<quote_from_intro subject="exclusions">..., nearly half of all the words listed in #WVGTbook2 (to give the book its pet name) use the spelling *er* to represent the sound /ə/.
[These lists exclude] [w]ords that end "*er", and their derivatives (such as coverage or considerable), which account in all for well over a half of "*er*" words; even without derivatives, such words account for a quarter of the *er* total (more than the total for all *ir* or *ur* words).
</quote_from_intro>
Here are the notes for this section.
- adversary
The Macmillan English Dictionary transcription and audio sample both have this vowel (with stress on the first syllable) but quite often stress is put (in a way disapproved of in some circles) on the second, with the sound /ɜ:/. - afterward[s]
This escapes the general exclusion of compounds because the "after-" is followed by a string that is not a free-standing word. - alternate
This is the verb, with stress on the first syllable, but see also the /ɜ:/ section for the adjective. - barbershop
Escapes two exclusions (words ending -er and compound words built using them) because the word is now used principally to refer to a kind of singing. - berserk
The first syllable has this sound. See also the /ɜ:/ section. - ceramic[s] and cerise
The Macmillan English Dictionary transcription and audio sample both have this vowel, but a pronunciation with an /ɪ/ pronunciation is common. - certification
Not in the Macmillan English Dictionary, except in the form self-certification. This is odd, as the British National Corpus has only five occurrences of self-certification, as against more than 70 times as many occurrences of certification. The Corpus of Contemporary American has 1000 times that number. - chatterbox
This escapes the general exclusion of compound words because no box is involved. - choleric
The Macmillan English Dictionary has this, with stress on the first syllable. But some dictionaries - eg the Cambridge Dictionary - have /e/, with stress on the second syllable (but still, incidentally, /ɒ/ in the first, according to that dictionary - although /ə/ is also common). - copperplate
This escapes the usual exclusion of compounds because its most common use today is in calligraphy - and does not refer to a copper plate. - coterie
Students of English for Speakers of Other Languages should note that in the second syllable the vowel is not /e/. That is, the e behaves like a "Magic E" (in producing the /əʊ/ in the first syllable), but goes on to represemt an /ə/ in the second. - crackers
This escapes the usual exclusion of derivatives of words ending -er because its use (except, of course, as a plural of cracker) is metaphorical. - creamery
This escapes the usual exclusion of derivatives of words ending -er because a "creamer" in this image (a jug) is no longer in use (except, perhaps, dialectally). Besides, the suffix is not "-y" but "ery"; see note 14. - crockery
This escapes the usual exclusion of derivatives of words ending -er because it is not derived from a non-existent *crocker. The suffix "-ery" usually means "place for, art of, condition of, quantity of". See further information from Etymonline here - cutlery
This escapes the usual exclusion of derivatives of words ending -er because a "cutler" is chiefly a tradesman of historical interest. - deanery
This looks as though it should be excluded as a derivative, but it is a derivative of dean rather than the (non-existent) *deaner. - divers
This is not the plural of the noun (which is excluded). It is an archaic determiner (meaning something like "various"). - dividers
This is not excluded (as a word ending with an unstressed last syllable) since it is not the plural of the word "divider". - elderberry
This sound is in the second syllable. See also the /e/ section. - enervate
The bare infinitive is not included in the Macmillan English Dictionary. The link is to the Collins English Dictionary. - evergreen
This escapes the usual exclusion of compounds, because of its metaphorical use - with a meaning something like "commonly-held favorite"(for example "evergreen melodies").. - ferment
This is the noun, stressed on the first syllable. The verb has stress on the second syllable and /ə/ in the first. - fisherman
This escapes two general exclusions (compound words and derivatives of words ending -er) as fisher is a rather rare noun, not included in the Macmillan English Dictionary. - geranium
The Macmillan English Dictionary's transcription gives this sound (as does the audio sample), but a pronunciation with an /ɪ/ pronunciation is common. - gooseberry
Students of English for Speakers of Other Languages should note that this has neither the /u:/ of goose nor the /e/ of berry. - heroics
The Macmillan English Dictionary's transcribes this with a /ə/ , although the same dictionary gives the word heroic (the adjective) with an /ɪ/. This is surely accidental: either word can be pronounced with either vowel. - huckleberry
The Macmillan English Dictionary transcription uses /ə/ but the audio sample has /e/. Either vowel is possible. - interfere, interference, and interfering
This sound is in the second syllable; for the sound in the third, see the /ɪə/ section. - knickerbockers
Both -ers (in the second and in the fourth syllables) use this sound. - liverish
This escapes the exclusion of derivatives of words endng -er because the relation to the liver is largely metaphorical. - liberation
The Macmillan English Dictionary does not list liberation; the link is to the Collins English Dictionary. - midwifery
Students of English for Speakers of Other Languages should note that the vowel in the second syllable is /I/ (despite the /aɪ/ of the source noun midwife. - miserable and monastery
The Macmillan English Dictionary's transcription gives this sound, but the audio sample has only three syllables (a more common pronunciation [except in very formal contexts and in the speech of children]). - overweening and overwhelm
This escapes the general exclusion of words with *-er- prefixes because neither "ween" nor "whelm" exists in current British English as a standalone word. - peremptory
Some speakers stress the first syllable, with the sound /e/. - perfect
This is the verb. with stress on the second syllable. See also in the /ɜ:/ section. - permit
This is the verb, with stress on the second syllable. See also the /ɜ:/ section for the noun. - persimmon and pertain
The Macmillan English Dictionary transcription uses /ə/ but the audio sample has a hint of /ɜ:/. Both are possible. - pervert
This is the verb, stressed on the second syllable. For the noun, stressed on the first syllable, see the /ɜ:/ section. - pizzeria
The Macmillan English Dictionary transcription uses /ə/ but the audio sample has a hint of /e/. Both pronunciations are common. -
raspberry
Students of English for Speakers of Other Languages should note three things:- the "p" is silent
- the "s" assimilates to the voicing of the /b/ (and so represents the /z/ sound)
- "e" does not represent the /e/ sound
- rubberneck
This escapes the general exclusion of compounds because the metaphorical verb does not refer to necks. - saddlery
This escapes the usual exclusion of derivatives from words that end -er because the role of saddler is almost extinct. Besides, see note 14. - savagery, scenery, scullery, shrubbery and snobbery
These escape the usual exclusion of derivatives from words that end -er because there is no such thing as a savager, a scener, a sculler, a shrubber or a snobber. In other words, they all escape that exclusion by simply not being a derivative of a non-existent noun. - slippery
This escapes the usual exclusion of derivatives from words that end -er because there is no such derivation (it does not mean "like a slipper"). - superficial and superstition
These escape the usual exclusion of words that start super- because neither *ficial not *stition is a free-standing word. - supervi[s|z]e
This escapes the usual exclusion of words that start super- because *vise is not a free-standing word (in current British English). - undercarriage
This escapes the usual exclusion of words that start under- because the notion of a carriage is a long way from this aeronautical metaphor. - undermine
This escapes the usual exclusion of words that start under- because the idea of "cutting ground away" is largely metaphorical. - understand, understanding, understudy and undertak[e|en|ing]
These escape the usual exclusion of words that start under- because of the distance between their etymology and the idea of inferiority. - underway
This escapes the usual exclusion of words that start under- because the notion of "way" - meaning the making of progress, as in the nautical phrase "steerage way" (when a vessel is making enough progress for the rudder to have an appreciable effect) - is far from the word's current meaning. - verruca
The Macmillan English Dictionary transcription uses /ə/ but the audio sample has /ɜ:/. - watermark
This escapes the general exclusion of compound words because it refers to a process of papermaking that is a closed book for the most part to all but hobbyists and etymological dictionaries. - westernize|d
The Macmillan English Dictionary does not list a spelling with -ise; but a few other dictionaries listed by Onelook do. - wickerwork
This escapes the general exclusion of compound words because wicker is not in regular use as a free-standing word.
The illustration shows the decline as noted by in the Collins English Dictionary. In the last 50 years plotted (data runs out at 2008) usage declined by well over 70% - withers
This escapes the general exclusion of words deriving from words ending -er as wither and withers (part of a horse) are unrelated.
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