Falling, narrow, front centring/opening diphthong.
The glide of RP /ɪə/ moves from a half-close and centralized front tongue position (as for RP /ɪ/) in the direction of the more open variety of /ə/ in word final positions, or to a mid type of /ə/ in non final contexts. The lips change from slightly spread to neutrally open. In unaccented syllables with the schwa element usually representing a suffix with morphemic status, the starting point may be pronounced as a closer vowel [iə], which seems to indicate a hiatus of the vowels in sequence (e.g. easier, serious). In Spanish we may find approximate realizations of English /ɪə/ in such words as e.g. día 'day', vía 'way', mía 'mine' (fem. sing.), in which the starting point is closer, and end-point, very open.
| <(i)er(e)> | hero /ˈhɪərəʊ/ , era /ˈɪərə/ , mere /mɪə/, experience /ɪkˈspɪərɪəns/ | ||||||
| <eer> | beer /bɪə/, engineer /ˌendʒɪˈnɪə/ | ||||||
| <ear> | year /jɜ:/, tear (n) /ˈtɪə/ , beard /bɪəd/ | ||||||
| <ier, eir, ir> | chandelier /ˌʃændəˈlɪə/, weird /wɪəd/, emir /eˈmɪə/, souvenir /ˌsuːvəˈnɪə/ | ||||||
| <e> or <e> r + V / <y> | Algeciras /ˌælʒɪˈsɪərəs/, query /ˈkwɪəri/ | ||||||
| The pronunciation /iə/ is also found with the following spellings (usu. in Classical languages loanwords): |
|
| dear /dɪə/ |
| fears /fɪəz/ |
| fierce /fɪəs/ |
| fakir /fəˈkɪə/ |
| period /ˈpɪərɪəd/ | sincere /sɪnˈsɪə/ |
| museum /mjuːˈzɪəm/ |
| material /məˈtɪərɪəl/ |
|
'What about having a beer and some cereal here,
in the same place as last year?' said Mr Lear to the Austrian, white bearded mountaineer.
/ˈwɒt əˈbaʊt ˈhævɪŋ ə ˈbɪər ənd səm ˈsɪərɪəl | ˈhɪə ɪn ðə seɪm ˈpleɪs əz ˈlɑ:st ˈjɜ: || ˈsed ˈmɪstə ˈlɪə tə ði ˈɒstriən | ˈwaɪt ˈbɪədɪd ˌmaʊntɪˈnɪə/ |
|
Good idea, the atmosphere is ideal!
/ˈɡʊd aɪˈdɪə | ði ˈætməsfɪə z aɪˈdɪəl/ |
|
Here come the beers, cheers!
/ˈhɪə ˈkʌm ðə ˈbɪəz |ˈtʃɪəz/ |
|
Real weird rear wheels!
/ˈrɪəl ˈwɪəd ˈrɪə ˈwiːlz/ |
|
Deer, deer, oh dear, your career as a deer is over here.
/ˈdɪə | ˈdɪə | əʊ ˈdɪə | jə kəˈrɪər əz ə ˈdɪə z ˈəʊvə hɪə/ |
|
Near an ear, a nearer ear, a nearly eerie ear.
/ˈnɪər ən ˈɪə | ə ˈnɪərər ˈɪə | ə ˈnɪəli ˈɪəri ˈɪə/ |
The tongue moves downwards from from a half-close centralised front position to a central half open position or even lower. The lips change from slightly spread to neutrally open. The soft palate is raised (unless followed by a nasal).