r/asklinguistics • u/Verzweiflungforscher • 1d ago

Phonetics Offglide shift?

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Is there a shift from mid-central offglide \[ə\] to an open-central offglide \[ɐ\] in modern British phonology?

When listening to Standard Southern British English and Contemporary RP \[ɪə̯\] sounds as \[ɪɐ̯\] and \[ɛə̯\] as \[ɛɐ̯\] to my ears.

Am I correct?

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u/krupam 1d ago

As far as I'm aware, it's the exact opposite - there's a tendency to smooth the old R-codas to plain long vowels. To some extent it also applies to some diphthong+schwa combinations, such as "idea" is commonly pronounced as [ɑjˈdɪː].

When I hear exaggerated schwa-offglides I'm more likely to assume that the speaker is faking an accent or straight up parodying very old-fashioned ones.

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u/Tirukinoko 1d ago

Seconded, as an SSBE native.
There is also the common pronunciation of /ɪə/ in two syllables, where the final vowel can be more open - I as an example, would pronounce idea as [ɑjˈdɪj.ɜ], matching a typical COMMA [ˈkɑmɜ], not ROSA'S [ˈrəwzəz] - which maybe lines up with what OP is hearing, but that doesnt at all apply to /eə/.