Vowel reduction is the term in phonetics
Phonetics
Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that comprises the study of the sounds of human speech, or—in the case of sign languages—the equivalent aspects of sign. It is concerned with the physical properties of speech sounds or signs (phones): their physiological production, acoustic propertie…
What is phonetic reduction in English?
Weakening of vowel articulation. Phonetic reduction most often involves a centralization of the vowel, that is, a reduction in the amount of movement of the tongue in pronouncing the vowel, as with the characteristic change of many unstressed vowels at the ends of English words to something approaching schwa.
What is reduced vowels?
Reduced vowels. Certain vowel sounds in English are associated strongly with absence of stress: they occur practically exclusively in unstressed syllables; and conversely, most (though not all) unstressed syllables contain one of these sounds.
What does it mean to reduce vowel inventory?
Vowel inventory reduction. In some cases phonetic vowel reduction may contribute to phonemic (phonological) reduction, which means merger of phonemes, induced by indistinguishable pronunciation. This sense of vowel reduction may occur by means other than vowel centralisation, however.
What are some examples of reduced forms of English words?
Another common word with a reduced form is our, but this is derived through smoothing rather than vowel reduction. Other words that have weak forms in many varieties of English include your (weakly pronounced as [jə], or [jɚ] in rhotic accents ), and my (pronounced [mɨ] or [mi] ). These are sometimes given the eye dialect spellings yer and me .
What is vowel reduction example?
The schwa is the most commonly encountered example of a reduced vowel. This vowel occurs in an unstressed word or syllable; examples are the words the, a, the first syllable of about, and the last syllable of sofa. In all such cases, the quality of the vowel is much more central than when the phoneme is stressed.
What is vowel reduction rule?
Vowel reduction is another important feature of oral English. What does it mean? It means that a vowel sound is pronounced [ə] or [ɪ] instead of another full vowel. For example, the letter in the word about is not pronounced [ɑ] that is present in the word father. This would result to the incorrect form *[ɑbaʊt].
What is reduction in phonetics?
We define phonetic reduction as the. phenomenon in which linguistic units (e.g., segments, syllables, or words) are. realized with relatively less acoustic-phonetic substance (e.g., shorter duration. and/or less extreme articulation) in a given context relative to other contexts. We.
What is the concept of vowel reduction and how is it measured?
Vowel reduction is when vowels move away from their null context (pure form) toward the schwa context. Vowels experience greater reduction as vowel duration decreases, regardless of the condition, resulting in shorter vowel duration. Shorter vowel duration, greater undershoot.
What is the opposite of vowel reduction?
Vowels which have undergone vowel reduction may be called reduced or weak. In contrast, an unreduced vowel may be described as full or strong.
What is a reduced syllable?
0:082:08American English Word Stress: Unstressed vs Reduced syllablesYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipThe concept of a reduced syllable a reduced syllable is always an accented or unstressed.MoreThe concept of a reduced syllable a reduced syllable is always an accented or unstressed.
What is vowel raising?
Vowel raising, according to Podile (2002: 65) is a phonological process where "The tongue height is raised to a higher vowel position in an attempt to be ready for the articulation of the succeeding high vowel." Nkpor dialect, as well as most dialects of the Idemili-North LGA, exhibits the feature of vowel raising.
What is reduction in connected speech?
Elision. Elision is the process of reduction in connected speech that results in the loss of segments. So a phoneme which would be pronounced in its citation form may be elided in connected speech. As Rogerson-Revell points out, phonemes are most likely to be lost in unstressed syllables (2011: 166).
What are full vowels?
There are three full vowels (a, i, and u).
When a syllable is unstressed the vowel is reduced to?
The vowels that are produced in the outer corners of the mouth are usually reduced to the neutral schwa vowel when they occur in unstressed syllables. Let's look at the example word banana one more time.
What is elision and examples?
Elision is the omission of sounds, syllables or words in speech. This is done to make the language easier to say, and faster. 'I don't know' /I duno/ , /kamra/ for camera, and 'fish 'n' chips' are all examples of elision.
What does F1 formant mean?
The frequency of the first formant is mostly determined by the height of the tongue body: high F1 = low vowel (i.e., high frequency F1 = low tongue body) low F1 = high vowel (i.e., low frequency F1 = high tongue body)
What is stress dependent vowel reduction?
It is a feature of English that reduced vowels frequently alternate with full vowels: a given word or morpheme may be pronounced with a reduced vowel in some instances and a full vowel in other instances, usually depending on the degree of stress (lexical or prosodic) given to it.
What is vowel raising?
Vowel raising, according to Podile (2002: 65) is a phonological process where "The tongue height is raised to a higher vowel position in an attempt to be ready for the articulation of the succeeding high vowel." Nkpor dialect, as well as most dialects of the Idemili-North LGA, exhibits the feature of vowel raising.
When a syllable is unstressed the vowel is reduced to?
The vowels that are produced in the outer corners of the mouth are usually reduced to the neutral schwa vowel when they occur in unstressed syllables. Let's look at the example word banana one more time.
What is elision and examples?
Elision is the omission of sounds, syllables or words in speech. This is done to make the language easier to say, and faster. 'I don't know' /I duno/ , /kamra/ for camera, and 'fish 'n' chips' are all examples of elision.
What are the sounds of reduced vowels?
Certain vowel sounds in English are associated strongly with absence of stress: they occur practically exclusively in unstressed syllables; and conversely, most (though not all) unstressed syllables contain one of these sounds. These are known as reduced vowels, and tend to be characterized by such features as shortness, laxness and central position. The exact set of reduced vowels depends on dialect and speaker; the principal ones are described in the sections below.
Why do unstressed vowels become reduced?
Many other full unstressed vowels also derive historically from stressed vowels, due to shifts of stress over time (such as stress shifting away from the final syllable of French loan words, like ballet and bureau, in British English), or the loss or change of stress in compound words or phrases (as in óverseas vóyage from overséas or óverséas plus vóyage ). There is a tendency, though, for such vowels to become reduced over time, especially in common words.
When to use a strong or weak form?
Some monosyllabic English function words have a weak form with a reduced vowel, used when the word has no prosodic stress , and a phonemically distinct strong form with a full vowel, used when the word is stressed (and as the citation form or isolation form when a word is mentioned standing alone). In the case of many such words the strong form is also used when the word comes at the end of a sentence or phrase.
What is the most common reduced vowel in English?
It may be denoted orthographically by any of the vowel letters, as the a in about, the e in synthesis, the o in harmony, the u in medium, the i in decimal and the y in syringe (although the last two are pronounced as a near-close vowel by some speakers – see the following section).
What are the sounds of reduced vowels?
Certain vowel sounds in English are associated strongly with absence of stress: they occur practically exclusively in unstressed syllables; and conversely, most (though not all) unstressed syllables contain one of these sounds. These are known as reduced vowels, and tend to be characterized by such features as shortness, laxness and central position. The exact set of reduced vowels depends on dialect and speaker; the principal ones are described in the sections below.
What happens when the stress pattern of words changes?
When the stress pattern of words changes, the vowels in certain syllables may switch between full and reduced. For example, in photograph and photographic, where the first syllable has (at least secondary) stress and the second syllable is unstressed, the first o is pronounced with a full vowel (the diphthong of GOAT ), and the second o with a reduced vowel ( schwa ). However in photography and photographer, where the stress moves to the second syllable, the first syllable now contains schwa while the second syllable contains a full vowel (that of LOT ).
Is a reduced vowel a full vowel?
It is a feature of English that reduced vowels frequently alternate with full vowels: a given word or morpheme may be pronounced with a reduced vowel in some instances and a full vowel in other instances , usually depending on the degree of stress (lexical or prosodic) given to it.
Is the o in obscene a full vowel?
In some words, the reduction of a vowel depends on how quickly or carefully the speaker enunciates the word. For example, the o in obscene is commonly reduced to schwa, but in more careful enunciation it may also be pronounced as a full vowel (that of LOT ). Compare this with the o in gallon, which is never a full vowel, no matter how carefully one enunciates.
What does reduced vowels mean?
The reduced vowels are a weakened form. In speech, vowels often become more central. In other words the tongue moves less forward, back, up, or down and instead goes to a more central or mid-height. This requires less time and energy. It also changes the acoustic production to a new vowel sound.
Why do words have reduced vowels?
When a word is not stressed, a vowel may become a schwa greatly changing its pronunication. In many cases, changes in stress can cause words to incorporate reduced vowels like the schwa.
Why do people use full vowels?
However, even in running conversation, the use of full vowels is likely to give the perception to others that the speaker (or cuer) is non-native. In other words, the use of full vowels is like a foreign accent. In fact, a common feature of many foreign accents is the lack of reduced vowels.
Can parents use full vowels?
In fact, caregivers may use more full vowels with hearing infants. Parents use a specialized form of "parentese" speech with many full and elongated vowels. This is only temporary, of course, and some reduced vowels can still be idenitified in samples of parentese speech.
Does the vowel change in a running sentence?
That is the most common pronunciation for the word when it is spoken by itself. However, in a running sentence where the stress is placed on another word, the vowel may change. The vowel may become a schwa: No, I already showed them! In the sentence above, the stress may fall on the word already or showed. Because of this shift in stress, the word ...
Do deaf people use reduced vowels?
Cuers may feel that cueing the full vowel, rather than it's reduced form, may actually provide a better (or perhaps clearer) version on English to deaf children. In fact, caregivers may use more full vowels with hearing infants. Parents use a specialized form of "parentese" speech with many full and elongated vowels. This is only temporary, of course, and some reduced vowels can still be idenitified in samples of parentese speech.
What is vowel reduction example?
The schwa is the most commonly encountered example of a reduced vowel. This vowel occurs in an unstressed word or syllable; examples are the words the, a, the first syllable of about, and the last syllable of sofa.
What do you call the reduced vowel sound?
Introduction to schwa /ə/ The reduced vowel sound called schwa is the most common vowel sound in spoken English. Schwa is a quick, relaxed, neutral vowel pronunciation very close to a ‘short u’ /ʌ/.
What is vowel deletion?
Vowel deletion is a phonological process in which an unstressed /inverted e/ (schwa) vowel is deleted during pronunciation. Two-syllable vowel-deleted targets, however, showed comparable repetition and variant priming. The results are discussed in terms of lexical activation and representation of phonological variants.
What is reduction in phonetics?
We define phonetic reduction as the. phenomenon in which linguistic units (e.g., segments, syllables, or words) are. realized with relatively less acoustic-phonetic substance (e.g., shorter duration. and/or less extreme articulation) in a given context relative to other contexts.
What are vowels called?
Frequency: The definition of a vowel is a letter representing a speech sound made with the vocal tract open, specifically the letters A, E, I, O, U. The letter “A” is an example of a vowel. A letter representing the sound of vowel; in English, the vowels are a, e, i, o and u, and sometimes y.
Is schwa a vowel?
A schwa is a vowel sound in an unstressed syllable, where a vowel does not make its long or short vowel sound. It usually sounds like the short /u/ sound, but is softer and weaker. The schwa sound is the most common vowel sound (and the only speech sound with its own special name).
What is elision and examples?
Elision is the omission of sounds, syllables or words in speech. This is done to make the language easier to say, and faster. ‘I don’t know’ /I duno/ , /kamra/ for camera, and ‘fish ‘n’ chips’ are all examples of elision.
What are some examples of reductions in ESL?
Some reductions are well known to ESL learners; for instance, the reduction of a verb and “to”. Examples are “going to” becoming “gonna” and “want to” becoming “wanna”. Linguistic reductions are part of natural English. They are not slang, or improper.”.
What are the most commonly known reductions?
The most widely known reductions are contractions. Most contractions are reductions of ‘not’. For instance, “cannot” becomes “can’t”. Many contractions are reductions between a subject and a verb. For instance, “He is...” becomes “He’s…“. Some reductions are well known to ESL learners; for instance, the reduction of a verb and “to”.
What are the final sounds of words?
Words with final sounds p/b/d/t/k/g are found everywhere in spoken utterances, and native speakers tend to make these sounds unreleased. But very often non-native speakers pronounce these sounds with very strong stress, which also affect the speed of their utterance. The trick to pronounce these words is to place more stress on the vowel.
When is the h sound removed?
When “him” and “her” are used as an object in a sentence, and the sentence is on the verb, the h sound of these two words are often removed and the rest of the word is pronounced rather weak by linking with the previous sound; either a vowel or a consonant..
How many changes can occur with the word "of"?
There are three changes that can occur with the word ‘of’.
Overview
Stress is a prominent feature of the English language, both at the level of the word (lexical stress) and at the level of the phrase or sentence (prosodic stress). Absence of stress on a syllable, or on a word in some cases, is frequently associated in English with vowel reduction – many such syllables are pronounced with a centralized vowel (schwa) or with certain other vowels that are described as being "reduced" (or sometimes with a syllabic consonant as the syllable nucleus rat…
Lexical and prosodic stress
Lexical stress (word stress) is regarded as being phonemic in English; the position of the stress is generally unpredictable and can serve to distinguish words. For example, the words insight and incite are distinguished in pronunciation only by the syllable being stressed. In insight, the stress is placed on the first syllable; and in incite, on the second. Similarly, the noun and the verb increase are distinguished by the placement of the stress in the same way – this is an example …
Reduced vowels
Certain vowel sounds in English are associated strongly with absence of stress: they occur practically exclusively in unstressed syllables; and conversely, most (though not all) unstressed syllables contain one of these sounds. These are known as reduced vowels, and tend to be characterized by such features as shortness, laxness and central position. The exact set of reduced vowels depends on dialect and speaker; the principal ones are described in the sections below.
Unstressed full vowels
All full (unreduced) vowels may occur in unstressed position (except under theoretical approaches that routinely assign secondary or tertiary stress to syllables containing such vowels – see § Degrees of lexical stress below). Some examples of words with unstressed syllables that are often pronounced with full vowels in Received Pronunciation are given below (pronunciation may be different in other varieties of English).
Degrees of lexical stress
In many phonological approaches, and in many dictionaries, English is represented as having two levels of stress: primary and secondary. In every lexical word, and in some grammatical words, one syllable is identified as having primary stress, though in monosyllables the stress is not generally marked. In addition, longer words may have one or more syllables identified as having secondary stress. Syllables that have neither primary nor secondary stress are called unstressed.
Distinctions between reduced and unreduced vowels
As mentioned in the previous section, some linguists make a phonemic distinction between syllables that contain reduced vowels (as listed above – syllabic consonants are also included in this category), and those that, while being phonetically unstressed, nevertheless contain a full (unreduced) vowel. In some analyses syllables of the latter type are ascribed secondary stress (those of the former type being regarded as completely unstressed), while in others the reduced/…
Alternation between full and reduced vowels
It is a feature of English that reduced vowels frequently alternate with full vowels: a given word or morpheme may be pronounced with a reduced vowel in some instances and a full vowel in other instances, usually depending on the degree of stress (lexical or prosodic) given to it.
When the stress pattern of words changes, the vowels in certain syllables may switch between full and reduced. For example, in photograph and photographic, where the first syllable has (at least …
See also
• English phonology
• Schwa
• Tenseness
• Vowel reduction
• Initial-stress-derived nouns
Lexical and Prosodic Stress
- Lexical stress (word stress) is regarded as being phonemic in English; the position of the stress is generally unpredictable and can serve to distinguish words. For example, the words insight and incite are distinguished in pronunciation only by the fact that the stress is placed on the first syllable in the former word, and on the second syllable in the latter. Similarly, the noun and the v…
Reduced Vowels
- Certain vowel sounds in English are associated strongly with absence of stress: they occur practically exclusively in unstressed syllables; and conversely, most (though not all) unstressed syllables contain one of these sounds. These are known as reduced vowels, and tend to be characterized by such features as shortness, laxness and centralposition...
Unstressed Full Vowels
- All full (unreduced) vowels may occur in unstressed position (except under theoretical approaches that routinely assign secondary or tertiary stress to syllables containing such vowels – see Degrees of lexical stress below). Some examples of words with unstressed syllables that are often pronounced with full vowels in Received Pronunciationare given below (pronunciation …
Degrees of Lexical Stress
- Descriptions with primary and secondary stress
In many phonological approaches, and in many dictionaries, English is represented as having two levels of stress: primary and secondary. In every lexical word, and in some grammatical words, one syllable is identified as having primary stress, though in monosyllables the stress is not gen… - Descriptions with primary, secondary and tertiary stress
In some theories, English has been described as having three levels of stress: primary, secondary, and tertiary (in addition to the unstressed level, which in this approach may also be called quaternary stress). For example, our examples would be ²coun.ter.³in.¹tel.li.gence and ¹coun.ter.…
Distinctions Between Reduced and Unreduced Vowels
- As mentioned in the previous section, some linguists make a phonemic distinction between syllables that contain reduced vowels (as listed above – syllabic consonants are also included in this category), and those that, while being phonetically unstressed, nevertheless contain a full (unreduced) vowel. In some analyses syllables of the latter type are ascribed tertiary stress (tho…
Alternation Between Full and Reduced Vowels
- It is a feature of English that reduced vowels frequently alternate with full vowels: a given word or morphememay be pronounced with a reduced vowel in some instances and a full vowel in other instances, usually depending on the degree of stress (lexical or prosodic) given to it.
See Also
Bibliography
- Bolinger, Dwight (1989), Intonation and its uses, Stanford University Press, ISBN 0-8047-1535-1<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- Celce-Murcia, Marianne; Brinton, Donna M.; Goodwin, Janet M. (1996), Teaching Pronunciation: A Reference for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-5...
- Bolinger, Dwight (1989), Intonation and its uses, Stanford University Press, ISBN 0-8047-1535-1<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- Celce-Murcia, Marianne; Brinton, Donna M.; Goodwin, Janet M. (1996), Teaching Pronunciation: A Reference for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-5...
- Hirst; Di Cristo (1998), Intonation Systems: A Survey of Twenty Languages<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- Jones, D.; Roach, Peter; Setter, J.; Esling, J. (2011), English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th Ed., Cambridge University Press<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
