The unstressed vocalism

The English vowels occurring in unaccented syllables form definite system called the unstressed vocalism.

During the production of an unstressed vowel the muscles of the organs of speech forming the resonator mechanism are not so tense. The shape of the resonator remains constant for a shorter period of time than in the case of a stressed vowel. Due to it, a vowel in an unaccented syllable sounds shorter, weaker, less distinct, i.e. it is reduced. This phonetic process of obscuration of the quality and the quantity of a vowel in an unstressed position is called reduction.

Depending on the character of the change, reduction may be purely quantitative and quantitative-qualitative.

The change in the quality of the sound is generally accompanied or even caused by a change in quantity. Therefore there is no purely qualitative reduction.

Quantitative-qualitative reduction often occurs both in English and Ukrainian. Thus English unstressed vowels can be reduced, i.e. turned into neutral vowels: melodious [] – melody [], man [] – sportsman []. The diphthong [] is reduced into the neutral vowel [], the vowel [] is reduced into [].

Quantitative reduction is the reduction of the length of a vowel without changing its quality: you [] – [].

Reduction may be partial or complete (zero reduction). In case of partial reduction, vowels change their quality or quantity to some degree. In case of reduction to zero a vowel in an unstressed position may fall out completely: pencil [], cotton [], open [], written [], etc. Zero reduction is not characteristic of Ukrainian. Vowel reduction is more characteristic of English than Ukrainian.

2.3. Answer the following questions with one word or phrase.

Test 6. THE ENGLISH VOWELS IN CONNECTED SPEECH

#	Question	Answer
1	What do the phonetic properties of the vowels in connected speech depend on?
2	Do stressed and unstressed vowels undergo the same phonetic processes in connected speech?
3	How many positional length variants do long vowels have?
4	How many positional length variants are there if a vowel is short?
5	What groups are stressed vowels divided into according to the character of their end?
6	What change do vowels undergo in the unstressed positions?
7	How is the change of the quality of a vowel called?
8	What is the name of a phonetic process when a vowel falls out completely?
9	What forms of pronunciation do form words have in connected speech?
10	Is vowel reduction more characteristic of English or Ukrainian?
	The number of correct points is
	My grade is