How to pronounce words that end in -or, -er, -ious, and -cally

The appearances of schwa /ə/ and /ɜː/

Endings with -or

All words that end in -or, such as tutor, professor, curator, realtor, sculptor, pastor, suitor, doctor, mentor, etc, have a schwa /ə/ and an optional consonant /r/. Transcriptions of these words appear as /ˈtjuːtə/, /prəˈfɛsə/, /kjʊ(ə)ˈreɪtə/, /ˈskʌlptə/, /ˈrɪəltə/, /’pɑːstə/, /’suːtə/ etc.

Endings with -er

Most words that end in -er, such as farmer, maker, seeker, preacher, carpenter, marketer, faster (all comparative adjectives in that category, in fact), poster, later, latter, letter, etc. Transcriptions appear as /ˈfɑːmə/, /ˈmeɪkə/, /ˈsiːkə/, /’mɑːkɪtə/, later /ˈleɪtə/, latter /’latə/, /ˈlɛtə/ etc.

NB:'former' is different from 'formal'.

A few exceptions in words like refer /rɪˈfɜː/, defer /dɪˈfɜː/, prefer /prɪˈfɜː, aver, ˈ/ə’vɜː/, infer /ɪnˈfɜː/ etc. At this point, I can make a generalization and say that these exceptions are LARGELY found in verbs that end in -er. This is because the stress has to fall on the second syllable.

Endings with -ious

Many words like gracious /’ɡreɪʃəs/, atrocious /əˈtrəʊʃəs/, vicious /ˈvɪʃəs/, conscious /’kɒnʃəs/, and even courageous /kəˈreɪdʒəs/ etc. For all these words, the pronunciation endings will be /ʃəs/.

Try to pronounce precious, fastidious, and porous before playing the audio below.

Endings with -cally

Words ending in -cally such as automatically, critically, academically, frantically, basically, etc. Words with this -cally become /kli/ at the end, and NOT KALI. Their transcriptions appear as /ˌɔːtəˈmatɪkli/, /ˈkrɪtɪkli/, /akəˈdɛmɪkli/, /ˈbeɪsɪkli/ etc.

It’s been a long ride with you! I’m sure you’ve learnt a lot in this newsletter. Till I write to you again, please drink enough water and continue minding your own business.

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To better English,

Francis