Everything about Unstressed Vowel totally explained
An
unstressed vowel is the
vowel sound that forms the
syllable peak of a
syllable that has no
lexical stress. In many languages, such as
Russian and
English,
vowel reduction happens when a vowel changes from stressed to unstressed position, for example, an unstressed vowel becomes a
reduced vowel, such as
schwa. As a result, the pronunciation of, for example, a letter
E may significantly differ in the same syllable, but in stressed and unstressed positions. Some other languages, such as
Finnish, have no unstressed vowel reduction.
In English
In some dictionary transcriptions of American English, only a subset of vowels may occur in unstressed syllables. Other vowels, such as /ɔː/ and /aʊ/, are always transcribed with at least secondary stress. However, when dictionary-convention secondary stress is distinguished from absence of
vowel reduction (see the article on
secondary stress), it's apparent that all English vowels may occur in unstressed positions:
| vowel |
example |
|
| /iː/ |
wily |
[ˈwaɪl] |
| /ɪ/ |
chauvinism |
[ˈʃoʊvɨnzm] |
| /eɪ/ |
Monday |
[ˈmʌnd] |
| /ɛ/ |
enlist |
[nˈlɪst] |
| /æ/ |
valet |
[vˈleɪ] |
| /ʌ/ |
unknown |
[nˈnoʊn] |
| /ɑː/ |
grandma |
[ˈgræm] |
| /ɒ/ |
neon |
[ˈniːn] |
| /ɔː/ |
outlaw |
[ˈaʊtl] |
| /oʊ/ |
limo |
[ˈlɪm] |
| /ʊ/ |
fulfill |
[flˈfɪl] |
| /uː/ |
tofu |
[ˈtoʊf] |
| /aʊ/ |
discount |
[ˈdɪsknt] |
| /aɪ/ |
idea |
[ˈdiːə] |
| /ɔɪ/ |
royale |
[ɹˈæl] |
Nonetheless, it's true that some vowels, such as /ɪ/ and /ʌ/, reduce quite readily, so that there are not many English words which have them in unstressed positions.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Unstressed Vowel'.
|
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