2 syllables: hear, ers. Stress on hear.
HEE-rurz
/ˈhiɹɚz/
hearers is pronounced HEE-rurz (/ˈhiɹɚz/). It has two syllables (hear-ers), with the stress on "hear". Hearers refers to people who listen, overhear, or attend to something, especially in a listening context. As a plural noun, it denotes individuals who are participants in a listening scenario, such as an audience or those who perceive sound. The term emphasizes the act of hearing as a passive or active process rather than the source of sound.
Hearers refers to people who listen, overhear, or attend to something, especially in a listening context. As a plural noun, it denotes individuals who are participants in a listening scenario, such as an audience or those who perceive sound. The term emphasizes the act of hearing as a passive or active process rather than the source of sound.
"The hearers leaned forward as the speaker concluded the story."
"Among the hearers, several raised questions during the Q&A."
"The therapist noted that even quiet listeners are hearers in their own right."
Pronounce as /ˈhɪər.ərz/ (US), /ˈhɪə.rəz/ (UK), /ˈhɪə.rəz/ (AU). The first syllable carries primary stress. Start with a mid-front lax vowel /ɪə/ that glides to a schwa in the second syllable, then add a voiced /z/ at the end. In rapid speech the second syllable may sound like /ə/ or /ɚ/. Think: HEER-ers, with a clear but light second syllable. IPA: US /ˈhɪər.ərz/, UK/AU /ˈhɪə.rəz/.
Common errors: 1) Reducing the first syllable too much, saying /hɪr.əz/ or /hɪərz/ without the second schwa; fix by clearly articulating /ɪə/ then a separate /ər/ in the second syllable. 2) Dropping the final /z/ or turning it into /s/ after voiceless consonants; ensure vocal fold vibration for /z/. 3) Flattening the vowel to a pure /ɪ/ or /ɜ/; aim for a diphthong /ɪə/ in the first syllable, not a monophthong. Practice with minimal pairs: hear- hee, here- heer. Use deliberate contrastive drills to stabilize /ˈhɪə/.
US tends to maintain /ˈhɪər.ərz/ with a clear diphthong /ɪə/ and a separated second syllable; UK often shortens the second vowel slightly to /ə/ or /ər/ with less rhotacism, giving /ˈhɪə.rəz/; AU mirrors UK but may reduce the first syllable more in casual speech, producing /ˈhɪə.rəz/ with a relaxed onset. Overall, rhoticity is less pronounced in UK/AU; US keeps a more overt vowel quality on the first syllable.
The difficulty lies in the diphthong in the first syllable and the transition to a voiced end with /z/. The sequence /ɪə/ can be tricky for speakers whose native language has a single vowel in that position. The second syllable /ər/ or /əz/ demands subtle vowel reduction and a controlled schwa before a voiced consonant. Mastery requires precise tongue height for /ɪ/ moving into /ɪə/, followed by a relaxed jaw for the final /ər/ or /əz/.
The unique aspect is the two-syllable rhythm with a relatively light second syllable and the need to hold/voice the final /z/. Focus on maintaining the primary stress on the first syllable, while ensuring the second syllable retains a clear, yet unstressed, schwa-like quality before the /z/. This helps avoid merging into a single syllable or mispronouncing the final consonant.
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Hearer comes from Middle English horen, from Old English hieran, which meant to hear or listen. The -er suffix forms agents from verbs, yielding “one who does.” The modern sense—someone who hears—emerged in Early Modern English as the verb hear expanded to convey perception by ear and the agent noun for a person who hears. The base word hear traces to Proto-Germanic *hērą-, akin to Old High German hārō, meaning ‘to hear, listen.’ The concept evolved with cultural emphasis on audiences and listeners; in law and rhetoric, hearers became a defined group in arguments and sermons. First known uses appear in medieval texts with references to hearers attending sermons, and by the 16th–17th centuries, the term commonly meant “those who listen” in both secular and religious contexts. Over time, hearer/ hearers maintained a stable semantic core while extending into idioms (“the hearers of the state” is archaic, “you’ll hear” modern usage).
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Words that rhyme with "hearers"
-ers sounds
-ars sounds
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