{"id":300,"date":"2016-08-16T12:07:39","date_gmt":"2016-08-16T12:07:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/englishteacherjames.com\/?p=300"},"modified":"2016-08-20T14:33:34","modified_gmt":"2016-08-20T14:33:34","slug":"how-to-pronounce-fur-girl-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/englishteacherjames.com\/wordpress\/2016\/08\/16\/how-to-pronounce-fur-girl-work\/","title":{"rendered":"HOW TO PRONOUNCE FUR GIRL WORK"},"content":{"rendered":"

HOW TO PRONOUNCE FUR GIRL WORK<\/h1>\n

Unlike with the spellings of other sounds I think three spelling combinations can claim more or less equal status as representing the sound \/\u025c:\/. I would say that \u2018er<\/strong>\u2019 seems the most obvious choice as in \u2018jer<\/strong>k\u2019 \/d\u0292\u025c:k\/, but there are plenty of wor<\/strong>ds with \u2018ur\u2019 or \u2018ir\u2019. Take \u2018cur<\/strong>l\u2019 \/k\u025c:l\/ or \u2018dir<\/strong>t\u2019 \/d\u025c:t\/. I tend to assume that any of these three combinations would make the \/\u025c:\/ sound. Of course, they can make other sounds too, but that\u2019s for another day. Today is about how to pronounce fur<\/strong> gir<\/strong>l wor<\/strong>k and other such wor<\/strong>ds.
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BREAKING NEWS: \u2018or\u2019 CAN BE PRONOUNCED \/\u025c:\/<\/h2>\n

You may find it hard to accept that the letters \u2018or\u2019 can perform the same function. Whilst \/\u025c:\/ is not the primary use of this combination of letters, I can cite\u00a0some very common examples: \u2018wor<\/strong>k\u2019, \u2018wor<\/strong>ld\u2019 and \u2018wor<\/strong>d\u2019 itself [\/w\u025c:k\/, \/w\u025c:ld\/ and \/w\u025c:d\/]. Isn\u2019t it terrible!<\/p>\n

SOME EXCEPTIONS THAT YOU CAN LEAR<\/strong>N<\/h2>\n

Whenever the letters \u2018ear\u2019 are together, I don\u2019t ever believe you can really trust them. So you should lear<\/strong>n wor<\/strong>ds like \u2018pear<\/strong>l\u2019 and \u2018ear<\/strong>l\u2019 [\/p\u025c:l\/ and \/\u025c:l\/] as exceptions. Other exceptions are wor<\/strong>ds like \u2018jour<\/strong>nal\u2019 \/d\u0292\u025c:n\u0259l\/ and \u2018were<\/strong>\u2019 \/w\u025c:\/. You\u2019re probably going to tell me next that we\u00a0rarely ever pronounce\u00a0\u2018were<\/strong>\u2019 with \/\u025c:\/ and this may be true. As an auxiliary ver<\/strong>b we often weaken it into \/w\u0259\/. However, this is not the subject of today\u2019s post.<\/p>\n

THE ISSUE OF ACCENTS RAISES ITS UGLY YET HEAD AGAIN<\/h2>\n

I have been writing about \/\u025c:\/ with Received Pronunciation as that’s what I help people with as an English pronunciation teacher<\/a>. All of the combinations we have been looking at involve the letter \u2018r\u2019. Various accents from around the British Isles and beyond may add that letter to the \/\u025c:\/ sound in different ways. Some British people\u00a0may even say other sounds more like \/\u025c:\/.<\/p>\n

Have a look at the infographic on how to pronounce fur<\/strong> gir<\/strong>l wor<\/strong>k and have a go at the pronunciation quiz below it.<\/p>\n

\"How<\/a>

How To Pronounce Fur Girl Work or Different Ways of Spelling the \/\u025c:\/ Sound<\/p><\/div>\n

\"How<\/a>

English Pronunciation Quiz: Which Word Has a Different Vowel Germany, performance or service?<\/p><\/div>\n