There are 4 ways we pronounce written double oo:
- /uw/ most common
- /ʊ/ small number of words
- /ʌ/
- /ɔ-ɚ/
- practice/uw, ʊ, ʌ, ɔ–ɚ/
Written double oo = /ɔ–ɚ/ in only 3 words.
door /ˈdɔ–ɚ/
floor /ˈflɔ–ɚ/
poor /ˈpɔ–ɚ/
Why do we say it this way?
The answer is…the Secret of R [link]
an unstressed vowel + written r = always /ɚ/
do-or /ˈdɔ–ɚ/
flo-or /ˈflɔ–ɚ/
po-or /ˈpɔ–ɚ
a red front door
/ə-ˈrɛd-frən-ˈdɔ–ɚ/
revolving doors
/rɪ-ˈvɑl-vɪŋ-ˈdɔ–ɚz/
He’s knocking on the door.
/hiyz-ˈnɑ-kɪŋ-an-ðə-ˈdɔ–ɚ/
Our house is blue.
/ˈa-wɚ-haw-sɪz-ˈbluw/
Our next-door neighbor‘s house is green.
/ˈa-wɚ-nɛkst-ˈdɔ–ɚ-ˈney-bɚz-haw-sɪz-ˈgriyn/
We live in a 2-story house.
/wiy-lɪ-vɪ-nə-ˈtuw-stɔ-ɚ-iy-ˈhaws/
The kitchen is on the first floor.
/ðə-kɪ-t͡ʃɪ-nɪ-zɑn-ðə-fɚst-flɔ–ɚ/
The bedrooms are on the second floor.
/ðə-bɛd-ruwm-za-ɚ-an-ðə-sɛ-kɪn-flɔ–ɚ/
a wood floor
/ə-ˈwʊd-ˈflɔ–ɚ/
a tile floor
/ə-ˈtayl-ˈflɔ–ɚ/
He’s rolling on the floor laughing.
/hiyz-ˈrow-lɪŋ-an-ðə-ˈflɔ–ɚ-ˈlæ-fɪŋ/
Poor dog.
/ˈpɔ–ɚ-ˈdɔg/
This is poor driving.
/ˈðɪ-sɪz-ˈpɔ–ɚ-ˈdray-vɪŋ/
Note:
The word poor is pronounced differently in different regions of the U.S.
It’s okay to say either /ˈpɔ–ɚ/ or /puw–ɚ/.
