IPA phoneme \eə\

In English, in Received Pronunciation, and in many parts of North America the IPA phonetic symbol **/eə/** corresponds to the vowel sound in words like "square", "hair" and "wear".

In General American there is no phoneme /eə/, because the difference between [eə] and [e] is predictable: between vowels the sound is [e], as in *Mary* [ˈmeriː], in all other cases it's [eə] as in *square* [skweər]. This means that *Mary* and *merry* are homophones. In the United States and Canada approximately 34% of people distinguish between *Mary* and *merry*. See Mary-marry-merry merger.

In Received Pronunciation /eər/ is pronounced /eə/ unless it is followed by a vowel, i.e. the "r" is normally silent unless it is followed by a vowel. In General American the "r" is always pronounced. There are places in the United Kingdom where the "r" is pronounced, and places in North America where it is not pronounced. See Rhotic and non-rhotic accent.

In a narrow notation the correct IPA phonetic notation for /eə/ is [ɛə] or [ɛː] (see **[ɛ]**). However the very influential Oxford dictionaries selected **/eə/** for this phoneme. Most American dictionaries (when using IPA) prefer /ɛ/ or /ɛə/; the first alternative is consistent with the Mary-marry-merry merger. At the advice of Clive Upton the *Concise Oxford Dictionary* altered the British tradition and now uses /ɛː/; later *Oxford Dictionaries Online* followed the same convention. This has been referred to as "[a departure] with which one can have a great deal of sympathy", and also "it is surely best to leave EPD14 [Daniel Jones *English Pronouncing Dictionary]* just as it is".

## Common words

Some common words which practice the pronunciation of /eə/ include the following:

At the end of the word
* with "**are**": aware - bare - care - compare - dare - declare - Delaware - fare - hare - prepare - rare - scare - share - spare - square - stare
* with "**air**": air - affair - chair - fair - hair - millionaire - pair - repair - stairs
* with "**ear**": bear - pear - swear - tear *(v.)* - wear
* other: mayor*BrE* *(US pronunciation is* /ˈmeɪər/) - prayer - scarce - there - where
* homophones: air - heir; bear - bare; hair - hare; pear - pair; their - there - they're; there's - theirs; where - wear - ware *(as in software).*
* heteronyms: tear /teər, tɪər/

In the middle of the word
* with "**ar**": area - careful - hilarious - Mary - parent - rarely - Sarah - variation - various - vary
* with "**air**": dairy - hairy
* with "**aer**": aerobics - aeroplane*BrE*
* with "**ear**": unbearable

## /eər/ vs /eɪər/

/eər/ is one syllable and is pronounced [ɛər], [ɛːr] or [ɛr].

/eɪər/ are two syllables and are pronunced [eɪ.ər].

Contrast /eər/ vs /eɪər/
* prayer - layer; pair - taxpayer;

Variant pronunciation
* mayor /meər/*BrE* - /ˈmeɪər/*AmE*

## Anticipated pronunciation difficulties depending on L1

### Spanish

When using words containing "ea" Spanish speakers tend to confuse **/eə/** with **/ɪə/** i.e. they assume that "bear" rhymes with "dear". And *tear* vs *tear* really irritates them.

For many Spanish speakers **/eə/** and **/ɜː/** sound very similar. Without practice, they tend not to distinguish between "stir" and "stare" or "were" and "wear".

## References

1. ↑ Oxford Dictionaries Online, Key to pronunciations (British and World English dictionary). See ɛː as in h*air*.
2. ↑ IPA vowel symbols for British English in dictionaries, Section 9. /ɛː/ versus /eə/.

## See also

* Pronunciation exercises: /eə/ vs /e/
* Pronunciation exercises: /eə/ vs /ɜː/
* Decoding exercises: "arV" and "arrV"
* Decoding the letter R

## External links

* British Library, Vowel sounds of Received Pronunciation