On Apr 30, 2007, at 1:46 PM, John Howell wrote:
Well, I don't know IPA, but could you describe what you mean by [3] by analogy with other standard English words. Otherwise I can't tell what you're suggesting.
Well if you don't know IPA you probably also won't know what it means if I say "unrounded open-mid central" or "non-rhotic accent".
I gather you've figured out by now that [3] is the vowel sound in "bird" as it is pronounced by someone with a proper British accent. (Think Julie Andrews.) It's sort of like a schwa, or the "oo" in "book", or the "eu" in "chanteuse", but it's not identical to any of them.
You're a choral director, aren't you, John? Suppose you're preparing your chorus for something that wants a decidedly British sound, like Gilbert & Sullivan or Benjamin Britten, and you have a long held note on "heard" or "world" or "pearl" or "early" or "virgin". What vowel do you ask for? That's your [3]. It's not just for singing, it's a standard vowel in the pronunciation of the King's English, whether spoken or sung. We don't use it in American pronunciation.
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