In the word "bird", which vowel sound is r-controlled?

In the word "bird", which vowel sound is r-controlled?

• A. ar
• B. er
• C. ir
• D. or

Answer: (C)

R-controlled vowels pull the preceding vowel toward the familiar “er” sound once an r follows. In bird, the letter before the r is i, so the i–r pattern creates that er-colored vowel sound. That means the r-controlled vowel here is the ir group, even though the actual sound you hear is the er (/ɜr/ or /ɝ/ in American English). The ar, er, and or spellings correspond to different vowel sounds in other words, so they don’t match this word’s spelling. So ir is the correct choice because the word uses the i followed by r to produce the r-controlled vowel.

R-controlled vowels pull the preceding vowel toward the familiar “er” sound once an r follows. In bird, the letter before the r is i, so the i–r pattern creates that er-colored vowel sound. That means the r-controlled vowel here is the ir group, even though the actual sound you hear is the er (/ɜr/ or /ɝ/ in American English). The ar, er, and or spellings correspond to different vowel sounds in other words, so they don’t match this word’s spelling. So ir is the correct choice because the word uses the i followed by r to produce the r-controlled vowel.