/ ɚ / sound

/ ɚ / letter

'Schwa*+r' /ɚ/ is an r-controlled vowel. This strange sound is created the same way as the 'r
sound' /r/, and therefore has the same two options available for pronouncing it.

The first option is to raise the back of the tongue so that the sides of the tongue touch the back teeth.
The center of the back of the tongue is lower and the air travels through this groove to create the
sound.

Alternatively, the tip of the tongue can be raised and curled back behind the tooth ridge while the
back of the tongue stays low. The air still travels over the back of the tongue, but moves more along
the sides and tip.

The tip of the tongue never touches the tooth ridge during the American English 'schwa+r' /ɚ/ or 'r
sound' /r/.

Schwa+r is an r-controlled vowel. American English pronunciation has four r-controlled vowels.
An r-controlled vowel is a vowel sound that changes quality because it is followed by an r sound.
The four r-controlled vowels are:

1. schwa+r /ɚ/ as in the word stir

2. ar sound /ɑr/ as in the word star
3. air sound /ɛr/ as in the word stair
4. or sound /ɔr/ as in the word store
These words, you will notice that their vowel sound is taken over by the /r/. In words with schwa+r,
only the /r/, and not the vowel, is heard. The schwa+r sound transfers directly from the initial
consonant into the /r/. That is the nature of schwa+r. The schwa+r sounds like (schwa+r). It is an
/r/ that also creates a syllable.

her, verb
stir, bird
blur, burn

So, To create the /r/, as well as schwa+r sound, the tongue arches upward toward the back of the
hard palate. The back sides of the tongue curve upward and touch the back teeth, while the center of
the tongue remains lower. The tip of the tongue may turn upward, but it must not touch the tooth
ridge. The jaw is mid-open.

Practice:

First practice ə. Now curl the tip of your tongue up and back a little as you say ə.

ər pronounced together as one sound.

painter butcher tailor cab driver

actor barber carpenter bank teller

singer doctor reporter police officer

waiter lawyer designer picture

Spelling:

Any vowel+r spelling is likely to be pronounced as schwa+r in an unstressed syllable. Additionally,

the role of syllable stress is often overlooked when it comes to schwa+r. Syllable stress is another
factor in the pronunciation of schwa+r. On an unstressed syllable, any vowel can come before the
letter r and be pronounced as schwa+r

ar dollar, grammar

er her, jerk, verb, concer

ir stir, girl, shirt, confirm

or comfort, honor, ignorance

ur burn, turn, curl, return

When a word is not pronounced according to common spelling patterns, it is called non-phonetic.
There are a number of important non-phonetic words that are pronounced as schwa+r. These words
do not follow the common spelling or unstressed syllable patterns for schwa+r, but they are still
pronounced as schwa+r.

Do not add a vowel sound into any of the following words:

word world work learn

heard worry

*The term "schwa" (from the Hebrew; pronounced SHWA with alternate spelling "shwa") was first
used in linguistics by the 19th-century German philologist Jacob Grimm.