Hi guys, just wondering why schwa is used in RP for words such as winner, under, yorkshire etc... instead of [ɜː]?
[ɜː] makes more sense to me lol
Actually, spoken English has the strangest phenomenon: vowel simplification. We pronounce about 55% of our vowels as "the schwa" in a movement I call the "lazy vowel."
It is the main reason English speakers tend to do so badly in foreign languages, until they can overcome the habit.
Compare:
Spanish: "internacional" : [in ter na sjo 'nal]
English: "international" : /ˌɪn.təˈnæʃ.ən.əl/
/-t ̬ɚ-/
In Spanish, all five vowels receive their full pronunciation with their nominal quality. In English, only two do.
Another:
Spanish: "America" : [a me ri ka]
English: "America" as pronounced by George Bush: /əm 'er ək ə/
Again, all vowels are fully formed in Spanish, but one of the four is in English.
Your example is just another instance of vowel simplification, our lazy vowel phenomenon.