480. The English long əː is a very difficult sound for most foreigners. They generally replace it by some variety of front rounded vowel such as œ or ø[1], and in addition to this, they usually add some kind of r-sound at the end. The word word wəːd will generally betray a foreigner. Germans usually pronounce it as ʋœʀd or ʋœʀt.
481. The most important point to be borne in mind is that there must be no lip-rounding in pronouncing the sound əː; the lips should be spread as for iː (see figs. 104, 105). Care must also be taken that the quality of the sound shall remain absolutely unchanged while it is being pronounced, and that no trace of an r-sound shall be added after the vowel (unless another vowel follows, as in stirring ´stəːriŋ, § 250).
482. Many foreigners have a tendency to curl back or “invert” the tip of the tongue (§ 515), when trying to pronounce the English sound əː. This is especially the case with Norwegians and Swedes. Such a pronunciation is common in American and various forms of dialectal English, but is not recommended to foreigners. The correct sound of əː may be acquired by keeping the tip of the tongue firmly pressed against the lower teeth, holding it there if necessary with the finger, or with the end of a pencil. It is useful to practise the exercises kəːkəːkəː..., gəːgəːgəː... keeping the tip of the tongue against the lower teeth.
483. Some foreigners are apt to make the sound əː too open, or to retract the tongue towards the ʌ position. Such faults can generally be cured by taking care not to open the mouth too wide; in fact, it is often advisable to practise the sound with the teeth kept actually in contact.
484. Germans should note that the English sound əː is very similar in quality to the variety of ə heard in the second syllable of the German word Gabe ´gɑːbə (stage pronunciation). This fact may be utilised in learning to pronounce the English əː.
485. It is very helpful for all foreigners, and particularly for Germans, to practice energetically the exercise uːəːuːəː... with the teeth in contact, taking care that the corners of the mouth move horizontally and that there is no vertical opening of the mouth.
486. Note that the word were has two pronunciations, wəː and wɛə (besides an unstressed form wə). The word girl is usually pronounced gəːl; gɛəl and giəl are also frequent, especially in the speech of ladies. Foreigners are recommended to use the forms wəː, gəːl.
- ↑ œ is a rounded ɛ; ø is a rounded e. œ is the sound of eu in the French neuf nœf and of ö in the German zwölf tsʋœlf or tsvœlf. ø is the sound of eu in the French peu pø and of ö in the German hören ˈhøʁən.
