Re: Schwa and [V]: Learning the IPA

daniel prohaska wrote:

>-----Original Message-----
>From: R A Brown
>
>Joe wrote:
>[snip]
>
>
>>Hm, well, certainly in my dialect, /ir/ is pronounced [I:],
>>
>>
>
>Really? I've encountered it as [i@] (the usual pronunciation around this
>way), [i`] or [ir]. So your 'beard' is like my 'bid'?
>Ray
>
>That, and/or something similar is frequently heard in the UK. My lect varies
>between [e@] (word finally, e.g. <beer>) and [e:] (medially <beard>), though
>younger people have [e:] or [I:] for both.
>Dan
>
>
>
Indeed, it seems to be much more common among young people.  It's not as
far advanced in /ir/ as in /Er/.  [E@] comes off to me as very
old-fashioned, whereas [I@] or [i@] are fairly normal pronunciations.
I'm the opposite to Daniel, though.  I tend to use [I:] word-finally and
[I@] medially, the latter not consistently.  There are other
monophthongisations.  For example, 'our' is always pronounced [A:],
which actually contrasts with 'hour' [Au@].  I'd guess they're the same
in Ray's 'lect.

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