List of Full and Reduced Forms

Full and Reduced Forms

Vowel Reduction

Vowels in unstressed syllables are pronounced less distinctly than those in stressed syllables. It is possible to speak about three types of vowel reduction:

QUANTITATIVE, QUALITATIVE, COMPLETE (ZERO) REDUCTION.

I. Quantitative reduction results in the change of the length (quantity) of a vowel in an unstressed syllable. It affects long vowels and diphthongs which become half-long or short, e. g.

°We have done it. /wi:/-long

We have °done it. /wi·/ - half-long

We °did it. /wi/ - short

Diphthongs become half-long when followed by an unstressed syllable, or short, when followed by a stressed one, but it is not reflected in transcription, e. g.

°I’ve done it.

I have °done it.

I °did it.

II. Qualitative reduction is connected with the change of the quality of a vowel. There are two types of it.

1. Qualitative soft reduction, resulting in the /I/ phoneme. The letters “e, i, y” correspond to it in spelling: e xpect, cin e ma, cit y, serv i ce.

2. Qualitative hard reduction, resulting in the neutral vowel /@/. The letters “a, o, u” and the suffixes –er, -ar, -or, -ous correspond to it in spelling: fam ous, pil o t, mel o dy, act or, pol ar.

III. Complete reduction results in a full disappearance of a vowel in an unstressed position. It occurs before the syllabic sonorants /m, n, l/ when they are posttonic and preceded by a consonant: conversation /Sn/, written /tn/, pencil /sl/ as well as in different /"dIfÿr@nt/, history/"hIstÿrI/, I’m/aIÿm/, I’ve/aIÿv/.

There are some words in English that retain their full forms even when they are unstressed:

1. The following words have no weak forms: ON, WELL, WHAT, THEN.

2. The negative particle ‘not’ is never reduced except when met in contracted forms: can’t, couldn’t etc.: But èwhy not? /nQt/. Of èècourse not. /nQt/

3. Prepositions in sentence-final or sense-group final positions are so slightly reduced that the quantity of short phonemes is not changed; long vowels become half-long,

e. g. "What are you °thinking of? /Qv/ "What have you °done it for? /fO·/

4. “to have” as a principal verb has no weak form though unstressed in affirmative sentences, e. g. I have a °sister. /aI h{ v @ °sIst@||/

Full forms	Reduced Forms	Full Forms	Reduced Forms
Articles	Pronouns
The A+C A+V	/"Di:/ /"eI/ /"{n/	/D@/+C, /Di/+V /@/ /@n/	you he she we her us them your some that	/"ju:/ /"hi:/ /"Si:/ /"wi:/ /"h3:/ /"Vs/ /"Dem/ /"jO:/ /"sVm/ /"D{t/	/ju/ /hi/ /Si/ /wi/ /h3/ /@s/ /D@m/ /jO/ /s@m/ /D@t/
Prepositions
at from of into for to	/"{t/ /"frQm/ /"Qv/ /"Intu:/ /"fO:(r)/ /"tu:/	/@t/ /fr@m/ /@v/ /Int@/ /Intu+ V/ /fO/ /t@/ /tu+ V/
Verbs	Particles
can	/"k{n/	/k@n/	there to	/"De@/ /"tu:/	/D@/ /t@/ /tu+ V/
must	/"mVst/	/m@st/
shall	/"S{l/	/S@l/
do	/"du:/	/d@/ /du+V/
does	/"dVz/	/d@z/
could	/"kUd/	/k@d/
would	/"wUd/	/w@d/	Conjunctions
should	/"SUd/	/S@d/	and but than as or	/"{nd/ /"bVt/ /"D{n/ /"{z/ /"O:/	/@nd/ /b@t/ /D@n/ /@z/ /O/
have	/"h{v/	/h@v/
has	/"h{z/	/h@z/
had	/"h{d/	/h@d/
be	/"bi:/	/bi/
been	/"bi:n/
am	/"{m/	/@m/
are	/"A:/	/A/
was	/"wQz/	/w@z/
were	/"w3:/	/w@/

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