Centring Diphthongs

Centring Diphtongs

/iə/

• In this diphthong both elements are short, but the accent falls on the first one. This sound is difficult for most students, although it will be used quite frequently in many words: here, hear, fear, dear,... 
• When this diphthong is followed by an “r”, this consonant is not pronounced except when the following syllable or word begins with a vowel, in this case a linking “r” can be pronounced. E.g. fearing [ˈfɪərɪŋ]
• Spellings:
• Ea: dear, hear, ear, near
• Ee: deer, beer, here
• Other: idea, real, museum

/3ə / /eə /

• The first sound is an /e/ but you have to make it a little longer, then add / ə /. Most students pronounce the -er with the “r” always pronounced. Beginners will be using the word “there” frequently, and may be confused by the different uses of this word and the change in pronunciation in its unstressed form. Compare: 
• There´s a book on the table. 
• It´s there. 
• In the first sentence the word “there” is used to introduce a sentence in which the subject (a book) follows a verb (is). The word “there” is unstressed, and in rapid speech most native speakers would tend to say [δəz] or [δəz], and would say [δεəz] only when speaking slowly or very correctly. In the second sentence the word “there” is an adverb of place, contrasted with here. The word “there” is stressed and pronounced [δεə]
• Spellings:
• are: share, scare, mare, care. 
• air: chair, pair, air, ...
• ear: bear, tear 
• ere: where, there. 
• Other spellings: their, they´re, wear, Mary

/oə/

• The diphthong /oə/ is normally replaced by a /ɔː/ by RP speakers, that it why I don´t think it is important but although we don’t care about its pronunciation you should understand it
• Spelling:
• –oar, ore, our, oor: boar, for, soar, your, pour, more, door

/uə/

• The fist element is a /u/ and the second one is /ə/

• It is often pronounced /ɔː/ or /ɔ/

•  Look at the following examples:
• Poor [puə] [pɔː]
• Sure: [ʃuə]  [ʃɔː] [ʃoə]
• Father, further, farther: [ˈfɑːðə],  [ˈfɜːðə], [ˈfɑːðə]