questions for topic 8

(try answer the questions, then move the pointer below the question to see the answer)

1. What is the neutralization of a contrast?
   it means the loss of a contrast, while boat /bəwt/ and boot /buwt/ contain different vowels, boar /boː/ and boor /boː/ do not in British English (this is the force–poor merger); the contrast of /əw/ and /uw/ is neutralized before /r/; likewise the contrast of /a/ and /e/ is neutralized in unstressed position: postman and postmen are both /pə́wstmən/
2. What is vowel reduction?
   the reduction of the full vowel inventory to /i/, /ə/, /u/, /ij/, /əw/, /uw/ in unstressed position
3. Where do unstressed short vowels occur?
   like all short/checked vowels, they occur only before a consonant, but unstressed /ə/ also occurs word finally
4. Where do unstressed diphthongs occur?
   like free vowels they occur in any environment, but unstressed /ij/ does not occur preconsonantally, and both unstressed /əw/ and unstressed /uw/ may be simplified to /ə/ and /u/ before a consonant
5. What is the typical environment before unstressed /u/ and /uw/?
   they are practically always preceded by a palatal consonant or a stop+liquid cluster
6. Which vowel letters may be used to spell unstressed /ə/?
   any vowel letter, even the absence of a vowel letter, as in prism /prízəm/
7. Which vowel letters may be used to spell unstressed /i/?
   I/Y and E are most common (limit, dactyl, ticket), A is rarer (village), U is very rare (minute)
8. Which vowel letters may be used to spell unstressed /u/ or /uw/?
   these are always spelled by U (in free graphic position)
9. Which vowel letters may be used to spell unstressed /ij/?
   I/Y or E (atrium, happy, syncope)
10. Which vowel letters may be used to spell unstressed /əw/?
    O (obey, motto), word finally OW (fellow, window)
11. What is syllabic consonant formation?
    the transference of syllabicity from a schwa to the following sonorant consonant
12. Can /r/ be syllabic?
    yes, but only before a vowel (terrorist /térr̩ist/), or another syllabic consonant (literal /lítr̩l̩/)
13. What is syncope?
    it is the total loss of a schwa, even of its syllabicity
14. What vowel(s) may be syncopated and where in English?
    unstressed schwa can be syncopated, when followed by a sonorant consonant and another unstressed vowel
15. What is high vowel gliding?
    a special case of syncope, in which unstressed /ij/ becomes /j/ and unstressed /uw/ becomes /w/, that is, the vowel part is lost: opinion /əpínijən/~/əpínjən/, usual /júwʒuwəl/~/júwʒwəl/

I did well, let’s move on
I did poorly, let’s check again