/ɝ/ as in "bird"
/ɝ/ is a mid central rhotic vowel of General American English, as in "bird" and "girl." To produce it, tongue curls back slightly, lips neutral. Phoneme provides native-speaker audio and minimal-pair contrasts so learners can hear and practice this vowel.
/ɝ/
birdalso: girl
How to make /ɝ/
mid central rhotic vowel — tongue curls back slightly, lips neutral.
Also written as
- /ɜr/
- common American dictionary spelling of the same r-coloured vowel
- /ɚ/
- the unstressed version (teacher, doctor)
- /ɜː/
- the British RP NURSE vowel, without the r-colouring
Sounds that learners confuse with /ɝ/
Minimal pairs for /ɝ/
| /ɝ/ | /ɑr/ |
|---|---|
| bird | bard |
| burn | barn |
| fur | far |
| hurt | heart |
| firm | farm |
| stir | star |
| perk | park |
| /ɝ/ | /or/ |
|---|---|
| bird | board |
| burn | born |
| turn | torn |
| shirt | short |
| heard | hoard |
| purr | pour |
| stir | store |
| fur | four |