As for the other central vowels, do you know the song "Better Man" by Pearl Jam? {No judgment if not; they've done better.} See if you can find it on YouTube. Listen to the part of the chorus where Eddie Vedder sings "Can't find a better man." Hear how his voices changes-how it kind of sounds huskier? This is something you heard a lot in the nineties {Scott Weiland did it; Shakira does it a lot; Dave Matthews did a lot {or Dave, as his true fans call him}}. What Eddie Vedder is actually doing is centralizing all the front vowels. His typical pronunciation of "can't find a better" is something I'd transcribe as . Naturally, he doesn't always sing this way. Every so often he simply feels the need to kick it into overdrive, and so he centralizes all the vowels. It's a noticeably different sound. As for why, the only thing I can come up with is that it obscures a lot of the vocalic variety of English {there are fewer distinctions for central vowels than for front vowels}, and makes it easier to hold a tone. It's also why baby comes out babay a lot of times {{e} is lower than {i}, which means your mouth is open wider}. Anyway, if you're trying to nail central vowels, remember Eddie Vedder {but hopefully for "Corduroy," "Yellow Ledbetter," "Black," "Guaranteed," "Oceans," and "I Got Id" rather than "Better Man"}.
( David J. Peterson )
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