Editing Hiberno-English (section)

=== Vowel + {{Vr|r}} combinations ===
The following vowels + {{Vr|r}} create combinations that are defining characteristics of Hiberno-English: 
*Lack of the [[horse–hoarse merger]]: the distinction is traditionally maintained between {{IPAc-en|ɔː}} and {{IPAc-en|oʊ}} before the consonant {{IPAc-en|r}}, so that e.g. ''horse'' and ''hoarse'' do not rhyme in most Irish accents, though this is changing among younger speakers.
*{{sc2|START}} vowel realised more forward in the mouth in comparison to most varieties of English.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! '''Diaphoneme'''
! '''Ulster'''
! '''West & <br />South-West Ireland'''
! '''Local <br />Dublin'''
! '''Advanced <br />Dublin'''
! '''Supraregional <br />Ireland'''
! '''Example words'''
|-
| {{IPA|/ɑːr/}}
| {{IPA|[ɑɻ~ɑɹ]}}
| colspan="2" | {{IPA|[æːɹ~aɹ]}}
| colspan="2" | {{IPA|[äːɹ~ɑɹ]}}{{ref|D4|1}}
| c'''ar''', g'''uar'''d, p'''ar'''k
|-
| {{IPA|/ɪər/}}
| colspan="5" | {{IPA|[iːɹ~iɚ]}}
| f'''ear''', p'''eer''', t'''ier'''
|-
| {{IPA|/ɛər/}}
| {{IPA|[(ɛ)ɚː]}}
| colspan="4" | {{IPA|[ɛːɹ~eɹ]}}{{ref|ND|2}}
| b'''are''', b'''ear''', th'''ere'''
|-
| rowspan="2" |{{IPA|/ɜːr/}}{{ref|er|3}}
| rowspan="2" |{{IPA|[ɚː]}}
| colspan="2" |{{IPA|[ɛːɹ]}}{{ref|er|3}}
| colspan="2" rowspan="2" |{{IPA|[ɚː]}}{{ref|ND|2}}
|'''ir'''k, g'''ir'''l, '''ear'''n
|-
| colspan="2" | {{IPA|[ʊːɹ]}}{{ref|er|3}}
| w'''or'''k, f'''ir'''st, '''ur'''n
|-
| {{IPA|/ər/}}
| colspan="5" | {{IPA|[ɚ]}}{{ref|schwa-r|4}}
| doct'''or''', mart'''yr''', p'''er'''vade
|-
| rowspan="2" | {{IPA|/ɔːr/}}{{ref|horse|5}}
| {{IPA|[ɒːɚ~ɔːɹ]}}
| colspan="2" | {{IPA|[äːɹ~ɑːɹ]}}
| colspan="2" | {{IPA|[ɒːɹ~oːɹ]}}
| f'''or''', h'''or'''se, w'''ar'''
|-
| {{IPA|[oːɚ~oːɹ]}}
| {{IPA|[ɔːɹ]}}
| {{IPA|[ɒːɹ]}}
| colspan="2" | {{IPA|[oːɹ]}}
| f'''our''', h'''oar'''se, w'''ore'''
|-
| {{IPA|/ʊər/}}
| colspan="5" | {{IPA|[uːɹ~uɚ]}}{{ref|vowelbreak|6}}
| m'''oor''', p'''oor''', t'''our'''
|-
| {{IPA|/jʊər/}}
| colspan="5" | {{IPA|[juːɹ~juɚ~jɚː]}}{{ref|vowelbreak|6}}
| c'''ure''', '''Eur'''ope, p'''ure'''
|}
'''Footnotes:'''

{{note|D4|1}}In [[southside Dublin]]'s "[[Dublin 4]]" (or "Dortspeak") accent, {{IPA|/ɑːr/}} is realised as {{IPA|[ɒːɹ]}}.

{{note|ND|2}}In non-local Dublin's more recently emerging (or "advanced Dublin") accent, {{IPA|/ɛər/}} and {{IPA|/ɜr/}} may both be realised more rounded as {{IPA|[øːɻ]}}.

{{note|er|3}}The [[nurse mergers|{{sc2|NURSE}} mergers]] have not occurred in local Dublin, West/South-West, and other [[conservative (linguistics)|very conservative]] and traditional Irish English dialects, including in Ulster, all of which retain a two-way distinction between {{IPA|/ɛr/}} as in ''earn'' versus {{IPA|/ʊr/}} as in ''urn''. Contrarily, most English dialects worldwide have merged {{IPA|/ɛ/}} and {{IPA|/ʊ/}} before the consonant {{IPA|/r/}}. For instance, in the case of non-local Dublin, supraregional, and younger Irish accents, the merged sequence is phonetically {{IPA|[ɚː]}}. However, for those accents which retain the more conservative distinction, the distribution of {{IPA|/ɛr/}} and {{IPA|/ʊr/}} is as follows: {{IPA|/ʊr/}} occurs when spelled {{vr|ur}} and {{vr|or}} (e.g. ''urn'' and ''word''), {{vr|ir}} after [[alveolar stop]]s (e.g. ''dirt''), and after [[labial consonant]]s (e.g. ''fern''); {{IPA|/ɛr/}} is occurs in all other situations.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Hickey|2007a|p=330}}</ref> There are apparent exceptions to these rules; [[John C. Wells]] describes ''prefer'' and ''per'' as {{IPA|/ɛr/}}, despite the vowel in question following a labial in both cases.<ref>{{citation |last=Wells |first=John C. |title=Accents of English 2: The British Isles |location=Cambridge, New York |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=1982 |isbn=0521297192 |page=321}}</ref> The distribution of {{IPA|/ɛr/}} versus {{IPA|/ʊr/}} is listed below in some example words:
{{col-begin}}
{{Col-2}}
'''{{IPA|/ɛr/}}'''
*''certain'' {{IPA|[ˈsɛːɹtn̩]}}
*''chirp'' {{IPA|[ˈtʃʰɛːɹp]}}
*''circle'' {{IPA|[ˈsɛːɹkəl]}}
*''earn'' {{IPA|[ɛːɹn]}}
*''earth'' {{IPA|[ɛːɹt]}}
*''girl'' {{IPA|[ɡɛːɹl]}}
*''germ'' {{IPA|[dʒɛːɹm]}}
*''heard'' or ''herd'' {{IPA|[hɛːɹd]}}
*''Hertz'' {{IPA|[hɛːɹts]}}
*''irk'' {{IPA|[ɛːɹk]}}
*''[[tern]]'' {{IPA|[tʰɛːɹn]}}
{{Col-break}}
'''{{IPA|/ʊr/}}'''
*''bird'' {{IPA|[bʊːɹd]}}
*''dirt'' {{IPA|[dʊːɹt]}}
*''first'' {{IPA|[fʊːɹst]}}
*''hurts'' {{IPA|[hʊːɹts]}}
*''murder'' {{IPA|[ˈmʊːɹdɚ]}}
*''nurse'' {{IPA|[ˈnʊːɹs]}}
*''turn'' {{IPA|[tʰʊːɹn]}}
*''third'' or ''turd'' {{IPA|[tʰʊːɹd]}}
*''urn'' {{IPA|[ʊːɹn]}}
*''work'' {{IPA|[wʊːɹk]}}
*''world'' {{IPA|[wʊːɹld]}}
{{col-end}}
{{note|schwa-r|4}}In a rare few local Dublin varieties that are non-rhotic, {{IPA|/ər/}} is either lowered to {{IPA|[ɐ]}} or backed and raised to {{IPA|[ɤ]}}.

{{note|horse|5}}The distinction between {{IPA|/ɔːr/}} and {{IPA|/oʊr/}} is widely preserved in Ireland, so that, for example, ''horse'' and ''hoarse'' are not merged in most Irish English dialects; however, they are usually [[Horse–hoarse merger|merged]] in [[Belfast]] and advanced Dublin.

{{note|vowelbreak|6}}In local Dublin {{IPA|/(j)uːr/}} may be realised as {{IPA|[(j)uʷə(ɹ)]}}. For some speakers {{IPA|/(j)uːr/}} may merge with {{IPA|/ɔːr/}}.