/eː/ isn't a double vowel. It's just a long /e/.
You won't find /eː/ in the dictionary.
Dictionaries use /eə/ for both sounds.
This is because the meaning is the same for both sounds:
=
/ɪə/ and /ʊə/ also have two sounds:
| /eə/ and /eː/ | |||||
| You can say "there" in two ways: | |||||
| there | |
/ðeə/ | |
/'ðeː/ | |
|
/eː/ isn't a double vowel. It's just a long /e/. You won't find /eː/ in the dictionary. Dictionaries use /eə/ for both sounds. This is because the meaning is the same for both sounds: |
|||||
| caring | |
/ˈkeərɪŋ/ | = |
|
/'keːrɪŋ/. |
|
/ɪə/ and /ʊə/ also have two sounds: |
|||||
| hearing | |
/'hɪərɪŋ/ | = |
|
/'hɪːrɪŋ/ | |
|
||||||
| tourist | |
/'tʊərəst/ | = |
|
/'tʊːrəst/ | |
|
||||||
In my class, I only use /ɪə/ and /ʊə/ – I don't use /ɪː/ or /ʊː/, but I think that learning /eː/ is useful for students' understanding of English, so I use both /eə/ and /eː/ when I teach pronunciation. |
||||||
| << Back to Double Vowels Revision | ||||||
| << Back to Dictionary Alphabet | ||||||