The last of the UR notes

 

 

/ʃʊə/ and /ʊə/ Notes

1. insure
   The Macmillan English Dictionary has this transcription, but the audio sample is /ʃɔ;/.
2. reassure
   The Macmillan English Dictionary has this transcription, but the audio sample is /ʃɔ;/, matching the transcription and audio for "assure".
3. sure and surely
   See also under /ɔ:/. Both pronunciations are common, and Macmillan English Dictionary has audio samples of both.
4. sure-fire
   Macmillan English Dictionary provides only an audio sample of this (not / ɔ:/ , but there is no transcription (although there is a transcription for "sure-footed", giving only the /ɔ:/ pronunciation). Either is common and acceptable.
5. chiaroscuro
   The Macmillan English Dictionary has this transcription, but the audio sample has no trace of /ə/ after the /ʊ/.
6. Lurex
   Macmillan English Dictionary has two transcriptions marked as "British", one with a glide (/jʊə/). But the two transcriptions both link to the same audio (which has no glide).
7. Urdu
   Macmillan English Dictionary also has the pronunciation /ɜ:/.

ʤʊə/ and /ʧʊə/ Notes

1. injurious
   This escapes the usual exclusion of derivatives of words ending "-ure" because the /ʤə/ of "injure" becomes so radically different when stressed.
2. futurity
   The Macmillan English Dictionary transcription has the transcription /tj/ - but the audio sample is a clear /ʧ/. Both pronunciations are acceptable.
3. maturity
   Macmillan English Dictionary has this transcription, although "immaturity" is transcribed /tjʊə/. As usual, both pronunciations are acceptable.
   

/ʤʊ/ and /ʧʊ/ Notes

1. /djʊ/
   This cluster of phonemes can often, colloquially, be realized as /ʤʊ/, but Macmillan English Dictionary‘s audio samples for "obdurate" and its derivatives uses this sound (appropriately, as it is an esssentially formal word).

/ʌ/ Notes

1. alternating current
   Usually abbreviated to AC.
2. burra
   The Macmillan English Dictionary has this transcription, but the audio sample is /ʊ/ (reflecting the Indian application of the word).
3. direct current
   Usually abbreviated to DC.

/ᴐ:/ Notes

1. assurance
   The Macmillan English Dictionary has this transcription, but the audio sample is /ʊ/ (regarded by some as preferable, though /ɔ:/ is not uncommon).
2. assured
   In this case, the Macmillan English Dictionary audio sample matches the transcription, although - as in for assurance" -  /ʊ/ is acceptable (often followed by /ə/)
3. assuredly
   Students of ESOL should note that this word has four syllables (whereas "assured" has only two), and even in non-rhotic speech the /r/ is sounded. As in that case, /ʊ/ may sometimes be used (and is preferred by some speakers).
4. Qur'an
   The  Macmillan English Dictionary has this transcription, but the audio sample is /ə/. Speakers who use this pronunciation tend to use the "Koran" spelling. (Whereas people who use the "Qur‘an" spelling often use the vowel /ʊ/ or something more authentic).
5. sure and surely
   See also under /ʊə/. Both pronunciations are common.
6. sure-footed
   Macmillan English Dictionary gives only this pronunciation, whereas for "sure-fire" (although with no transcription) it gives an audio sample of the /ʊə/ pronunciation. Either is common and acceptable.

/u/ Notes

1. urea
   The Macmillan English Dictionary has this transcription but other similar words (such as "urethra") use /jʊ/.
2. urinal
   The Macmillan English Dictionary has this transcription but other similar words (such as "urinate") use /jʊə/.
3. urology
   The Macmillan English Dictionary has this transcription but other similar words (such as "urogenital") use /jʊə/.

More *UR* Notes

Continuing with disembodied (or, rather, disentexted) notes to words that use a *UR* spelling to represent the /ə/ (and related) sounds, and the first of the /ʊ/ (and related) sounds. (There is a crossover case where the letters *UR* can represent /ʊə/.)

/ə/ Notes

1. azure
   The Macmillan English Dictionary has this transcription (with an assimilated /ʒ/), but the audio sample has no assimilation (the /z/ is unchanged) and the vowel is /jʊə/. Both pronunciations are common and acceptable.
2. Jurassic
   The Macmillan English Dictionary has this transcription, but the audio sample has a hint of /ʊ/.
3. murmur
   This sound is in the second syllable. See also under /ɜ:/.
4. purport
   This is the verb (meaning "convey a meaning or "gist", or "make a show of doing that"). For the noun see /ɜ:/.
5. survey
   This is the verb, with primary stress on the second syllable. For the noun, see the /ɜ:/ section.

/ʧə/ Note

1. aperture, musculature, premature  and many others
   The Macmillan English Dictionary has this transcription, but the audio sample is /tjʊə/. Although the pronunciation /tʃə/ is both common and acceptable in the first two cases, it is less common in the case of “premature” (only –  and not necessarily, even in that case – when the adjective precedes the noun it qualifies).

 /jə/, /ʃə/ , and /ʒə/ Notes

1. penury
   The Macmillan English Dictionary has this transcription, but the audio sample is approaches /jʊ/
2. luxury
   Sometimes pronounced with a /gʒ/. See under /ʒə/.
3. azure
   The Macmillan English Dictionary has this transcription, but the audio sample is /zjʊə/, a common pronunciation.
4. luxury
   Sometimes voiceless. See under /ʃə/.

/jʊə/ Notes

1. alluring
   Macmillan English Dictionary gives two transcriptions and labels them "British", one without the /j/, but the audio sample is of the full /jʊə/ pronunciation. The form without /j/ matches what the Macmillan English Dictionary calls "American".
2. bureaucracy,  bureau de change, bureaucracy, bureaucrat, bureaucratic, burette, and centurion
   The Macmillan English Dictionary has this transcription, but the audio sample has no /ə/ - a common pronunciation.
3. couture
   The printed Macmillan English Dictionary has this transcription, but the online Macmillan English Dictionary lists this word as American, and gives it plain /ʊ/.
4. curate
   This is the noun., with stress on the first syllable. For the verb, see the /jʊ/ section.
5. futurity
   Alone among the derivatives of "future" (excluded as explained in the Introduction) this is included as it does not have /ə/ for the *UR*.
6. luxuriant
   The Macmillan English Dictionary has this transcription, but the audio sample is shows how the /gzjʊə/ can be shortened to /gʒʊ/. The voicing of the /g/ is uncertain, so that it is close to being /kʃʊ/, a common optional pronunciation.
7. penurious
   The Macmillan English Dictionary has this transcription, but the audio sample is /jʊ/.
8. urogenital
   The Macmillan English Dictionary has this transcription, but the audio sample is has a hint of /jɔ:/.

/jʊ/ and /ʊ/ Notes

1. curate
   This is the verb. For the noun, see the /jʊə/ section.
2. hurray
   The Macmillan English Dictionary has this transcription, but the audio sample is /ə/. Both are common and acceptable, as are a wide variety of spellings.
3. samurai
   Macmillan English Dictionary also has the pronunciation /ʊ/.
4. samurai
   Macmillan English Dictionary also has the pronunciation /jʊ/.

More later this month.

 

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