BBNANG141 Foundations of phonology 9

Unstressed syllables
Peter Szigetvari
Dept of English Linguistics, Eotvos Lorand University
szp (delg) intro phono 9/unstressed syllables 1 / 16
outline
free variation & neutralization
the fate of vowels in unstressed syllables
single vowel letters in unstressed syllables
A
E
I/Y
O
U
syllabic consonant formation
high vowel gliding
syncope
palatalization
mergers
szp (delg) intro phono 9/unstressed syllables 2 / 16
free variation & neutralization
free variation & neutralization
free variation exists in stressed syllables
either /aID@, i:D@/, apricot /eIprIk6t, prIk6t/
but it is much more common in unstressed syllables
family /fmIli:, fm@li:, fml
"
i:, fmli:/ (the rst, stressed syllable is
stable, the second unstressed syllable varies)
vowel contrasts are neutralized in unstressed syllables
man =men (// vs. /e/), but postman =postmen (/@/ in both)
in an unstressed syllable /@/ can be spelt by any vowel letter
German, cypress, peril, martyr, abbot, fetus, villain, famous
szp (delg) intro phono 9/unstressed syllables 3 / 16
the fate of vowels in unstressed syllables
the fate of vowels in unstressed syllables
in unstressed syllables

vowels reduce: the reduced or weak vowels are /@ I i: ju:/ (and

perhaps /@U/

/@/ may leave only its syllabicity behind: syllabic consonant formation
(C
"
marks a syllabic consonant)

/i: u:/ may leave only their place of articulation behind: high vowel
gliding

/@/ may disappear altogether: syncope

/j/ may palatalize the preceding consonant

nb in the following environments pretonic means before the stressed
syllable
szp (delg) intro phono 9/unstressed syllables 4 / 16
single vowel letters in unstressed syllables A
A in an unstressed syllable
is usually pronounced /@/
ab out, ag o, bnary, ablative, membranous, beggar,

Alan, Fnland
is pronounced /@/ or /I/

in the endings -ace, -ase, -ate, -ave: menace, p urchase, senate, octave

in character
is pronounced /I/
in the ending -age: vllage, manage, h ostage
szp (delg) intro phono 9/unstressed syllables 5 / 16
single vowel letters in unstressed syllables E
E in an unstressed syllable
is usually pronounced /I/ or /@/
erase, escape, event, derve, ded uce, serene, problem, chcken, actress,
h opeless, concatenate
is pronounced /@/
nonpretonically before R, L: moderate, celery, p oster, level, philately
is pronounced /I/
in the last syllable (except -el, -er, -em, -en, -ess): hated, b uses, tcket,
rocket, knowledge
is pronounced /i:/

prevocalically: vdeo, petroleum, area

word nally (if not mute): ap ostrophe, smile, syncope, Nke

szp (delg) intro phono 9/unstressed syllables 6 / 16
single vowel letters in unstressed syllables I/Y
I/Y in an unstressed syllable
is usually pronounced /I/ or /@/
family, council, homonymy
is pronounced /@/
before a tautosyllabic R: c`onfirmation, Virgnia, tapir, zephyr
is pronounced /I/

word initially: ignte, illegal, innate, imm une, Italian

in the last syllable (except in -il(e)): panic, valid, d olphin, edit,

making, r ubbish, vctim, opposite, analysis, n otice, negative
is pronounced /i:/

word nally: bikni, khaki, carry, carried, baby, babies

prevocalically: opnion,

India, halcyon, helium
szp (delg) intro phono 9/unstressed syllables 7 / 16
single vowel letters in unstressed syllables O
O in an unstressed syllable
is usually pronounced /@/
orginal, hstory, anchor, ballot, synod
is pronounced /@U/
word nally: bngo, bro, j udo, motto, Pl uto
cf. follow, b urrow, tom orrow
it is not clear if this is a reduced vowel
szp (delg) intro phono 9/unstressed syllables 8 / 16
single vowel letters in unstressed syllables U
U in an unstressed syllable
is pronounced /@/

in covered position: bogus, gerund, baluster, pendulum, buoon

before R: njury, azure, aperture, tenure

is pronounced /j@/
before consonant+reduced vowel: stmulus, artculate
a
is pronounced /j@/ or /ju:/
before consonant+full/stressed vowel: stmulate, artculate
v
, st`mulation
is pronounced /ju:/

in prevocalic position: s`tuation, arduous

in rst syllable (always pretonic!): stupdity, unte

in last syllable (exc. before R): m odule, v olume, value (but fortune has /@/)
szp (delg) intro phono 9/unstressed syllables 9 / 16
syllabic consonant formation
syllabic consonant formation
a C
1
@C
2
sequence may become a C
1
C
"
2
sequence

if C
2
is a sonorant (obstruents cannot be syllabic):
opal /@Up@l @Upl
"
/, but opus /@Up@s *@Ups
"
/

nasals can be syllabic only if C

1
is an obstruent or /r/:
mutton /m2t@n m2tn
"
/, quorum /kwO:r@mkwO:rm
"
/,
but melon /mel@n *meln
"
/, common /k6m@n *k6mn
"
/

/l/ can be syllabic except when C

1
is also /l/:
mortal /mO:t@l mO:tl
"
/, morsel /mO:s@l mO:sl
"
/,
moral /m6r@l m6rl
"
/, mammal /mm@l mml
"
/,
narwhal /nA:w@l nA:wl
"
/

/r/ can be syllabic only before vowels: terrorist /ter@rIst terr

"
Ist/,
but terror /*terr
"
/; hammer */hmr
"
/, camera /kmr
"
@/
in syllabic consonant formation it is only the syllabicity of the schwa that
remains as part of the following sonorant
szp (delg) intro phono 9/unstressed syllables 10 / 16
high vowel gliding
high vowel gliding
unstressed /i:/ and /u:/ in prevocalic position
may turn into a glide

/i:/: opnion /@pIni:@n @pInj@n/, helium /hi:li:@mhi:lj@m/

/u:/: usual /ju:Zu:@l ju:Zw@l/

high vowel gliding does not occur

before a stressed vowel: del`neation /d@lIni:eIS@n *d@lInjeIS@n/

after stop+liquid clusters: atrium /eItri:@m*eItrj@m/

schwa (/@/) never occurs prevocalically

in high vowel gliding it is only the palatality or labiovelarity of the

vowel that remains, its syllabicity is lost
szp (delg) intro phono 9/unstressed syllables 11 / 16
syncope
syncope
syllabic consonants may lose their syllabicity
the result, called syncope, is the total loss of the unstressed vowel:
family /fm@li: fml
"
i: fmli:/
syncope may occur if
syllabic consonant formation is also possible, and in addition, if

the syllabic sonorant is followed by an unstressed vowel:

memory /mem@ri: memri:/, but memorize /mem@raIz *memraIz/,
note j ubilee /u:b@li: *u:bli:/! (well return to this dierence)

the syllabic sonorant is not preceded by /r/ (recall, /r/ in SSBE must
be followed by something syllabicusually a vowel):
celery /sel@ri: selr
"
i: selri:/, but
perilous /per@l@s perl
"
@s *perl@s/
szp (delg) intro phono 9/unstressed syllables 12 / 16
syncope
syncope
some cases where the syncopated form is lexicalized
every /evri:/, medicine /meds@n/, vegetable /vet@b@l/, comfortable
/k2mft@b@l/ (these dont always t the rules stated above)
in fast speech
syncope occurs also in

pretonic position

before an obstruent, and in other cases where the second C could not
have been syllabic

e.g., p/ arade, s/upp ose, p/ otato, m/echanic, ph/ enomenon

szp (delg) intro phono 9/unstressed syllables 13 / 16
palatalization
palatalization
/j/ (called yod) palatalizes preceding /t d s z/ to / S Z/, resp.
virtue /v3:tju: v3:u:/, residue /rezIdju: rezIu:/, issue /Isju: ISu:/,
casual /kzju:@l kZu:@l( kZw@l)/
palatalization is common in unstressed, rarer in stressed syllables
for ssue /ISu:/ is more common than /Isju:/,
for ass ume /@sju:m/ is more common than /@Su:m/
palatalization is very often lexical (no alternation)
nature /neItj@ neI@/, sugar /sjUg@ SUg@/, Persia /p3:sj@ p3:S@/,
vision /vIzj@n vIZ@n/, soldier /s@Uldj@ s@Ul@/
palatalization may occur across a word boundary
did you /dIu:, dI@/, got you /g6u:, g6@/
szp (delg) intro phono 9/unstressed syllables 14 / 16
mergers
mergers
reduction
accept /@ksept/ = except
complement /k6mpl
I
@
m@nt/ = compliment
currant /k2r@nt/ = current
syncope
nally /faIn@li: faInli:/ = nely
Hungary /h2Ng@ri: h2Ngri:/ = hungry
lightening /laIt@nIN laItnIN/ = lightning
palatalization
Tues. /tju:z u:z/ = chews = choose
dune /dju:n u:n/ = June
dual /dju:@l u:@l/ = jewel
szp (delg) intro phono 9/unstressed syllables 15 / 16
sample exam questions
which highlighed vowel may be pronounced /i/?
1. event
2. video
3. typical
4. India
which highlighted vowel may be syncopated?
1. camel
2. rickety
3. family
4. family
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