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I read this comment on Youtube.

is it possible that the sound / ɹ / tends to close the vowels that precede it? For example, at least to me, [very] / ˈvɛɹi / sounds more like / ˈveɹi /, [more] / ˈmɔɹ / more like / ˈmoɹ /, [chair] / t͡ʃɛəɹ / more like / t͡ʃeəɹ /, etc. Is it at least partially correct?

The maker of the video answered:

I think the R does close the vowel in some cases, yes! In particular with words like 'more'. The other examples there may be a closed a bit, but I think it is also possible and common for the vowel to stay more 'open'.

Like in the comment I hear [very] as / ˈveɹi /, [more] as ˈmoɹ /, [chair] as / t͡ʃeəɹ /. So which pronunciations are the most common in General American?

MagTun
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  • The ones with the close vowel before R are the most prevalent. I am certain we have duplicates on this, but they're hard to find. Remember that the American R tends to be retroflex, which may have some effect on all this. – tchrist Dec 18 '21 at 14:14
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    We don't use either / t͡ʃɛəɹ / or / t͡ʃeəɹ / in General American. It's either / t͡ʃɛɹ / or / t͡ʃeɹ /. And those are allophones so it doesn't matter which one you use — most Americans won't even notice the difference. – Peter Shor Dec 18 '21 at 14:57
  • @PeterShor Yeah I was having trouble mouthing out [t͡ʃɛə̯ɻ] or [t͡ʃeə̯ɻ] or whatever it might be; one might even make the argument that it’s [t͡ʃɛ˞] or [t͡ʃe˞], but all those transcriptions risk blurring the phonemic perception that chair comprises a sequence of just 3 phonemes in a row, no matter how that works out in actual pronunciation. The first we think of not as a consonant cluster but as a single integral phoneme, while the rime’s vowel and the rhotic in the coda are each single archiphonemes ⫽E⫽ and ⫽R⫽. – tchrist Dec 18 '21 at 15:20

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