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CHAPTER XIV

THE MIXED VOWELS

477. There are two mixed vowels in English. They are represented “broad” phonetic dotation by the symbols əː and ə. For the definition of the term “vowel” see § 54; for the definition of the term “mixed” see § 78.

THE ENGLISH LONG əː (the vowel in bird bəːd)

478. In pronouncing this vowel the tongue seems to be rather above the half-open position^[1]; the highest part of the tongue is the “middle”, that is, the part intermediate between the middle of the front and the middle of the back (fig. 1); the lips are somewhat spread (figs. 104, 105); the tip of the tongue is generally, though not necessarily, very slightly retracted from the lower teeth; the lower jaw is only very slightly lowered (see figs. 104, 105). The sound gives no palatogram. The formation of the vowel əː may be expressed shortly by defining it as a mixed unrounded vowel, half-open and slightly raised.

Fig. 104. The English long əː (in bird) as pronounced in normal speech.

Fig. 105. The English long əː (in bird) pronounced with exaggerated distinctness.

479. əː is the usual sound of stressed er, ir, ur and yr when final or followed by a consonant; examples her həː^[2], fern fəːn, fir fəː, bird bəːd, fur fəː, turn təːn, myrtle ´məːtl. Ear followed by a consonant is generally pronounced ə̀ː; examples earn əːn, earth əːθ, heard həːd^[3]. Or is generally pronounced əː when preceded by w; examples work wəːk, world, wəːld. Our is pronounced əː in adjourn ə´dʒəːn, courteous ´kəːtjəs^[4], courtesy ´kəːtisi, journal ´dʒəːnl, journey ´dʒəːni, scourge skəːdʒ. Note the exceptional words amateur æmə´təː^[5], attorney ə´təːni, connoisseur kəni´səː, chauffeur ʃou´fəː^[6] (and various other words ending in -eur), colonel ´kəːnl. Year, is pronounced jəː or jiə.

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1. This is the author’s opinion. Some writers, however, regard this vowel as fully open. The author is unable to accept this view for various reasons, one of which is that if the month is opened very widely it is physically impossible to pronounce the normal əː properly, whereas true open vowels such as my ɑ, a, æ or the English short ə, not only can be pronounced with the mouth wide open, but frequently are so pronounced. Compare the photographs of əː (fig. 104, 105) with those of æ, ɑ, ə (figs. 77, 78, 87, 88, 89, 90).
2. When unstressed this word is often pronounced əː, hə or even ə.
3. Exceptions are beard biəd, heart hɑːt and hearth hɑːθ.
4. Also pronounced ´kəːtjəs, ´kəːtisi.
5. Also pronounced ´æmətəː, æmə´tjuə, ´æmətjuə.
6. Also pronounced ´ʃoufə.