EAR Phonogram

Logic of English teaches the phonogram ear says /er/ as its own phonogram because words, like learn and search, are not decodable without it. However, other words use the ea + r phonogram. 

EAR

• The phonogram ear says /er/ as in search
  The letters EAR work together to say /er/
  This is a unique sound made by these letters working together
  The vowel sound is not one of the three sounds of the phonogram ea.

EA+R

• Ea + r combines two phonograms, the vowel ea, and the consonant r
  The phonogram ea is a vowel and says three sounds: /ē/ as in eat, /ĕ/ as in bread, and /ā/ as in steak
  The phonogram r is a consonant and says /r/ as in run. /R/ is a liquid sound and often distorts vowel sounds around it.
  Words like ear contain two phonograms: the phonogram ea says /ē/, and r says /r/.