Vowel Sounds (æ ɚ ɝ)

Which vowel sound is in the word cat?

• /æ/

• /ɚ/

• /eɪ/

• /ɝ/

Tags

CCSS.L.1.2D

CCSS.L.K.2C

CCSS.RF.2.3E

CCSS.RF.4.3A

CCSS.RF.5.3A

What is the key characteristic of /ɚ/?

• It is stressed.

• It is relaxed and unstressed.

• It is a front vowel.

• It is tense and stressed.

Tags

CCSS.L.1.2D

CCSS.RF.2.3E

CCSS.RF.4.3A

CCSS.RF.5.3A

CCSS.RF.K.3D

Which sentence has both /æ/ and /ɚ/?

• The black cat ran fast.

• • The bird heard a word.

• The teacher read to her class.

• The man hurt his hand.

Tags

CCSS.L.1.2D

CCSS.L.K.2C

CCSS.RF.2.3E

CCSS.RF.4.3A

CCSS.RF.5.3A

How can you identify /ɝ/ in a word?

• It is in an unstressed syllable.

• It is a relaxed central vowel.

• It appears at the end of words only.

• It has a strong r sound and is stressed.

Tags

CCSS.L.1.2D

CCSS.L.K.2C

CCSS.RF.2.3E

CCSS.RF.4.3A

CCSS.RF.5.3A

The word "teacher" ends with the vowel sound /___/.

• æ

• ɝ

• ɚ

Answer explanation

Many confuse the ending with /ɝ/ because the r sounds strong, but the key is that it is relaxed and not accentuated.

Tags

CCSS.L.1.2D

CCSS.RF.2.3E

CCSS.RF.4.3A

CCSS.RF.5.3A

CCSS.RF.K.3A

Match the phonetic transcription with the correct word. Be careful, some words might look similar!

• No match

• /ˈteɪtʃɚ/

• cat

• /ˈbɝd/

• black

• /ˈblæk/

• cart

• /ˈkæt/

• bird

• /ˈkɑːt/

Tags

CCSS.L.3.2F

Put the words in the correct column

Groups:

(a) /æ/:

,

(b) /ɚ/:

,

(c) /ɝ/:

• Word

• Number

• wrath

• Teacher

• System

• Apple

• Bird

• Hurt

• Sister

• Black

• First

• Raft

Tags

CCSS.L.1.5A

CCSS.L.1.5B

CCSS.L.K.5A

Draw an object that begins with the sound /æ/.

What is the correct transcription of bird?

• /bɚd/

• /bɜːd/

• /bɜːrd/

• /bɪrd/

Answer explanation

English has different accents and the pronunciation of the words may vary slightly depending on the accent. In this case, both transcriptions are correct and represent two different ways of pronouncing the "r" in the word "bird". (British way /bɜːd/ and American way /bɜːrd/)

Tags

CCSS.L.3.2F

Idea

• Schwa (ɚ)

• No schwa (ɚ)

Tags

CCSS.L.3.2F