jer
noun/jɛə/ · /jɛɹ/
Etymology From Russian ер (jer) or ерь (jerʹ).
1
Human sciences, Linguistics, Sciences either of the Proto-Slavic lax vowels /ɪ/ (front jer, ь) and /ʊ/ (back jer, ъ), which in Late Common Slavic were reduced in certain positions to ultrashort vowels [ɪ̆] and [ʊ̆] (weak jers) and then eventually lost.