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How to Pronounce the /ɜ/ Sound

british-only vowel soundssecondary vowel soundsvowel sounds

Do you wanna know more about the /ɜ/ sound? Have you read anything about it before? Well, it's time for you to expand your knowledge.

How to Pronounce the /ɜ/ Sound

In this lesson, we are going to learn how the sound /ɜ/ is produced by looking at the articulatory organs.

What Type of Sound Is /ɜ/?

/ɜ/ is similar to /ə/ sound but it is always longer and it always precedes the letter 'r'. Therefore, you might sometimes see /ɝ/ instead of /ɜ/ in the American phonology.

How to Produce /ɜ/?

how to pronounce /ɜ/

To produce it, stretch out your lips and make them unrounded, then make a long /ɜ/ sound. As you can see in the picture, when producing the /ɜ/ sound, the mouth is open like when saying /e/ but it is not as rounded as when producing the /a/ sound.

/ɜ/ is seen in such letters:

  • er:

person /ˈpɝː.sən/

service /ˈsɝː.vɪs/

  • or:

word /wɝːd/

world /wɝːld/

  • ur:

turn /tɝːn/

burn /bɝːn/

  • ir:

first /ˈfɝːst/

thirst /θɝːst/

Tip!

Listening

Let's listen to the pronunciation of the /ɜ/ sound which has been mentioned below:

Down below, there are two other sounds similar to the /ɜ/ sound. At first, listen to the /e/ sound and then listen to the /a/ sound:

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