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NOTES ON THE SYMBOLS
/ /
The symbol / / is used for accented or unaccented syllables.
Though the
accented and unaccented voels in !ity / t /" sitting / st /"
visit
/ vZt/" etc." are sometimes different in #uality" the
differences are here ignored" sincethey vary ith different s!ea$ers
and ith the different sounds that !recede or follo.
This accords ith common !ractice in transcri!tion.
%hen final" the unaccented voel in !ity / t/and similar ords
varies ith
different s!ea$ers in &merica from a sound li$e the / / in
bit" or li$e the first / /
in / t/" to a sound that a!!roaches the / i/ in bee/ bi/.
/ /
The voel in rate / ret/ and other ords ith long / / is very
often 'but
by no means alays( a di!hthong 'gliding from one voel to another
in the same
syllable( / e/"/ /"/ e/" or the li$e. On linguistic !rinci!les
the one symbol
/ e / !ro!erly stands for all varieties of the sound 'hether
di!hthong or not( the
variants never distinguish ords otherise ali$e.
/ /
The symbol / / is used not only for ords li$e yet/ jt/"
send/sd/"
but also for one ty!e of !ronunciation of the voel sound in
there/ D /" sear
/ sw/" air/ /" as !ronounced by many. %hen thus folloed by r"
the / /
sound is usually a little more li$e the / / in sang/ s/ than is
the / / in
yet / jt/" send / sd/. Many s!ea$ers !ronounced / / in such ords
in
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both &merica and England. Both !ronunciations are given in
the vocabulary 'there
/ D/"/ Dr/(.
/ /
This voel sound" not in general use in &merica as a hole" is
about miday
beteen the voel of sang and the voel of ah/ /" father/ fD/. )t
is often
heard in Ne England and Ne Yor$ *ity in such ords as as$/sk /"
chaff
/ f /" bath / b / 'hich are also there !ronounced / sk /" / f
/"
/ b/" or/ sk/"/ f/"/ b/(. )t commonly begins the di!hthong
in
hile and ho. The voel is an im!ortant sound in +rench" S!anish"
and other
foreign languages" and is common in cultivated Northern British"
Scottish" &nglo,)rish"
and *anadian. The symbol / / must alays be carefully
distinguished from / /.
+or the use of / / in Eastern &merican.
/ /
This is the broadsound in ah/ /" far/ fr/" father/fD/" in
most of &merica. )t is also used by the ma-ority of
&mericans in short oords such as
to!" got" fodder" in hich some s!ea$ers !ronounce / /.
/ /
The symbol / / re!resents a voel not in universal &merican
use. )t is the
historical short o no generally used in England in ords li$e top
/ t /" got
/ gt/" fodder/ fd/" by many Easterners and Southerners" and in
certain $inds
of ords by many s!ea$ers in all !arts of the country. )t is a
sound about miday
beteen / /in ahand / /in all. )t may be a!!roimated by trying to
sound
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/ /in ah hile 'ithout moving the tongue( rounding the li!s for /
/in all.
&s ith / /" so ith / /" there is no $ey ord that ill convey
to all &mericans its
eact sound. The $ey ord watch" here used" fre#uently is s!o$en
ith / /in all !arts
of &merica" but it is also often !ronounced / w /" ith / /
as in ah" and
/ w/" ith / /as in all.
/ /
The symbol / /re!resents the accented form of the so,called
r,coloredvoel
used in the first syllable of further/ fD/by those ho do not
dro! their r/s.)n
current s!elling it is s!elt ith a voel letter folloed by the
letter r 'word" fur" term"
firm" earn(. But in sound this voel / /is not folloed by r0 it
is a voel made liile
the tongue is at the same time holding the !osition for r. Such
voels are common in
many ty!es of English. The consonantal rsound that formerly
folloed the voel 'hence
the !resent s!elling( long ago merged ith the !receding voel and
disa!!eared as a
se!arate sound" though its effect is still heard in the
r,coloring of the voel. The sim!le
!roof of the nature of the !resent sound is that the voel cannot
be !ronounced
se!arately from the rithout !roducing a #uite different sound"
hereas this can easily
be done ith" say" the / /and / r/of farm.
