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ɴᴇᴀʀ lexical set
From Teflpedia
The ɴᴇᴀʀ lexical set is an English vowel set from John Wells (1982) in Accents of English.
Definition[edit | edit source]
Wells originally defined the set as follows:
(a)
- beer, deer, career, …
- here, mere, sincere, interfere …;
- bier, pier, cashier, …;
- weir
- fear, ear, appear, yearling …;
(b)
- fierce, pierce;
- weird, Deirdre;
- beard;
(c)
- serious, mysterious, period, serum, diphtheria, hero,…
- eerie, peerage, Madeira, dreary, weary.
and also:
- idea, Korea, diarrhoea, Galatea, …;
- European, Jacobean, Crimean …;
- ratafia, Maria, Sophia,…
- museum, Colosseum, Te Deum. …
- real, ideal.
Pronunciation[edit | edit source]
Words in this set are pronounced with the ɴᴇᴀʀ vowel phoneme /ɪə/.
Analysis[edit | edit source]
The words under “and also” occur across syllable boundaries, and rather than /ɪə/, should be /i:.ə/ reduced to /ɪ.ə/.
Spelling[edit | edit source]
Spelling may be the trigraphs ⟨eer⟩, ⟨ear⟩, ⟨ier⟩,⟨eir⟩ and ⟨ere⟩.
| Phonogram | Words | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| ⟨eer⟩ | beer, deer, career, eerie, peerage | |
| ⟨ere⟩ | here, mere, sincere, interfere | |
| ⟨ier⟩ | bier, pier, cashier, fierce, pierce | |
| ⟨eir⟩ | weir, weird, Deirdre, Madeira | |
| ⟨ear⟩ | fear, ear, appear, yearling, beard, dreary, weary | |
| ⟨er⟩ | serious, mysterious, period, serum, diphtheria, hero | |
| ⟨ea⟩ | idea, Korea, diarrhoea, Galatea, European, Jacobean, Crimean | |
| ⟨ia⟩ | ratafia, Maria, Sophia | |
| ⟨eu⟩ | museum, Colosseum, Te Deum | This is definitely two separate syllables |
| ⟨eal⟩ | real, ideal. | One syllable, with pre‑L breaking and /l/. |
