The last of the L notes

I'm coming to the end of my first pass over the words in the <vowel>l  section. It has taken a long time, and is nowhere near finished. As I wrote some time ago, I am the victim of an obsession with order – in this case, the alphabetical sort; it would have been much more interesting to start with "<vowel>w". In fact, I still haven't decided how to deal with w, which – more than any other letter, I think (though I haven't yet done the research to confirm this) – exerts its influence both forwards and   backwards ( was / saw,  for example).

Anyway, here goes:

First draft of "ul" >  /u:l/ notes

1. mint julep
   The Macmillan English Dictionary transcription does not lengthen the /u/ in the British English case but does for American English. This is the reverse of its usual practice for this vowel: see for example (a random case ) truly - /tru:li/ (Br) but /truli/ (Am). This seems to be a simple slip, but as the vowel sound in the audio sample is /ə/  it is impossible to tell whether the editors had a particular distinction in mind. Possibly, as this cocktail is associated with the Southern United States, there was an attempt to modify the vowel accordingly. But this does not typically affect the pronunciation of native speakers of British English.
2. Uluru
   The transcription in the Macmillan English Dictionary has /ʊ/ in the first syllable, /u:/ in the second, and a different stress pattern (stressed on the /u:/, which in Macmillan English Dictionary is unstressed. As is often true with recent foreign borrowings, uncertainty and variation are common (especially when Political Correctness is added to the mutually-conflicting mixture of socio-linguistic pressures, with attitudes to the colonial response to aboriginal cultures).

First draft of "ul" >  /ju:l/ notes

1. arugula
   The word has this transcription in the Macmillan English Dictionary, but the vowel sound in the audio sample is /ə/.
2. formulaic
   Although the Macmillan English Dictionary gives the noun formula with /jə/, the same dictionary has /jʊ/ in the case of this adjective. Either unstressed vowel is acceptable, and there is no risk of misunderstanding.
3. primula and spatula
   The word has this transcription in the Macmillan English Dictionary, but the vowel sound in the audio sample is /jə/, and the reverse is true of formula (Macmillan English Dictionary transcription /jə/ but audio /jʊ/.) Generally, either vowel is acceptable, though /jʊ/ is more common in learned words - such as copula, fibula, nebula, or uvula.
4. tabula rasa
   Also sometimes pronounced with a plain /ʊ/ and no preceding glide. Either is acceptable.

First draft of "ul" >  /əl/ and /jəl/ notes

1. formula
   The Macmillan English Dictionary prepends a /j/ to this transcription, but no other /ə/ is given this (in the context/jəl/). See also the note for formulaic. The ESOL student need not expend the energy to simulate these distinctions, which are surely coincidental.

Now for the text.


b