Practice question · Put in order
Arrange the stages by which a full vowel becomes schwa in a derived word.
- The syllable is now pronounced with schwa
- Its vowel reduces towards the centre of the vowel space
- The formerly stressed syllable loses its stress
- A suffix is added that shifts the stress elsewhere
- The base word carries stress on a particular syllable
Hints
- Start with the base word before any suffix is added.
- Reduction follows the loss of stress rather than causing it.
Show the answer
- The base word carries stress on a particular syllable
- A suffix is added that shifts the stress elsewhere
- The formerly stressed syllable loses its stress
- Its vowel reduces towards the centre of the vowel space
- The syllable is now pronounced with schwa
Why
The direction of causation is the point: stress moves first and reduction follows. That is why photograph and photography differ in the vowel of the second syllable although the spelling is identical, and why the spelling is no guide at all to the vowel in an unstressed syllable.
Practise English Vowels II: Diphthongs and Reduction
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More questions on English Vowels II: Diphthongs and Reduction
- Schwa occurs only in unstressed syllables in English.
- How many diphthongs does the standard analysis of RP recognise?
- Why does a speaker who uses only full forms become harder to follow, not easier? Select every true statement…
- Sort each item by whether it is a CLOSING diphthong, a CENTRING diphthong, or a MONOPHTHONG.
- Vowel reduction is frequently mischaracterised as phonetic sloppiness, yet phonologically it is a systematic…
- Complete the account of reduction.
- The centring diphthongs of RP are stable and show no signs of change.