Next, draw the tongue a little back, and you will obtain a variety of [ɑ] which is "dark" and has a suggestion of the vowel in _all_ [ɔːl]. This sound is commonly substituted for the "pure" or "neutral" [ɑ] in cockney speech, so that _fast_ is made to sound like [fɔːst], _park_ like [pɔːk].
This "darkening" of the _a_ sound should not be permitted; in order to counteract it, it may be advisable to make the class utter [ɑ] singly and in chorus, until they are quite clear as to the nature of the required sound.
It is sometimes found that precise speakers, through an excessive desire to avoid any suspicion of cockney leanings in their speech, substitute [a] for [ɑ], saying, for instance, [faːðə] in place of [fɑːðə]; it is particularly ladies of real or would-be refinement who commit this mistake. A mistake it is, like every other deviation from what is generally recognised by the educated.
In other cases the "clear" pronunciation of _a_ is often heard, _e.g._, in _glass_, _bath_, _past_, _answer_, _demand_, _grant_, _everlasting_. Both [a] and [æ] occur, particularly in the speech of ladies. What is the American pronunciation of _half_?
In standard English there is practically no short [ɑ],[44] but only the long [ɑː], which should be neither "dark" nor "clear." If we analyse it carefully, we often find[45] that it is not a single vowel of uniform value, only the first part being "pure" [ɑ], the rest being a faint variant; but for practical purposes we may regard it as uniform in quality, as in good speech it is a pure long vowel.
=38.= There is a short sound closely akin to it (in position, but not in sound), which we have in _but_, _much_, etc., and for which the sign is [ʌ]. The back of the tongue is raised a little in the production of this sound, and sometimes the front also; and in consequence there are several varieties of it. It occurs only in syllables having some stress; we have [ʌ] in _teacup_, _unfit_, _until_; but not in _welcome_, which is not felt to be a compound. When it is unstressed, it becomes the dull vowel [ə]; unstressed _but_ is [bət]. Observe the vulgar pronunciation of _just_ as [dʒest].
The dull vowel [ə] occurs very commonly in ordinary speech; most unstressed syllables contain this vowel or the variety of [i] mentioned below. It is found, for instance, in the italicised syllables of vow_e_l, vari_e_ty, carp_e_nt_e_r, ordin_a_ry. The long [əː] is variously written; we have it in _fern_, _fir_,[46] _fur_, _word_. (In northern English there is some variety in the [ə], according to the written vowel which it represents.) Notice the precise and the ordinary pronunciation of such words as _paternal_, _polite_, _potato_. The uneducated often insert [ə] in such words as _Henry_ [henəri], _umbrella_ [ʌmbərelə]; and sometimes they substitute [i] for [ə], as in _miracle_, wrongly pronounced [mirikl̩], _philosopher_, wrongly pronounced [fi´lɔsifə], and in _oracle_, _pigeon_.