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, i.e., an unstressed vowel becomes a reduced vowel, such as schwa. As a result, the pronunciation of , e.g., 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.
[edit] 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 is apparent that all English vowels may occur in unstressed positions:
| vowel |
example |
IPA |
| /iː/ |
wily |
[ˈwaɪliː] |
| /ɪ/ |
chauvinism |
[ˈʃoʊvɨnɪzm] |
| /eɪ/ |
Monday |
[ˈmʌndeɪ] |
| /ɛ/ |
enlist |
[ɛnˈlɪst] |
| /æ/ |
valet |
[væˈleɪ] |
| /ʌ/ |
unknown |
[ʌnˈnoʊn] |
| /ɑː/ |
grandma |
[ˈɡræmɑː] |
| /ɒ/ |
neon |
[ˈniːɒn] |
| /ɔː/ |
outlaw |
[ˈaʊtlɔː] |
| /oʊ/ |
limo |
[ˈlɪmoʊ] |
| /ʊ/ |
fulfill |
[fʊlˈfɪl] |
| /uː/ |
tofu |
[ˈtoʊfuː] |
| /aʊ/ |
discount |
[ˈdɪskaʊnt] |
| /aɪ/ |
idea |
[aɪˈdiːə] |
| /ɔɪ/ |
royale |
[ɹɔɪˈæl] |
Nonetheless, it is 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.
[edit] See also
