The central vowel

Language learner   Tuesday, February 22, 2005, 16:44 GMT
Hi,
Could any one of you native American English speaking people give me an accurate description of how to pronounce the central vowel in words like heard, learn, kirk etc.
That is, how are your lips when you pronounce the sound, what's the tongue's position (front, back, high, low, the tip bend back the whole time or at the end of the atriculation to make the "r-sound", is the tongue straight or curled in the middle, do any parts of the tongue touch for example the upper teeth, does the tongue move during the articulation..), anything else I should know?
I'd also like to know if there are any websites on American English that have the same kind of descriptions on other vowels and consonants as well. Usully they just tell you that a vowel is for example an open front vowel with lips rounded or something, but I'd need something more specific.
Chamonix   Tuesday, February 22, 2005, 21:14 GMT
I don't know if I can draw lips here in this forum :), but I can suggest you a good book with CD's. Accent reduction by Ann Cook.
If you do a Google search, I'm sure you'll find some good free sites about your question.
Travis   Saturday, February 26, 2005, 00:16 GMT
It's a syllabic consonant, that is, a consonant that is at the syllabic level functioning like a vowel. In this case, it's a syllabic "r", that is, /=r/ in SAMPA. Note, for example, that final "le" in american english is /=l/, for comparison.
Mxsmanic   Saturday, February 26, 2005, 05:45 GMT
The central vowel in English, as in other languages, is highly unstable and very easy to pronounce. It's just the "uh" sound that one tends to make when hesitating or in other non-linguistic utterances. The quality of the central vowel varies slightly from one language to another, but it also tends to vary considerably within a single language, so it's not critical that it be pronounced in any specific way, as long as it is approximately central.

The vowel in the words you cite is a stressed central vowel, represented by a backwards lowercase epsilon in the IPA. In non-rhotic pronunciations such as RP, only the vowel is pronounced—the following 'r' is ignored. In rhotic pronunciations such as GAE, the 'r' is pronounced simultaneously with the vowel; in other words, while you are pronouncing this central vowel, you curl the tip of your tongue back slightly and hold it close to the back of the alveolar ridge (the ridge just behind your teeth on the upper inside of your mouth) to form the postalveolar approximant that represents a standard English 'r'. It's easier than it sounds.
Deborah   Saturday, February 26, 2005, 09:10 GMT
In my ESL teaching course, I learned this trick to help students get their tongues in the right place. Follow Mxsmanic's instructions, above, while clenching a pencil in your teeth. Your tongue should be well behind the pencil, not touching it.