Reference page

SQUARE vowel

• A long, mid-open vowel.
• The same sound as in DRESS, but longer.
• A little more open than the start of FACE, and no movement; the same sound throughout.
• IPA transcription: [ɛː]

Spelled: are

<-are> is the SQUARE vowel at the end of a word e.g.:

• bare, care, dare, fare, hare, mare, pare, rare, share
• flare, glare, scare, snare, spare, stare, tare, wares
• compare, prepare

Or at the end of a morpheme (unit of meaning) e.g.:

• rarely, awareness, careful
• daren't, prepared, shared, glares
• carer, barer, rarer
• scarecrow, barefoot, farewell
• rarefied

And also:

• parent
• area
• Caesarean (surgical birth)

Exceptions:

• are / aren't, steak tartare

Spelled: air

<air> is always pronounced as SQUARE vowel

Spelled: -eir

<-eir> is almost always pronounced as SQUARE vowel,

Exceptions

Pronounced [ɪː] as in NEAR:

• weir, weird

Celtic names e.g.:
• Keir, Keira, Peirce, Deidre

Foreign placenames e.g.:
• Madeira, Rio de Janeiro

Terms derived from the Greek oneiros, 'dream', pronounce <-eir> as [aɪ] as in PRICE.
E.g. oneirology, the study of dreams; oneiric, use of dreams in film; ...

Spelled: -ary

When stressed, the a in <-ary> is pronounced as SQUARE vowel. When not stressed, it is pronounced as [ə] or elided (skipped altogether). See Resources

Spelled: -ere

<-ere> is pronounced as SQUARE vowel in

• there, where
• werewolf (but not <were>)

And French words

• -iere/ière: derriere, premiere, lumiere, boutonniere
• -ere: Gruyere, ampere

Historically

[ɛr] as in current American; then [ɛə] in Received Pronunciation (1950s) with a movement towards the central, default vowel [ə]; now just long [ɛɛ]