Intervocalic R
The letter R that comes between two vowels is called the intervocalic R. The intervocalic R can be pronounced as a prevocalic (consonant) R if it begins a syllable, or as a vocalic R (r-colored vowel) if it ends a syllable. So to pronounce the intervocalic R words correctly, we need to know how to syllabize words that contain an intervocalic R. For instance, some Americans say the word “infrared” with an r-colored vowel, as “in.frared.” But this is a mispronunciation. That is, it does not rhyme with “impaired.” The ‘r’ in “infrared’ begins a syllable, so it is a consonant sound and the correct pronunciation is /infrəred/.
These are some more example words where ‘r’ comes between two vowels and is the beginning sound of a syllable, so it is pronounced as a consonant /r/ sound:
giraffe, camera,, irate, gyrate, thyroid, tyrant, accurate
Some intervocalic R words have alternative pronunciations. For example, some Americans pronounce the word “irony” as /aɪ.rə.ni/ (with prevocalic R) while others say /ˈaɪər.ni/ (with vocalic R). These are similar examples: “sy.rup or syr.up”, “sy.ringe or syr.inge”, “ze.ro or zer.o”.
We examine examples of words with intervocalic R, in light of how each stressed vowel letter is pronounced.
“A” before “R”
When the stressed vowel letter A comes before R and another vowel follows after R, A can be pronounced as one of the following: /æ/, /ɑ/ and /eə/. These are words with /æ/, /ɑ/ and /eə/ respectively: (when more than one of the same letter occurs, the stressed one is bolded)
/æ/: barrier, carry, embarrass, marriage, marry, parallel, paragraph
/ɑ/: barring, jarring, starring, starry
/ɛə/: caring, hilarious, Mary, vary, parent, rarely
“E” before “R”
When the stressed vowel letter E comes before R and another vowel follows after R, E can be pronounced as one of the following: /ɛ/, /i/, /ʌ/, and /ɪə/
/ɛ/: error, merry, terrible, terror, heroism, inherit, merit, peril, perilous
/i/: hero, series
/ʌ/: deterrent, inferring, preferring, referral, transferring
/ɪə/: material, period, serious
Mary–marry–merry merger
We present the words ‘merry’, ‘marry’, and ‘Mary’ above with the three different vowels /ɛ/, /æ/, and /eə/. Careful formal American English follows this pronunciation, but in casual American English it is common to use /eə/ for all three words, so that they have in fact merged. This phenomenon is called the Mary–marry–merry merger. This merger varies across America and can apply to different words in different regions, but in general it is possible for /ɛ/ and /æ/ to be pronounced as /eə/ when preceding intervocalic R.
“I” before “R”
When the stressed vowel letter I comes before R and another vowel follows after R, I can be pronounced as any of the following: /ɪ/, /ʌ/, /aɪ/, /aɪə/.
/ɪ/: mirror, miracle, spirit
/ʌ/: stirring, whirring
/aɪ/: irate, Irish, ironic, pirate, siren, spiral, virus (‘r’ is the prevocalic R)
/aɪə/: admirer, desirable
Mirror–nearer merger
In standard American English, mirror’ and ‘nearer’ rhyme as both are pronounced with the r-colored vowel /ɪr/. Originally, one was pronounced with /ɪ/ and the other, with /i/. This merging of high front vowels before the intervocalic R is called the mirror–nearer merger.
“O” before “R”
When the stressed vowel letter O comes before R and another vowel follows after R, O can be pronounced as one of the following: /ɑ/ or /ɔ/.
/ɑ/: borrow, sorrow, sorry, tomorrow
/ɔ/: boring, glory, moreover, horrible, horror, foreign, moral, orange, origin
“U” before “R”
When the stressed vowel letter U comes before R and another vowel follows after R, U can be pronounced as one of the following: /ʌ/, /ʊ/, and /ʊə/.
/ʌ/: current, currency, hurricane, hurry, surrogate
/ʊ/: guru, Jurassic, uranium (‘r’ is the prevocalic R)
/ʊə/: curable, curious, jury, lurid, mural, neural, plural, rural
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