Note 29 — SUMMARY

Footnote 29:

(return)

In the first edition of the Dictionary [1913] ə has only one interpretation, the illustration being the a of about. In the Phonetic Transcriptions [1907] it was the er of over, but in the new Dictionary [1917] ə has three interpretations with the following explanation: 'ə varies noticeably according to its position in the word and in the sentence. In final positions it is often replaced (sic) by "Λ" [=u of up], in other positions its quality varies considerably according to the nature of the surrounding sounds; the variations extend from almost "Λ" to the half-close mixed position. Three different values may be heard in the words china, cathedral: in the latter word the second "ə" has a lower and more retracted tongue-position than the first ə.'

The value of ə when Mr. Jones first substituted it for a disguised unaccented vowel, was that the speaker might know what sound he had to produce. It was wrong, but it was definite. Mr. Jones would now make it less wrong by making it less definite. That is, in the place of something distinctly wrong we are offered something which has an offchance of being nearly right: but as it has entirely ousted and supplanted the original vowel I do not see how there is any means of interpreting it correctly. The er of over is a definite sound, and to print it where it was out of place was a definite error—to give it three interpretations makes it cover more ground: but its usurpations are still indefensible.