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Wednesday, April 18, 2018

The notes for words with *AR* representing /ə/

Here are the notes for *AR* => /ə/. Further to what I said previously about the greater need for notes when a vowel meets a sonorant, I've done some checking: there are 25  here and by comparison, in the digraphs book (which in due course will be relaunched as WVGT with Other Vowels) there are a total of 27 notes for all vowel sounds represented by all digraphs beginning with "a".

  1. arbitrary
    This sound is in the third syllable. For the sound in the first, see above (/ɑ:/).
  2. bastardized, militarized and notarized
    The Macmillan English Dictionary has no -ised version, though other dictionaries (for example, Collins English Dictionary) have.
  3. budgetary
    The Macmillan English Dictionary has this vowel, with the option of nothing, and the audio exemplifies this three-syllable version.
  4. carotid artery
    The Macmillan English Dictionary transcription has this vowel sound but the audio sample has /æ/ (in the first word).
  5. charisma
    Students of English for Speakers of Other Languages should note the variation in charismatic - the second "a" becomes /æ/.
  6. comparable and comparably
    With this sound, primary stress is on the first syllable. But an increasiingly common version with stress on the second syllable has the sound /æ/.
  7. contemporary
    Both the -or- and the -ar- have this sound, and in colloquial speech they are often elided into a single /ər/.
  8. contrary
    See also under /eə/ (with a distinct meaning).
  9. corollary and coronary
    Note that these two have distinct stress patterns (although there is a tendency for the two to coalesce). The first has primary stress on the second syllable. The second has primary stress on the first syllable, and this is shown unequivocally in the Macmillan English Dictionary. But in many speakers of British English primary stress is on the first syllable in both.
  10. dullard
    The Macmillan English Dictionary has this vowel sound, but a version with /ɑ:/ is common.
  11. harassed and harassment
    The Macmillan English Dictionary recognizes this (increasingly common) as an alternative to the /æ/ pronunciation. For more about this alternation, see this blog
  12. kaross
    This borrowing from South African English is transcribed like this (with stress on the second syllable) in the Macmillan English Dictionary, but the audio sample has /æ/ and stress on the first).
  13. lanyard
    This escapes the usual exclusion for compond words, as the second syllable is not pronounced /jɑ:d/ and has nothing to do with boatyards or shipyards.
  14. margarine and margarita
    The second syllable has this sound. See also under /ɑ:/.
  15. necessarily
    The Macmillan English Dictionary has this, with stress on the first syllable, but a pronunciation with /e/ in the third syllable (also recognized by the Macmillan English Dictionary) is becoming increasingly common.
  16. ordinarily
    The Macmillan English Dictionary has this, with stress on the first syllable, but a pronunciation with /e/ in the third syllable (also recognized by the Macmillan English Dictionary) is becoming increasingly common. Sometimes, when stress is on this syllable, the sound is /æ/.
  17. parliamentary
    This sound is in the penultimate syllable. See also /ɑ:/.
  18. primarily and summarily
    With this vowel sound, primary stress is on the first syllable. A pronunciation with stress on the second syllable, which becomes /e/, is increasingly common.
  19. salaryman
    This escapes the usual exclusion of compound words as a salaryman is not just someone who earns a salary.
  20. sarsaparilla
    This sound is in the third syllable. See also under /ə/.
  21. scimitar
    The Macmillan English Dictionary transcription has this vowel sound but the audio sample has /ɑ:/ (which is common - in my experience, more common).
  22. tartar
    This sound is in the second syllable. See also under /ɑ:/.
  23. unparliamentary
    This sound is in the penultimate syllable. See also under /ɑ:/.
  24. veterinary
    Note that although this word may have either four or five (and sometimes even three: /vetənri:/ ) the word veterinarian (see under /eə/) has six syllables (with the letters -ter- being fully enunciated).
  25. vineyard
    This escapes the general exclusion of -yard compounds as it does not have the /ɑ:/ pronunciation.

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