/3:/ & /ə:/

[Anne59]

Does the symbol /3:/ in the word perk /p3:k/ have the same sound as /ə:/ symbol in the word pearl /pə:l/ ?

[chester_100]

Originally Posted by Anne59

Does the symbol /3:/ in the word perk /p3:k/ have the same sound as /ə:/ symbol in the word pearl /pə:l/ ?

/ə:/

As far as I know, such a sign does not occur in chart of the International Phonetic Alphabet. Schwa by nature can not be stressed; it’s an unstressed central sound.
This sign /:/ is used to show a tense sound:
Bead /bi:d/, dead /di:d/

/3:/

Yes. Perk and pearl are two one-syllable words that have the same vowel.
/3:/ is a central vowel generally known as the “hesitation sound”.
The lip rounding is neutral.
The length of such a vowel is mostly due to the retroflection that occurs right after the central sound.

[konungursvia]

It is also used to denote length.

[BobK]

Originally Posted by chester_100

/ə:/

As far as I know, such a sign does not occur in chart of the International Phonetic Alphabet. Schwa by nature can not be stressed; it’s an unstressed central sound.
This sign /:/ is used to show a tense sound:
Bead /bi:d/, dead /ded/

You're confusing actual usage in English with possibility of utterance. As K says, the colon denotes length and in principle any vowel sound can be lengthened. But, as you say, the transcription in English of 'bird', 'heard' etc uses the symbol /ɜ:/.

(Your /di:d/ pronunciation of 'dead' is dialectal. They say 'dead' like that in Scotland, systematically - so that 'head' is /hi:d.).

b

[chester_100]

Originally Posted by BobK

You're confusing actual usage in English with possibility of utterance. As K says, the colon denotes length and in principle any vowel sound can be lengthened. But, as you say, the transcription in English of 'bird', 'heard' etc uses the symbol /ɜ:/.

(Your /di:d/ pronunciation of 'dead' is dialectal. They say 'dead' like that in Scotland, systematically - so that 'head' is /hi:d.).

b

Exactly! As a more standard example, I would suggest deed /di:d/.
I have also heard that the people living in those areas tend to replace /ei/ with /ai/; so STAGE will be pronounced /st ai j/.

And one more thing: my points actually explain the mechanism of rhotic accents. So if you are a speaker of a non-rhotic dialect, you should note that after /3:/ the retroflection doesn’t occur and the tongue almost remains in the central position until the lateral sound (in case of pearl) or the stop (in case of perk) is articulated. This way r will not be pronounced.

Thank you all.

[yiuho]

Originally Posted by Anne59

Does the symbol /3:/ in the word perk /p3:k/ have the same sound as /ə:/ symbol in the word pearl /pə:l/ ?

Of course not. There are two different sound symbols which have different pronunciations....I suggest you buy the Cambridge Pronouncing Dictionary CD, you can hear all sound symbols which includes British English sound symbols and American sound symbols, then you can hear the difference between /3:/ and /ə:/....

[Soup]

Originally Posted by Anne59

Does the symbol /3:/ in the word perk /p3:k/ have the same sound as /ə:/ symbol in the word pearl /pə:l/ ?

Yes, they represent vocalic /r/; that is, [r] is a vowel here:

perky p[r]ky
pearl p[r]l
earth [r]th
burn b[r]n
herd h[r]d