Page:An outline of English phonetics ... with 131 illustrations (IA cu31924027389505).pdf/112

487. Words for practising the long əː: pearl pəːl, bird bəːd, turn təːn, dearth dəːθ, curb, kerb kəːb, kernel, colonel ´kəːnl,^[1] girl gəːl, (see § 486), myrrh məː, nurse nəːs, learn ləːn, word wəːd, fur, fir fəː, verse vəːs, thirst θəːst, sir səː^[2], deserve di´zəːv, shirt ʃəːt, journey ´dʒəːni, yearn jəːn, hurt həːt.

THE ENGLISH SHORT ə

(THE UNSTRESSED VOWEL IN china ´tʃainə, etc.)

488. In pronouncing the average English ə the tongue seems to be slightly below the half-open position; 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 neutral (figs. 106, 107); the tip of the tongue is generally, though not necessarily, touching or nearly touching the lower teeth; the lower jaw is generally lowered to a moderate extent, being somewhat lower than in the case of the long əː. The sound-gives no palatogram. The formation of the average ə may be expressed shortly by defining it as a MIXED UNROUNDED vowel, HALF-OPEN and SLIGHTLY LOWERED.

Fig. 106. The English “neutral” vowel ə as pronounced in normal speech.

Fig. 107. The English “neutral” vowel ə pronounced with exaggerated distinctness.

489. Examples showing some of the principal ways in which the sound is spelt are: collar ´kɔla, bitter ´bitə, actor æktə, cupboard ´kʌbəd, honour ´ɔnə, murmur ´məːmə, about ə´baut, china ´tʃainə, pavement ´peivmənt, horrible ´hɔrəbl^[3], admit əd´mit, consider kən´sidə, pronounce prə´nauns, forget fə´get, success sək´ses, upon ə´pɔn^[4], gentleman, gentlemen ´dʒentlmən, afterwards ´ɑːftəwədz, method ´meθəd, picture ´piktʃə, famous ´feiməs, centre ´sentə, particularly pə´tikjuləli.

490. The sound ə is often called the “neutral” vowel, on account of its intermediate quality. It varies slightly in quality according to its position in the word, being distinctly opener when final (as in bitter ´bitə) than in other cases (as in ə´baut)^[5]. The average sound is formed as described in § 488.^[6]

---

1. Colonel is the only word without an r in the spelling in which the sound əː is used.
2. There is also a weak form sə, § 497.
3. Also pronounced ´hɔribl.
4. There is also a weak form əpən, § 497.
5. In tə, də, fə, ðə (the weak forms of to, do, for, the) the ə is not really final, the words being always closely connected with what follows. Consequently these weak forms always have the closer variety of ə.
6. The sound also varies to some extent according to the nature of the