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I've noticed that many words ending with 're' are pronounced by reversing the 'r' with the 'e'. Examples:

fire (ˈfī(ə)r)
fare (fer)
infrastructure (ˈinfrəˌstrək(t)SHər)

Is this a rule in English?

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  • Not everybody pronounces -ire words by transposing the 'i' and the 'e', e.g. 'fi-er', especially in the UK, which is mostly non-rhotic (that is, 'r' is not sounded at the ends of words).
    – Michael Harvey
    Commented Nov 10, 2021 at 13:11
  • @MichaelHarvey It could be argued that nonrhotic speakers still transpose the r and the e. After all, while final e is regularly silent, both rhotic and nonrhotic speakers pronounce the e in "fire". Nonrhotic speakers simply have a rule that alters the pronunciation of "er" to a schwa at the end of a word. I think most nonrhotic speakers, like myself, probably secretly consider "center" a more logical spelling than "centre". There are a lot of "-ire" spellings so we are used to them, but might one not consider "-ier" more logical even from a nonrhotic POV? Cf "flyer", "dryer", "pliers", "liar"
    – rjpond
    Commented Nov 10, 2021 at 14:34
  • A final 'e' often indicates a difference in the pronunciation of the vowel, e.g. fir (tree)/fire, spar/spare, bar/bare.
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Nov 10, 2021 at 15:22
  • All your examples end in -ire. Is that deliberate? What about fare, mere, fore, cure?
    – mdewey
    Commented Nov 10, 2021 at 16:06
  • you're right. My examples weren't the best. I had a bigger set of words in mind. I edited the question. But from the previous explanations I think I understand what happens in this case. The 're' sound is replaced by the 'ər' sound at the end of the word. My mother tongue is Portuguese, and I think that's why the 're' sound seems to be replaced by the 'er' sound and not the 'ər' sound.
    – Felipe Morelli
    Commented Nov 10, 2021 at 18:13

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Is this a rule in English?

It's very, very hard to maintain "rules" about pronunciation in English. Since it evolved from so many sources, and is spoken with so many dialectical differences, every "rule" would have many exceptions. However, you're right to notice a pattern. In fact, some words are spelled with an "-re" in British usage and "-er" in American, but pronounced (more or less) the same: metre/meter, fibre/fiber. (But beware: timbre is a different word from timber, and is pronounced differently. Except when it's pronounced the same.)

There's a similar pattern with "-le" endings, when following a consonant, in which they can be pronounced "-əl": ladle, nozzle, whistle, subtle (but, oh dear, in the last two words there are two consonants before the "-le," and in "whistle" the second consonant, "t," is silent, but in "subtle" it's the first consonant, the "b," that's silent!).

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  • The b in subtle has never been pronounced AFAIK: it's an archaising respelling.
    – Colin Fine
    Commented Nov 10, 2021 at 19:03
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    In British English, "metre" and "meter" are different words, albeit pronounced the same. A metre is a unit of measurement; a meter is a device used to measure something. Even American English spells a few words "-re", notably "lucre" and "acre", presumably because "-er" would cause the "c" to soften. "Timbre" probably just kept the French spelling because it's a relatively recent (19c.) borrowing.
    – rjpond
    Commented Nov 10, 2021 at 19:54
  • @rjpond Good point. I was thinking of poetic/musical "metre," another meaning of the British "-re" spelling (but takes "-er" in American)
    – Andy Bonner
    Commented Nov 10, 2021 at 19:57

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