On_Reduction_in_English_What_the_En

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New Horizons in English Studies 2/2017
LA N G UAG E
•
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Maciej Tomaka
Jagiellonian University in Kraków
[email protected]
On Reduction in English: What the English Don’t Say

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Abstract. The aim of this article is to examine which sounds are most often omitted in official oral pub-
lic performances by native speakers of British English. Such terms as reduction, elision (and its types),
and connected speech are explained; the literature cited is concerned with elision of vowels (triphthong
smoothing being treated separately), of consonants, and of whole syllables. The study presents the
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results of an analysis conducted on selected material available on the Internet – this comprises three
British English oral performances of the total length of approximately 20 minutes. With regard to the
nature of the data, they were divided into scripted, semi-scripted, and unscripted samples. The research
has shown that earlier preparation significantly lowers the number of phonetic reduction phenomena.
Furthermore, if the speech is given in front of an audience rather than being pre-recorded, the number
of reduction phenomena is higher. Besides, the analysis has shown a few important tendencies in mod-
ern British pronunciation, such as omission of /t/, realisation of final /t/ as [ʔ], omission of final /t/ in
contractions, which therefore are realised as [n] instead of [nt].
Keywords: reduction, elision, connected speech, British English, oral performace
1. Reduction, elision, and clipping
In order to specify the topic of the article,1 let us consider two meanings of reduction:
reduce (v.) (1) A term used in the phonological classification of vowel sounds, referring to
a vowel which can be analysed as a centralized variant of a vowel in a related form. For
1
The article is based on the author’s BA thesis in English Philology at the Pedagogical University
of Cracow, written under the supervision of Anita Buczek-Zawiła, Ph.D.
DOI: 10.17951/nh.2017.25
Pobrane z czasopisma New Horizons in English Studies http://newhorizons.umcs.pl
Data: 06/09/2019 16:37:47
26 Maciej Tomaka
example, the pronunciation of /ɒv/ reduces to /əv/ when unstressed; the stressed vowels in
‘telegraph show reduction in the related word te’legraphy /’teləgrɑ:f/ ⇒ /tə’legrəfɪ/.
(2) A further phonological use of the term is found in the context of phonological rules, where
it refers to a process of simplification which affects certain types of sound sequence. The
most important category is consonant cluster reduction (e.g. clock becoming /gɒk/), which is
common in early child language (Crystal 2008, 406).
In this paper, the focus is on the second meaning, whereby reduction is understood
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as elision. In phonology, elision, as defined by Crystal (2008, 166), is “the omission
of sound or sounds in connected speech”.2 It may affect vowels, consonants and even
whole syllables. Elision may be further divided according to the position of the affect-
ed element (Skandera and Burleigh 2005, 96–97):
• aphaeresis: elision of an initial element or elements (would have [wəd ˈæv]); if
the initial omitted element is a vowel, the process can be named aphesis;
• syncope: elision of a medial element or elements (answer is [ˈɑːnsɹ ɪz]);
• apocope: elision of a final element or elements (kept complaining [ˈkep
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kəmˈpleɪnɪŋ]).
However, if a part of a word or a whole syllable is omitted, we speak of clipping.
Skandera and Burleigh (2005, 97), for instance, distinguish three types of clip-
ping:
• fore-clipping: affects the initial part of a word, e.g. telephone – phone;
• back-clipping: affects the final part of a word, e.g. laboratory – lab;
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• fore-and-aft clipping: fore- and back-clipping operate simultaneously, e.g. influ-
enza – flu or Elizabeth – Liz.
In fore- and back-clipping, we understand the beginning and the end of a word in
terms of its morphological borders.
Since vowel reduction (i.e. reduction in the first meaning) is not the subject of this
paper, this change in grammatical words3 is not going to be considered.4 However,
every non-standard pronunciation of these words will be noted and counted if affected
by elision. What will not be counted are contracted forms, which are also treated as
reduction, but counting them would be pointless because they are normative.
2
Connected speech is understood here as a continuous sequence of words typical of natural utter-
ances and conversations. Units (words or phrases) sound different when they are pronounced in
connected speech or in isolation. Another important process operating in connected speech, apart
from elision, is assimilation (cf. Crystal 2008, 101).
3
That is, strong and weak forms of auxiliary verbs, conjunctions, prepositions, pronouns, articles etc.
4
Cf. Reszkiewicz (1981, 139–152) or Cruttenden (2008, 266–268).

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On Reduction in English: What the English Don’t Say 27
2. Elision in the literature
Elision, as understood in this article, has been the subject of numerous studies. It is usu-
ally divided into elision of vowels, consonants, and whole syllables. Within elision of
vowels, triphthong smoothing can also be identified. All these will be described below.
2.1 Elision of vowels
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The vowel schwa, transcribed /ə/, is commonly elided after voiceless plosives, name-
ly /p/, /t/ and /k/, in the direct vicinity of a stressed syllable. The loss of the vowel
is therefore compensated by aspiration, e.g. potato /pəˈteɪtəʊ/ → [ˈpʰteɪtəʊ], tomato
/təˈmɑːtəʊ/ → [ˈtʰmɑːtəʊ] or canal /kəˈnæl/ → [kʰnæɫ]. In such position, schwa is
also often dropped when it precedes /n/, /l/ or /r/, which in this case become syllab-
ic, as in police /pə’liːs/ → [pl̩ ˈiːs], tonight /təˈnaɪt/ → [tn̩ˈaɪt] or correct /kəˈɹekt/ →
[kɹ̩ ˈekt]. Notice that in such cases, the boundaries of syllables also change (Skandera
and Burleigh 2005, 95–96, Roach 1998, 127).
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Cruttenden (2008, 303) points out that /ə/ is often not pronounced at word bound-
aries when it is initial but preceded by a consonant and followed by a continuant. The
continuant in this case becomes syllabic, e.g. get another /get əˈnʌðə/ → [get ˈn̩ʌðə],
run along /rʌn əˈlɒŋ/ → [rʌn ˈl̩ ɒŋ]. Furthermore, it may be dropped before a linking
/r/, for example after a while /ɑːftəɹ əˈwaɪl/ → [ɑːftɹə ˈwaɪɫ] or father and son /fɑːðəɹ
əndˈsʌn/ → [fɑːðɹən ˈsʌn] (ibid).
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2.2 Triphthong smoothing
Although triphthong smoothing is also an instance of vowel elision, it has been treated
separately, because it affects a discrete category of sounds in English phonetics and
phonology, namely triphthongs. These also undergo elision, or to be precise – syncope,
which is an omission of the medial element of a triphthong (/ɪ/ or /ʊ/), especially when
the following /ə/ is not a separate morpheme. Thus, triphthongs undergo following
changes, which are known as smoothing (Cruttenden 2008, 145–146):
• /aɪə/  [aːə] – in words such as tyre, wire, fire, but also in those where /ə/ is
a suffix, such as buyer, higher or liar;
• /aʊə/  [aːə] – in shower or tower. Note that tyre and tower, shire and shower or
buyer and bower become homophones when the smoothing occurs;
• /eɪə/  [eːə] – as in player, prayer or layer. As we see, the smoothing may take
place at morpheme boundaries as well, thus producing homophones, e.g. prayer
(the words or the act of praying) and pray-er (a person who prays) or layer and lair;
• /əʊə/  [ɜː] – as in mower or slower, which results in homophones with myrrh
or slur, respectively;
• /ɔɪə/  [ɔ̞ːə] – as in employer, joyous or enjoyable. Note, however, that the first
element of the reduced diphthong, namely [ɔ̞ː], is lower than phonemic /ɔː/.
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Moreover, triphthong smoothing occurs not only within one morpheme, but also at
a morpheme boundary when word-initial /ə/ comes after a closing diphthong at the end
of a word, for instance in they are [ðeːə], go away [gɜːəˈweɪ], buy a house [baːəˈhaʊs],
now and then [naːənˈðen] or boy and girl [bɔ̞ːən’gɜːɫ] (Cruttenden 2008, 147).
2.3 Elision of consonants and syllables
The main factor triggering consonant elision is complex consonant clusters. The sounds
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that are most frequently omitted are plosives and fricatives. Skandera and Burleigh
(2005, 95) provide such examples as clothes /kləʊðz/ → [kləʊz], months /mʌnθs/ →
[mʌns] or twelfth /twelfθ/ → [tweɫθ].
As we read in Roach (1998, 127), the middle plosive is usually dropped in a cluster
of two plosives and a fricative or of three plosives, which can be illustrated with such
examples as acts /ækts/ → [æks], looked back /lʊkt ˈbæk/ → [lʊk ˈbæk].
Cruttenden (2008, 303) lists also even more complex clusters: “Thus elision is
common in the sequence voiceless continuant + /t/ or voiced continuant + /d/ (…)
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followed by a word with an initial consonant,” which is exemplified by such phrases
as next day [neks ˈdeɪ], raced back [ɹeɪs ˈbæk], last chance [lɑːs ˈtʃɑːns], left turn [lef
ˈtɜːn], send round [sen ˈɹaʊnd] or caused losses [kɔːz ‘lɒsɪz]. Further on, we read:
“Similarly, word-final clusters of voiceless plosive or affricate + /t/ or voiced plo-
sive or affricate + /d/ (…) may lose the final alveolar stop when the following word
has an initial consonant,” which is again illustrated with such examples as kept quiet
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[kep ˈkwaɪət], helped me [ˈheɫp mi], stopped speaking [ˈstɒp ˈspiːkɪŋ], changed colour
[ˈtʃeɪndʒ ˈkʌlə], urged them [ˈɜːdʒ ðəm] or judged fairly [ˈdʒʌdʒ ˈfeəli] (Cruttenden
2008, 304).
In informal speech, the elision of only two-consonant clusters can be encountered,
too, as in I want to [aɪ ˈwɒnə], He went away [hɪ ˈwen ə’weɪ], Give me [gɪmɪ] or Let me
[lemɪ]. Interesting forms are also the informal gonna, gotta, and wanna, which stand
for going to, have to (or ‘ve got to), and want to (or want a), respectively. The elision
also affects the /v/ in of in informal speech when it precedes a consonant, e.g. in lots of
them [ˈlɒts ə ˈðem] or waste of money [ˈweɪst ə ˈmʌni] (Roach 1998, 127).
In regional informal speech, /h/ can be elided at the beginning of a word and the
word then behaves as if it started with a vowel, namely it takes the an indefinite article
or [ði] definite article, for instance an hill [ənˈɪɫ] or the house [ðiˈaʊs]. Even among
some RP speakers, one can find such words as historical, hotel, or hysterical realised
without the initial /h/ and the grammatical result is the same, as in an historical novel
[ənɪ’stɒɹɪkɫ̩ ˈnɒvɫ̩ ]. Such realisation, however, is not common (Cruttenden 2008, 205).
Furthermore, whole unaccented syllables can also be omitted. If the same conso-
nant appears again in the subsequent syllable, the first syllable of the pair is likely to
be dropped. This can be observed in numerous words, such as library [ˈlaɪbɹɪ] or par-
ticularly [pəˈtɪkjəli] (Skandera and Burleigh 2005, 96).

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3. Research
In this section, we are going to examine some fragments of genuine official English
speech in terms of the reduction phenomena discussed above. The aim of the research
is to look into the frequency of the reduction phenomena.
3.1 Selection of the material and procedure
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I have decided to analyse approximately 20 minutes of data, consisting of three sam-
ples. The first sample, A short introduction to the Studio School (henceforth Studio
School), is a speech by Geoff Mulgan on TED.com from 2011 about new, more prac-
tical, and less boring schooling. The second sample is a fragment of a BBC 4 podcast
series In Touch about the cancellation of the DLA mobility component for disabled
people living in residential houses. The last piece of the material, A History of the
World in 100 Objects. Episode 8. Egyptian Painted Pottery Cattle from BBC Radio
4 (henceforth Pottery Cattle), is a fragment of a podcast series about clay statues of
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cattle in ancient Egypt.
Table 1. The data analysed

Sample Duration Number of speakers
Studio School 5’ 54” 1
In Touch 10’ 13” 5
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Pottery Cattle 4’ 8” 1
Total: 20’ 15” 7
Although In Touch is of longer duration and features more speakers than the other two
samples, it conforms with the remaining ones, since each speaker talks individually and
undisturbed by the others, and only rare interaction between the speakers is observed.
The audio material was downloaded together with transcripts from the source web-
sites. Then the recordings were slowed down and listened to, with the instances of
relevant phonetic phenomena being marked on the transcripts.
3.2 Hypotheses
The occurrence of the reduction phenomena is dependent not only on phonetic and
phonological features, but also on individual preferences of a speaker, as well as his
or her speech tempo or regional origin. Nonetheless, we managed to find samples
produced by speakers who use the standard variety of British English. Thus, two hy-
potheses may be forged.
Firstly, if the samples are not scripted, the number of the reduction phenomena is
noticeably higher. Thus, Studio School is expected to show a significant number of the
phenomena, while Pottery Cattle barely any. In Touch was labelled as semi-scripted,
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30 Maciej Tomaka
since three of the speakers are journalists but the remaining two are not. Therefore,
the number of reduction phenomena in In Touch should be somewhere between Studio
School and Pottery Cattle.
Secondly, the sounds that are most frequently reduced are stops. Here, apart from
/p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/, affricates /tʃ/ and /dʒ/ are considered as well, since they also
contain a stop element. In order to check this, we kept thorough records of the numbers
of reduction phenomena and calculated the percentages.
The results obtained are collated in tables, each dedicated to one sample.
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3.3 Studio School
Studio School is a monologue, similar to a very short lecture, delivered in front of an

audience. Because of that, it was labelled as unscripted. The reduction phenomena
which occurred in the text are listed in Table 2 below.
Table 2. Reduction in Studio School5678

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Time Fragment Transcription Phenomenon
19” I want to talk [aɪ ˈwɒnə ˈtɔːk] apocope of /t/, aphaeresis of
/t/5
25” of our conventional [əv ɑː kənˈvenʃᵊnɫ̩ ] syncope (triphthong
smoothing)
29” And it might just be [ən ɪt ˈmaɪ dʒʌs bi] apocope of /t/ twice
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49” we asked what was [wi ˈɑːs wɒt wəz] apocope of /kt/
50” important need for [ɪmˈpɔːtən ˈniːd fəɹ] apocope of /t/
55” we felt the most [wi ˈfeɫ ˈðə məʊst ɪmˈpɔːʔn̩ apocope of /t/ twice
56” important priority pɹaɪˈɒɹəti]
1’1” who just didn’t like school [hu dʒʌs dɪdn̩ ˈlaɪk˺ ˈskuːɫ] apocope of /t/, weakening6 of /k/
1’7” who kept complaining [hu ˈkep kəmˈpleɪnɪŋ] apocope of /t/
1’14” we try to ask what [wi ˈtɹaɪ tu ˈɑːs wɒt] apocope of /k/
1’43” simple answer in a way [ˈsɪmpɫ̩ ˈɑːnsɹ ɪn ə ˈweɪ] syncope of /ə/
2’15” practical projects [ˈpɹæktɪkɫ̩ ˈpɹɒdʒekt˺s] weakening of /t/
2’21” who would have [ʔu wəd ˈhæv] aphaeresis of /h/
2’33” no extra cost, no selection [nəʊ ˈekstɹə ˈkɒs nəʊ sɪˈlekʃn̩] apocope of /t/
2’47” learn best by doing [ˈlɜːn ˈbes baɪ ˈduːɪŋ] apocope of /t/7
3’07” famous for its airport [ˈfeɪməs fəʔ ɪts ˈeəpɔːt] reduction of /r/ to /ʔ/8
5
This results in a substandard, informal form, which is sometimes spelt wanna. The same form
appears in 5’43” in they want to get. On the other hand, a few words earlier, the full form [ˈwɒnt
tə] is pronounced in They want to do things.
6
Weakening used in the table stands for no audible release of a stop. However, the records below
the table, used for statistics, include both unreleased plosion and reduction to /ʔ/.
7
The same occurs in 2’52” in the repeated phrase. However, in 2’50”, in the phrase learn best in
teams, the speaker uses the full form: [ˈlɜːn ˈbest ɪn ˈtiːmz].
8
The reduction here appears although the glottal stop most often substitutes the intrusive, not the
linking /r/, as in the example above. A bit later, in 3’11” in the phrase famous for its beaches, the
speaker uses the linking /r/: [ˈfeɪməs fəɹ ɪts ˈbiːtʃɪz].

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3’13” quite a lot of things [kwaɪt ə ˈlɒʔ ə ˈθɪŋz] reduction of /t/ to /ʔ/,9
apocope of /v/
3’23” And perhaps most [ən pʰˈɹ̥ æps məʊst] syncope of /ə/ and /h/10
3’28” these field trials [ˈðiːz ˈfiːɫ ˈtraɪəɫz] apocope of /d/
3’31” lowest performing groups [ˈləʊɪs pəˈfɔːmɪŋ ˈgruːps] apocope of /t/
3’33” jumped right to the top [ˈdʒʌmp ˈɹaɪ tðə ˈtɒp] apocope of /t/ twice, apocope
of /ə/
3’44” influenced some people [ˈɪnfluəns sm̩ ˈpiːpɫ̩] apocope of /t/
3’50” described himself as [dɪsˈkɹaɪbd ɪmˈseɫf ˈæz] aphaeresis of /h/
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4’5” helping it work, not just [ˈheɫpɪŋ ɪʔ ˈwɜːʔ nɒt dʒʌst] reduction of /k/ to /ʔ/
5’9” in fact, my nephew [ɪn ˈfæʔ maɪ ˈnefjuː] reduction of /kt/ to /ʔ/
5’24” It’s not perfect yet [ɪts nɒʔ ˈpɜːfək ˈjeʔ] apocope of /t/
6’1” which is present, not as [wɪtʃ ɪz ˈpɹezn̩ nɒt əz] apocope of /t/
6’2” answer for every child [ˈɑːns fə ˈʔevɹi ˈtʃaɪɫd] apocope of /ə/, reduction of
/r/ to /ʔ/11
6’4” at least for an answer [əʔ ˈliːs fəɹ ən ˈɑːnsə] apocope of /t/12
6’10” make that happen [ˈmeɪʔ ˈðæʔ ˈhæpn̩] reduction of /k/ to /ʔ/
Some of the examples in Table 2 require a comment. First of all, we have observed
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the speaker’s general tendency to substitute a /t/ preceding a consonant with a /ʔ/. We
have found a number of instances in such words as:9101112
• important – important priority [ɪmˈpɔːʔn̩ pɹaɪˈɒɹəti] (56”) and most important of
all (3’23”);13
• importance – the importance of [ði ɪmˈpɔːʔn̩s əv] (1’32”);
• animate – animate them [ˈænɪmeɪʔ ðəm] (5’35”);
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• that (both strong and weak forms) – complaining that the kids [kəmˈpleɪnɪŋ ðəʔ
ðə ˈkɪdz] (1’7”), ideas that large numbers [aɪˈdɪəz ðəʔ ˈlɑːdʒ ˈnʌmbəz] (2’45”),
that was a nice idea [ˈðæʔ wəz ə ˈnaɪs aɪˈdɪə] (2’59”), that influenced some peo-
ple [ˈðæʔ ˈɪnfluəns sm̩ ˈpiːpɫ̩ ] (3’44”) and make that happen [ˈmeɪʔ ˈðæʔ ˈhæpn̩]
(6’10”);
• not – done not through [ˈdʌ ˈnːɒʔ θɹuː] (2’11”), not surprisingly [nɒʔ səˈpɹaɪzɪŋ-
li] (3’42”), not perfect [nɒʔ ˈpɜːfək] (5’24”) and They’re not like all [ðeə ˈnɒʔ
laɪk ˈɔːɫ] (5’35”);
• at – at no extra [əʔ nəʊ ˈekstɹə] (2’33”)14 and twice in at least [əʔ ˈliːs] (6’4” and
6’9”);
9
What follows, however, is a vowel.
10
In this case, aspiration of /p/ in an unstressed syllable and appearance of /r/ occur as compensatory
phenomena for the elision.
11
Notice that two seconds later (6’4”), in the phrase for an answer for some children, the speaker
uses both linking /r/ in for an and /ə/ in answer, in contrast to the preceding phrase with a similar
wording. The form [ɑːns] also appears earlier, in 1’43”, with linking /r/ following.
12
At least is again reduced to [əʔ ˈliːs] in 6’9” in the phrase at least can help us.
13
In 1’38”, however, the speaker uses the full form [ɪmˈpɔːtᵊnt].
14
Interestingly, in 4’58”, in the phrase right at the heart, we observe no elision: [ˈɹɑɪt ət ðə ˈhɑːt].
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• but – but through real-life [bəʔ θɹuː ˌɹɪəɫˈlaɪf] (2’13”);15

• it – helping it work [ˈheɫpɪŋ ɪʔ ˈwɜːʔ] (4’5”);
• yet – not perfect yet;
• but [nɒʔ ˈpɜːfək ˈjeʔ bət] (5’24”), and out – you out there [ju ˈaʊʔ ˈðeə] (5’50”).
Furthermore, the speaker tended to drop the final /t/ in negated contractions, as in
didn’t – didn’t like [dɪdn̩ ˈlaɪk˺] (1’1”), didn’t have [dɪdn̩ ˈhæv] (1’11”) or in doesn’t –
It doesn’t animate [ɪt dʌzn̩ ˈænɪmeɪʔ] (5’35”). Therefore, these instances will not be
counted in the percentage result of reduced words in this sample and have not been
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included in the table.
With regard to this, the percentage result of reduction is 3.81% (1,050 words in
total, 40 reduced16). The recording gave us 4 examples of syncope, 27 of apocope, 4
of aphaeresis, 9 of weakening. The total number of reduction processes is 44. Stops
were reduced in 33 cases (75%) and 26 of them were /t/, vowels in 5 cases and other
consonants in 6. The results are presented in Table 3.
Table 3. Reduction in Studio School (unscripted)

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Words in total Words reduced Reduction percentage
1,050 40 3.81%
REDUCTION PROCESSES
In total Syncope Apocope Aphaeresis Weakening
44 4 27 4 9
SOUNDS AFFECTED
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Stops in general /t/ Other consonants Vowels
33 26 6 5
3.4 In Touch
In In Touch, there are five speakers altogether: two men, who are professional radio
journalists, and three women, one of whom is also a professional radio broadcaster;
the two remaining speakers are not trained for professional recording – they are people
to whom the topic of the programme (the cancellation of the DLA mobility compo-
nent) applies. They are not guests in the studio so the sample cannot be considered
a discussion. Each answer to the journalist’s questions is given in an elaborate way (at
least a few sentences), which is why this fragment has been chosen for the study. The
recording has been classified as semi-scripted. Table 4 presents the reduction phenom-
ena found in the recording.
15
In the phrase but independently run, the speaker does not use the glottal stop: [bət ɪndɪˈpendᵊntli
ˈrʌn].
16
By reduced words we understand words in which at least one sound was affected by reduction.

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Table 4. Reduction in In Touch 1718192021222324

5’25” I asked her [aɪ ˈɑːsk hə] apocope of /t/17
5’34” deafblind people [ˈdefblaɪn ˈpiːpɫ̩] apocope of /d/18
5’56” be hit by this [bɪ ˈhɪʔ baɪ ˈðɪs] reduction of /t/ to /ʔ/
6’ the moment from the [ðə ˈməʊmən fɹəm ðə] apocope of /t/
6’14” authority expects to take [ɔːˈθɒɹɪti ɪkˈspeks tə ˈteɪk] syncope of /t/
6’31” travel independently of [ˈtrævɫ̩ ɪndɪˈpendᵊnli əv] syncope of /t/19
6’54” the government says [ðə gʌˈṽm̩ən ˈsez] syncope of /n/, apocope of
CS
/t/20
7’24” supposed to be [səˈpəʊz tə bi] apocope of /d/
7’24” earmarked for exactly the [ˈɪəmɑːk fəɹ ɪgˈzækli ðə] apocope and syncope of /t/
7’44” to prevent cuts to other [tə pɹɪˈven ˈkʌts tu ˈʌðə] apocope of /t/
8’1” And amongst the groups [ənd əˈmɒŋz ðə ˈgruːps] apocope of /t/ and voicing
8’22” Liz herself lives [ˈlɪz əˈself ˈlɪvz] aphaeresis of /h/
8’24” she explained what the [ʃi ɪkˈspleɪn wɒt ðə] apocope of /d/
8’41” have a support worker [ˈhæv ə səˈpɔː ˈwɜːkə] apocope of /t/21
9’8” have to find myself [ˈhæv tə ˈfaɪn maɪˈself] apocope of /d/22
M
9’10” quite considerable [kwaɪt kənˈsɪdɹəbɫ̩ ] syncope of /ə/
9’24” other disabled people [ˈʌðə dɪˈseɪb˺ɫ̩ ˈpiːpɫ̩] apocope of /d/, weakening
of /b/23
10’10” at worst not going to [əʔ ˈwɜːs nɒʔ ˈgəʊɪŋ tə] apocope of /t/
10’45” It’s difficult to believe [ɪts ˈdɪfɪkɫ̩ tə bɪˈliːv] apocope of /t/
10’54” I suspect that they [aɪ səˈspek ðəʔ ðeɪ] apocope of /t/
11’12” we asked the Department [wi ˈɑːsk ðə dɪˈpɑːtmənt] apocope of /t/
U
11’24” to help tackle the [tə ˈheɫp˺ ˈtækɫ̩ ðə] weakening of /p/
11’36” it designed to support [ɪt dɪˈzaɪn tə səˈpɔːt] apocope of /d/24
11’47” authority contracts with [ɔːˈθɒɹɪti ˈkɒntræks wɪð] syncope of /t/
11’52” residents assessed needs [ˈrezɪdənts əˈses ˈniːdz] apocope of /t/
12’4” Our commitment to [aʊə kəˈmɪtmən tə] apocope of /t/
12’24” to protect the people [tə prəˈtek ðə ˈpiːpɫ̩] apocope of /t/
12’38” Eric Westbrook [ˈeɹɪk ˈwesbɹuːk] syncope of /t/
13’39” website because essen- [ˈwebsaɪt kəz ɪˈsenʃᵊli] fore-clipping
tially
17
However, in 12’54” in the phrase I asked him, there is no apocope but aphaeresis in the weak
form: [aɪ ˈɑːskt ɪm].
18
The same happens in 5’43” and 5’51” (the same speaker), 9’23”, 9’42”, 9’43”, 10’52”, 11’17”, in
the phrase blind people in 12’56” and 13’44”, blind games in 13’53” and blind person in 15’22”
(different speakers).
19
The same form appears in 8’23” and 8’34” (each in a different speaker).
20
The same speaker in the next phrase (7’) says but the government has been talking with the synco-
pe and the apocope but this time with the proper stress: [ˈgʌṽəmən]. In 7’52”, however, she does
not use the syncope. This also occurs in different speakers’ speech, as in The government keep
talking in 10’14” and in the government would want in 10’46”.
21
The speaker uses the same form in 8’46” and 8’58”.
22
The same occurs in the phrase eventually find one in 14’55”.
23
The same form appears in 11’12”, 11’37”, and 12’9”, but without the weakening.
24
The same form occurs in 11’49” and in 12’51” in the phrase designed for people.
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Data: 06/09/2019 16:37:47
34 Maciej Tomaka
13’46” Ian runs software [ˈaɪən ˈrʌnz ˈsɒfweə] syncope of /t/25

13’57” the last one was [ðə ˈlɑːs wʌn wəz] apocope of /t/
14’23” with its spoken clues [wɪð ɪʔ ˈspəʊkn̩ ˈkluːz] apocope of /s/
14’41” which are called words [wɪtʃ ə ˈkɔːɫ ˈwɜːdz] apocope of /d/
15’5” extensive help file that [ɪkˈstensɪv ˈheɫp˺ ˈfaɪɫ ðəʔ] weakening of /p/
15’8” recommend to start [ˌrekəˈmen tə ˈstɑːt] apocope of /d/
15’29” people who have never [ˈpiːpɫ hu əv ˈnevə] aphaeresis of /h/
15’31” would like to try [wəd ˈlaɪʔ tə ˈtɹaɪ] reduction of /k/ to /ʔ/
Moreover, all of the speakers showed a strong tendency to substitute the final /t/ with
CS
/ʔ/, not only in pronouns or prepositions, but also in lexical words. Furthermore, they
also tended to drop the final /t/ from negative contracted forms. Hence, these instances
have been considered as a general inclination and have not been counted as reduction.25
Having said this, we may state that 65 words out of 1,775 were reduced, which
amounts to 3.66%. There were 68 reduction processes, 47 (69.12%) of which were ex-
amples of apocope, 12 (17.64%) of syncope and 3 (4.41%) of aphaeresis, 5 (7.35%) of
weakening and 1 (1.47%) of clipping. In total, stops were elided in 61 cases (89.7%),
vowels in just 2 cases and other consonants in 6.26 Among stops, /t/ was reduced 25
M
times. These results are presented in Table 5.
Table 5. Reduction in In Touch (semi-scripted)

1,775 65 3.66%
REDUCTION PROCESSES
U
In total Syncope Apocope Aphaeresis Weakening Clipping
68 12 47 3 5 1
SOUNDS AFFECTED
Stops in general /t/ Other consonants Vowels
61 25 6 2
3.5 Pottery Cattle
Pottery Cattle comes from one speaker, with the exception of two very short sentences,
which are quotes from two professors who contributed to the story, one sentence each.
This material was professionally recorded in a studio by a man who, as we assume, had
familiarised himself with the text of the speech and prepared for the recording – there-
fore, it was labelled as scripted. The speaker’s pronunciation is much more accurate
and clear than in the previous samples. Hence, very few reduction instances have been
found. They are presented in Table 6.
25
The word appears twice close to each other: “Ian runs software calles Spoonbill software”.
26
The difference in numbers between reduction processes and sounds affected results from the fact
that clipping was counted as one process, but it affected two sounds: /b/, which is a stop, and /ɪ/,
which is a vowel.

Data: 06/09/2019 16:37:47
Table 6. Reduction in Pottery Cattle

13” see ourselves entering [ˈsiː aʊəˈselvz ˈentɹɪŋ] syncope of /ə/
15” discovering the hidden [dɪˈskʌvɹɪŋ ðə ˈhɪdn̩] syncope of /ə/
19” rewriting history [ɹɪˈɹaɪtɪŋ ˈhɪstɹi] syncope of /ə/
22” should be warned that [ʃəd bɪ ˈwɔːn ðət] apocope of /d/
36” almost clerical dryness [ˈɔːɫməʊs ˈkleɹɪkɫ̩ ˈdɹaɪnəs] apocope of /t/
2’49” they’ve been grazing [ðəv bɪn ˈgreɪzɪŋ] reduction of /eɪ/ to /ə/
CS
There are 451 words in this fragment, 6 of which were reduced, that is 1.33%.
There were 6 reduction processes altogether, 4 of syncope and 2 of apocope. Stops
were elided only in 2 cases (33.33%), whilst the remaining 4 cases concerned vowels
(66.66%). Table 7 presents the exact results.
Table 7. Reduction in Pottery Cattle (scripted)

451 6 1.33%
M
REDUCTION PROCESSES
In total Syncope Apocope
6 4 2
SOUNDS AFFECTED
Stops in general /t/ Vowels
2 1 4
U
4. Results
Having demonstrated all the results from our research, we will now refer to the hypoth-
eses we put forward in 2.1.
According to the first hypothesis, the number of reduction phenomena would be
smaller in a scripted sample, larger in a semi-scripted one, and the largest in unscript-
ed. That is why we kept thorough statistics of the reduction. The results support our
hypothesis, as can be seen in Table 8.
Table 8. Percentage of reduction in the audio material

Sample Percentage of reduction Type of speech
Studio School 3.81% unscripted
In Touch 3.66% semi-scripted
Pottery Cattle 1.33% scripted
The difference between Studio School and In Touch is, however, minute: 0.15%.
Nonetheless, looking at this table, one must bear in mind the other differences between
Studio School and In Touch: they differ in duration (5’54” vs. 10’13”), in the number
of words (1,050 vs. 1,775), and in the category of speech they represent (a monologue
LANGUAGE
Data: 06/09/2019 16:37:47
36 Maciej Tomaka
in front of an audience and a prepared radio programme with journalists and guest
speakers).
It seems that our findings favour the second hypothesis as well. In the material,
there were 119 elements reduced altogether, 96 of which were stops, which gives the
result of 80.67%. The remaining elements were: vowels – 11 (9.24%), fricatives – 8
(6.72%), and other consonants – 4 (3.36%).
The frequency of occurrence of reduction in the whole material is 3.39% (that is,
111 words reduced out of the total of 3,276). Table 9 presents the detailed data.
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Table 9. The whole empirical material
Words in total Words reduced Percentage
3,276 111 3.39%
R EDUCTION PROCESSES
In total Syncope Apocope Aphaeresis Weakening Clipping
119 20 77 7 14 1
SOUNDS AFFECTED
In total Stops in /t/ Vowels Fricatives Other
M
general consonants
119 96 52 11 8 4
80.67% 43.7% 9.24% 6.72% 3.36%
5. Conclusion
U
The research shows that prior preparation and speaking with the aid of a script influ-
ence the occurrence of elision. The audio material has provided us with a straightfor-
ward answer, although one must bear in mind the differences between the samples
analysed.
Furthermore, stops proved to be the most frequently elided elements in the audio
material: they constituted more than 80% of the elements reduced. Amongst all the
stops elided, the most significant number falls on /t/, which constituted 54% of them.
This means that /t/ alone constituted more than 40% of all the elements affected by
reduction. Furthermore, final /t/ was reduced in 43 cases, which is more than a third of
all the sounds reduced. The second most frequently elided elements were vowels, but
they amounted to less than a tenth of the total.
Another conclusion which may be drawn from the analysis of the audio material
is that in present-day colloquial English, there is a strong tendency to use [ʔ] in the
place of final /t/ before a vowel. Another easily observed tendency is an omission of
the final /t/ of the negative contracted forms, so that -n’t, normally pronounced as [nt],
is realised as [n].
This study has shown that phonetic reduction is a topic worth studying, since it
affects native speakers’ pronunciation to a noticeable extent. The analysis has con-
firmed that earlier preparation for speaking influences the pronunciation, namely there

Data: 06/09/2019 16:37:47
are fewer reduction phenomena. The present paper can be beneficial in teaching not
only of pronunciation but also of listening skills. It may help teachers provide expla-
nations and choose proper materials for classwork (semi- or unscripted samples, rather
than recorded in a studio). This may also be an inspiration for new research, such as
looking into students’ listening comprehension of various speeches: official, informal,
colloquial, or scripted, semi-scripted, unscripted. The type of communicative situation
seems to be worth considering, too, e.g. a public and official speech (for instance,
given by a politician), a presentation in front of an audience, a presentation recorded
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in order to be listened to and without an audience present, a recorded podcast, a video,
TV or radio news, TV or radio programmes (interviews, reports, phone calls from
listeners or viewers).
References
Cruttenden, Alan. 2008. Gimson’s Pronunciation of English. London: Hodder Education.

M
Crystal, David. 2008. A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics. Malden, MA – Oxford, UK –
Victoria, Australia – Singapore: Blackwell Publishing.
Reszkiewicz, Alfred. 1981. Correct Your English Pronunciation. Warszawa: PWN.
Roach, Peter. 1998. English Phonetics and Phonology. A Practical Course. Cambridge: Cam-
bridge University Press.
Skandera, Paul, and Peter Burleigh. 2005. A Manual of English Phonetics and Phonology.
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Twelve Lessons with an Integrated Course in Phonetic Transcription. Tübingen: Gunter
Narr Verlag.
Research material
BBC Radio 4: A History of the World in 100 Objects. Episode 8 – Egyptian model of clay cattle.
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/ahow/ahow_20100127-1000a.mp3 (8”–2’9”,
2’42”–3’50”) [accessed 25.05.2015]
BBC Radio 4: In Touch – The future of DLA. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00vrvx1
(5’43”–15’54”) [accessed 25.05.2015]
TED.com: Geoff Mulgan – A short intro to the Studio School. http://download.ted.com/talks/
GeoffMulgan_2011G.mp3?apikey=489b859150fc58263f17110eeb44ed5fba4a3b22 [ac-
cessed 25.05.2015]
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LANGUAGE

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New Horizons in English Studies 2/2017