think they do (though I'd need to talk to a linguist about this!). I pronounce the word "layer" like this: /ˈleɪ.ɚ/, as two syllables, LAY - er. That is also how I pronounce the word "fire": /faɪ.ɚ/, as two syllables, FAI - er. The vowel in the first syllable is a diphthong, and the last syllable is just the ER sound. There might be some areas of the United States that pronounce the word "fire" as one syllable, /faɪr/, but even then, the vowel is a diphthong, not a triphthong. This is different from Received Pronunciation in the UK, in which the word "fire" is pronounced with a triphthong: /faɪə/. Received Pronunciation has other triphthongs, too.
I consider there to be 7 R-colored vowels (if you count 2 ER sounds): ER /ɝ, ɚ/, (bird, mother), EAR /ɪr/ (here), AIR /ɛr/ (bear), AR /ɑr/ (car), OR /ɔr/ (door), and OOR /ʊr/ (tour).
Thank you for the interesting questions! I hope these answers are helpful :)
@@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent love your detailed answer! Very helpful! Thank you so much 😊
@@ahmedyamani7388 You're welcome! :)
i know /ɚ/ sound is unstressed only as in mother.
but /ɝ/ sound it can be stressed as in bird /bɝd/ and unstressed as in thirteen /ˌθɜɹˈtin/ . Am i right. Thank you.
Hi! Thanks for your question :) The stress pattern of some numbers can change depending on how that word functions in the sentence, so the word "thirteen" might have stress on the first syllable (THER - teen) or stress on the second syllable (ther - TEEN). When the first syllable is stressed, then the ER vowel is the stressed ER /ɝ/, like in this sentence: "He's thirteen years old." But when the stress shifts to the second syllable, the ER vowel in the first syllable changes to the unstressed ER vowel /ɚ/. The word "thirteen" has stress on the second syllable in this sentence: "I stopped reading at page thirteen."
I hope this was helpful! :)
4:24 hello is the word song with /ɔ/ or /ɑ/ sound - /sɔŋ/ , /sɑŋ/ Thank you.
Hi! I use the AH /ɑ/ vowel, /sɑŋ/. It becomes nasalized because it is next to the nasal consonant, NG /ŋ/, so it might not sound exactly like the pure AH /ɑ/ vowel.
0:49 Nope, the IPA does NOT have separate symbols for the stressed and unstressed rhotacized mid central vowels. Popular broad transcription systems of the phonemes of English do, but such systems are not strictly part of the International Phonetic Alphabet. The distinction seems silly to me since I see no evidence that the NURSE and lettER vowels are different phonemes - we don't call FLEECE and happY different phonemes even though they differ in stress.
The reversed epsilon symbol was originally intended to represent a "variant of schwa," but now its definition has changed to represent an open mid vowel. It's absurd to use it for the NURSE vowel since that vowel is definitely not lower than the lettER vowel in major rhotic accents (and probably not to any significant degree in most non-rhotic accents either).
Thanks so much for your comment, Graham!
Hello I'm here again for amazing video. is the teeth in ɝ sound more open than ɚ sound.
Hi, and thank you! I don't notice a clear difference in my jaw opening/teeth opening when I say "bird" versus "mother", so I think the jaw opening/teeth opening is about the same.
Thank you for your question!
what is the different between ɛr and ɝ sound .please ?
Hi! Thank you for your question! The /ɛr/ symbol represents the AIR vowel, like in the words "chair", "bear", and "care". This vowel has two sounds in it: the EH /ɛ/ vowel and the R /r/ sound, so you should feel movement in your mouth/tongue as you say this sound. I created a video about this vowel; here's the link: th-cam.com/video/hDfSjJs2EZ4/w-d-xo.html
The /ɝ/ symbol represents the ER vowel, like in the words "bird", "fur", and "word". This vowel is really just one sound, so there isn't any extra movement in your mouth/tongue as you say it. And it sounds just like the R consonant sound.
So /ɛr/ and /ɝ/ are two separate vowel sounds in American English, and they sound different.
I hope this helps!
@@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent thank you for your help i under stand the answer your videos are helpfu 😍
@@halam6702 You're very welcome! I'm glad you like the videos! :)
is this symbol /ɜ/ the same sound this symbol /ɝ/ - and is this symbol /ɜ/ american. thank you.
Thanks for your question! As I understand the /ɜ/ symbol, it is not the same as /ɝ/. The /ɜ/ doesn't contain the R portion that /ɝ/ has.
For example, the British English pronunciation of the word "hurt" is this: /hɜt/, and when you hear it pronounced, it doesn't contain the R sound. But the American English pronunciation of "hurt" is this: /hɝt/. The American English pronunciation uses the full R pronunciation, but the British pronunciation does not.
Some people use the /ɜ/ and the /r/ symbol together to represent the ER /ɝ/ sound. So this means the word "hurt" could be transcribed as /hɝt/ or /hɜrt/, and both would be correct. I prefer to use the /ɝ/ symbol to represent the stressed ER sound because that is what I was taught when I learned about the IPA.
In the General American accent, the /ɜ/ symbol is never used by itself. It always occurs with the /r/ symbol, /ɜr/, to represent the ER sound. I'm not 100% sure about the other US accents, but from my research, I haven't seen the /ɜ/ symbol used by itself in any American English transcription.
I hope this helped! Let me know if you'd like more explanation! :)
Anyone else have trouble hearing? I never had my speech impediment corrected. I always replaced “r” with an “h”. Now I’m trying to work at it but my brain can’t seem to tell the difference between the right and wrong way anymore.
Hi Michael - Thanks for your comment :) That is very interesting how your hearing difficulties have impacted your ability to pronounce R and H, and I'm sure it must be very frustrating. You might want to consider mentioning this to a medical doctor and asking if you qualify for any speech/hearing help from a speech-language pathologist or any other medical professional who is qualified to help in this situation. Good luck! :)
I have a different question, hope you answer this. Do you find it pretentious or maybe wannabe when a foreigner tries to have an American accent or do you find it encouraging and hardworking? Because I'm trying to have an American accent rn and even though I'm doing okay at it, I'm not sure if I can get it fully, like 100%. And I don't want that to put me in a position where I sound funny rather than American.
Hi Eren - thanks for your comment :) I find it very encouraging when non-native speakers try to imitate the accent of whatever second language they are speaking! That is the best way to sound both clear and natural to the native speakers of that language. So keep trying for the American accent - I think it's great that you are working at it, and it will get easier the more you practice :) Good luck!!
@@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent I don't understand
*lips push away from the teeth*.
Please someone explain. I am gonna suicide for my stupidity 😭
Do I miss vower sound of "daughter"?
Hi! Thank you for your question! I'm not sure if I understand what you are asking, but I think you're asking about the vowel sounds in the word "daughter"?
There are 2 vowel sounds. The first syllable is DAH, and it has the AH /ɑ/ˈvowel. The second syllable is "ter", and it has the ER /ɚ/ vowel. Here is the full IPA transcription: /dɑ.ɾɚ/. The T in "daughter" is pronounced with a flap /ɾ/ in American English - this is similar to a light D sound.
Please let me know if I didn't answer your question - I'd be happy to explain it again! :)
That's really good :>, thanks for your explanation, though I've noticed that most Americans don't pronounce the unstressed version fully, they replace it with a schwa when speaking fast!
Hi Curse - Thanks for your comment :) Yes, sometimes that does happen in fast speech!
1:14 you mean /ɝ/ consist of /ʌ/ and /r/ Thank you.
Hi! Yes - the stressed ER /ɝ/ consists of /ʌ/ and /r/. Thanks for your question :)
@@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent
wow, Great Thank you so much.
@@ramzy-6566 You're welcome! :)
more practice .........
Great - keep it up! :)
You have beautiful lips 🤭
Is the unstressed ɝ in /θɝːˈtiːn/ and /ˈriː.sɝːtʃ/ the same as ɚ? If they are the same why are not they transcribed as just ɚ instead of an unstressed ɝ in the dictionary?
Hi! Great question! Though unfortunately I'm not 100% sure why some dictionaries use stressed ER symbol /ɝ/ here. I'm guessing it's because the dictionaries are transcribing those syllables as having secondary stress, though they don't show that in the IPA either. Sorry I can't be of more help here! But personally, I would use the unstressed ER /ɚ/ symbol in my transcriptions.
@@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent thank you.
You're welcome!@@blacknwhite6186