Trisyllabic laxing
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Trisyllabic laxing or trisyllabic shortening is a process in English whereby tense vowels (which are long vowels or diphthongs) become lax (i.e. short monophthongs (lax) in word formation) when followed by two syllables, of which the first syllable is unstressed. This process is detailed in Chomsky & Halle's Sound Pattern of English.
| Tense Vowel | Lax Vowel | examples | |
|---|---|---|---|
| iː | → | ɛ | serene, serenity: /səˈriːn, səˈrɛ.nə.ti/ impede, impediment: /ɪmˈpiːd, ɪmˈpɛ.də.mənt/ |
| eɪ | → | æ | profane, profanity: /prəˈfeɪn, prəˈfæ.nə.ti/ grateful, gratitude: /ˈgreɪt.fəl, ˈgræ.təˌt(j)uːd/ |
| aɪ | → | ɪ | divine, divinity: /dəˈvaɪn, dəˈvɪ.nə.ti/ derive, derivative: /dəˈraɪv, dəˈrɪ.və.tɪv/ |
| aʊ | → | ʌ | profound, profundity: /prəˈfaʊnd, prəˈfʌn.də.ti/ pronounce, pronunciation: /prəˈnaʊns, prəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/ |
| uː | → | ɒ (US: ɑ) | school, scholarly: /ˈskuːl, ˈskɒ.lər.li/ |
| əʊ (US: oʊ) | → | ɒ (US: ɑ) | provoke, provocative: /prəˈvəʊk, prəˈvɒ.kə.tɪv/ sole, solitude: /ˈsəʊl, ˈsɒ.ləˌt(j)uːd/ |
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[edit] Bibliography
- Chomsky, Noam; & Halle, Morris. (1968). The sound pattern of English. New York: Harper & Row.
