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 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| i | → | ɛ | serene, serenity : [sə.ˈrin, sə.ˈrɛ.nə.ti] impede, impediment : [ɪm.ˈpid, ɪm.ˈpɛ.də.mənt] |
| e | → | æ | profane, profanity : [prə.ˈfen, prə.ˈfæ.nə.ti] grateful, gratitude : [ˈgret.fəl, ˈgræ.tə.t(j)ud] |
| aj | → | ɪ | divine, divinity : [də.ˈvajn, də.ˈvɪ.nə.ti] derive, derivative : [də.ˈrajv, də.ˈrɪ.və.tɪv] |
| aw | → | ʌ | profound, profundity : [prə.ˈfawnd, prə.ˈfʌn.də.ti] pronounce, pronunciation : [prə.ˈnawns, prə.ˈnʌn.si.e.ʃən] |
| u | → | ɒ (US: ɑ) | school, scholarly : [ˈskul, ˈskɒ.lər.li] |
| o | → | ɒ (US: ɑ) | provoke, provocative : [prə.ˈvok, prə.ˈvɒ.kə.tɪv] sole, solitude : [ˈsol, ˈsɒ.lə.t(j)ud] |
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[edit] Bibliography
- Chomsky, Noam; & Halle, Morris. (1968). The sound pattern of English. New York: Harper & Row.
