Pronounce English Accurately

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Vowel 15: Diphthong /ʊə/

The last of the three centring diphthongs is /ʊə/.

For this sound, we start in the position for the vowel /ʊ/, with the lips very round and pouting and the tongue high and back, and then everything relaxes to the mid central position for schwa:

/ʊə/ /ʊə/ /ʊə/

The archetypal spelling of /ʊə/ is 'ure' as in 'pure' /pjʊə/, 'cure', /kjʊə/.

This sound is unstable. In many words, but not all, /ʊə/ can be replaced by vowel no. 10, monophthong /ɔː/ and sometimes by No. 7, /ɜː/.

First, examples of words in which the /ʊə/ vowel will usually be properly pronounced as /ʊə/:

bureau, bureaucratic and bureaucracy - curious - during - endure - Europe - European - furious - fury - impure - manicure - neuron - neurosis – obscure – procure - pure - puritan - purity – rural - secure - security - spurious – urine

ADD IN: Words in which either /ʊə/ or /ɔː/ is certainly found: cure - you're – your – poor - sure – tour.

The words insure - ensure - assure and their derivatives can have multiple pronunciations; the first syllable can be fully pronounced or reduced and we can have either /ʊə/ or /ɔː/ in the second syllable.

So we get:

insure: /ɪnˈʃʊə, ɪnˈʃɔː/ - homophonous with 'in shore'

ensure: /ɪnˈʃʊə, ɪnˈʃɔː, enˈʃʊə, enˈʃɔː/

assure: /æˈʃʊə, æ ˈʃɔː, əˈʃʊə, əˈʃɔː/

There's a lot of variation among individuals in how these words with both options are pronounced, and often people may think they say one thing when actually they say the opposite.

Words can be homophones for one person but not for another.

Even style of speech can have an effect on which vowel is chosen.

For example, I usually pronounce both 'poor' and 'pour' in normal speech as homophones of 'paw', with monphthong /ɔː/.

But I might say /pʊə/ for some special emphasis or effect, such as sarcasm: 'Oh poor you!!'

For the word 'sure', the Longman Pronunciation Dictionary preferences poll gives a majority voting for /ʃʊə/, but with a strong tendency for younger speakers to opt for /ʃɔː/. I'm with the younger speakers on that one – I normally say /ʃɔː/, making it homophonous with 'shore'.

Another example with both pronunciations possible is the word 'tour' and related words 'tourist', and 'tourism'.

On these I vote the other way and prefer /tʊə/ - for me, 'tour' is not the same sound as 'tor' – a tor is a pile of rocks on moorland.

And yet I pronounce 'moor', as in moorland, the same as 'more' /mɔː/, rhyming with 'door'.

So the lesson is that there is an unusual amount of variation and inconsistency in the pronunciation of the /ʊə/ vowel, even within individual speakers and from one word to another.

Other words which would always have /ʊə/ for me, but others might pronounce them either way:

'pure, mature, manure, obscure, premature, contour, procure'

One word, 'dour', meaning gloomy, apparently unhappy, often used to describe residents of rural Yorkshire – sorry rural Yorkshire! - can be either /dʊə/ or /ˈdaʊ.ə/ - nothing else.

One, rather desperate, practice sentence, which could in theory have a lot of /ʊə/ sounds but probably wouldn't be said with all of them:

"I'm sure you can get insurance now you're more mature".

But I wouldn't say /ʊə/ everywhere, because it doesn't sound natural, only in 'mature':

"I'm sure you can get insurance now you're more mature" sounds more natural.

The unstable vowel /ʊə/.