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I use to pronounce this word so that it rhymes with 'her', but recently I've been told to pronounce it like "air". Which pronunciation was it originally, and which pronunciation was correct?

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3 Answers

up vote 4 down vote accepted

There are two pronunciations:

/ɜr, ɛr/

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2  
(And both are correct) – Daniel δ Oct 21 '11 at 20:27
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Based on Gilbert and Sullivan lyrics, in London in the late 19th century it was pronounced to rhyme with "her":

If I had been so lucky as to have a steady brother
Who could talk to me as we are talking now to one another —
Who could give me good advice when he discovered I was erring
(Which is just the very favour which on you I am conferring),

However, nowadays, in the U.S. Northeast at least, I usually hear it pronounced "heir". Both pronunciations should be considered correct.

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Gilbert & Sullivan lyrics are contrived to be humorous. I recall in Iolanthe that somewhere within the same song the same word is pronounced in two different ways, to rhyme with two different things. – GEdgar Oct 22 '11 at 1:49
If you examine the libretto of Ruddigore, it appears that often, when a word is to be pronounced unusually for the sake of a rhyme, it is also misspelled. idyll/indiwiddle, accurst/worst, first-rater/theyater, reply/enjye, – Peter Shor Oct 22 '11 at 4:02
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When used as a verb ("err on the side of caution"), those of my accent pronounce it [eɪɻ], homonymously with "air."

When used as an interjection, it is usually pronounced [ɚ], [əɻ], or [əɹ], to rhyme with "her" or "purr".

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The interjection is "er", and it's a British stall word. The American equivalent (which is pronounced almost the same) is "uh". The only Americans who stall by saying "rrrrrr" are those who read "er" somewhere and think that's what you're supposed to say. – Spoxjox Feb 3 '12 at 21:13
@Spoxjox I did realize last night after writing that that I would usually spell the interjection with only one "r," but I would spell it with two if it were very drawn out. Also, there are a number of stall words, none of which are actually words, and all of which are subconsciously verbalized (except in satirical cases), so I don't think any of them are particularly "regional." Even if they were, I don't care if it's British, because I never said it wasn't. – Tortoise Feb 3 '12 at 22:28

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