269 Go to /ɛː/ Worksheet Go to /əː/ Worksheet SQUARE /ԑː/ “where” vs NURSE /əː/ “were” Watch Video Lesson
- When practising sounds: - FEEL (what can you feel your muscles doing?) - HEAR (listen to the audio tracks and use the hand-phone to listen to yourself)
You may come up with different ideas to the ones in the boxes. That’s fine! SQUARE /ɛː/
NURSE /əː/
Spelling Patterns
FEEL
uncommon spelling: “ere”: where, there “ear” at end of word: bear, swear, tear
tongue more forwards lips can be more spread
HEAR higher-pitched when whispered
uncommon spelling: “ere”: were “ear” + consonant: heard, earth, earn
tongue more central lips relaxed
lower-pitched when whispered
Comparisons
The highlighted words are all minimal pairs. These are words that sound the same apart from one sound. The only difference between hair /hԑː/ and her /həː/ is the vowel sound. Words (minimal pairs in the order /ԑː/ - /əː/)
1 air - err 2 hair - her 3 fair - fir 4 pair - purr 5 where - were 6 barely - burly 7 fairness - furnace 8 fairy - furry 9 stared - stirred 10 wearing - whirring
Phrases (no minimal pairs – just words with either /ԑː/ or /əː/) 1 purple hair 5 mayor of Berlin 2 scared of birds 6 secretarial work 3 allergic to pears 7 refurbish the warehouse 4 pair of curtains 8 various workshops