b/b/
Press your lips together, add vocal cord vibration, then release.
How to pronounce barriers in American English
BA·ree·erz
Start here
Americans pronounce barriers as BA-ree-erz (/ˈbæriərz/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "The foundation works to eliminate barriers to opportunity for all".
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "barriers".
3 syllables, 6 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
a/æ/
Drop the jaw noticeably. Keep the body of the tongue low and forward, and don't let the back of the tongue raise toward the soft palate. Pull the lip corners back slightly, almost a starting smile.
r/r/
Curl or bunch your tongue without letting the tip touch the roof of your mouth. Brace the sides of your tongue against your upper back teeth, and round your lips slightly.
ee/i/
Pull the corners of your lips back slightly. Arch the middle-front of your tongue high toward the roof of the mouth.
er/ər/
Relax your mouth and lift the tongue back and up. Keep the lips neutral.
z/z/
Same position as S, but add vocal cord vibration. Feel the buzz.
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Watch out
Common pronunciation mistakes in American English.
The textbook way isn't wrong — it's just not how anyone actually says it.
01
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch BA — keep everything else short and quick.
ba·REE·ERZ→BA·ree·erz
02
Pronouncing the "R" too clearly.
Americans use a relaxed retroflex R — the tongue curls back rather than rolling. The R is one continuous sound with the vowel before it, not two separate sounds.
… (no R)→… r (curl the tongue)
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "barriers" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "BA" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "BA-ree-erz" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
How do I pronounce the R in "barriers"?
Americans use a relaxed retroflex R: the tongue curls back rather than rolling, and the R is one continuous sound with the vowel before it — not two separate sounds. Don't try to pronounce a separate vowel followed by a separate R. Treat them as a single shape.
Is the American pronunciation of "barriers" different from British English?
American English uses different vowel shapes, a relaxed retroflex R, and connected-speech tricks like flap-T and glottal-stop T that British Received Pronunciation generally avoids. The respell "BA-ree-erz" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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