What is “Reduction” in Speech?

This post is taken directly from a 2009 article by Eric Thal:

VOWEL NEUTRALIZATION IN AMERICAN ENGLISH INTONATION

Vowel neutralization, or reduction, is an important aspect of intonation in American English. The most important words in a sentence are stressed. That is, they are generally spoken on a higher pitch. (Words can also be stressed by saying them slowly, or by having a brief pause before them.) Likewise, less important words are reduced, or de-stressed, usually said on a lower pitch. In addition, the vowel sound is replaced with a schwa. Since the schwa is just a tiny grunt of sound, you can also think of reduction as being the elimination of the vowel.

The schwa sound is shorter than any other vowel. So in fact, the length of reduced words is shortened. By shortening these words, we seem to be speaking more quickly. But truly the rate may be unchanged. We get to the end of our sentences more quickly because we are traveling a shorter distance.

Speaking with reduced sounds makes it easier for the listener to understand us. We help the listener by letting him or her know the key words of our sentence. If we said only these three words, the listener would understand us:

I          GO          STORE

By adding prepositions and articles that are not reduced, the listener has to hear every word and then prioritize them:





I     AM     GOING     TO     THE     STORE

By using reduced words (prepositions, articles, auxiliary verbs, etc. ) the speech has a nice fluidity. The listener identifies the unstressed words by their consonants and context:

at → ət
it → ət
to → tə

Give it to me. ➡ Give ət tə me.

He’s at the store. ➡ He’s ət thə store.

        I           GO          STORE.
           əm          ing
                          tə
                            thə

(Reduced sounds can be written as a schwa (ə), an apostrophe, or no vowel. For clarity, “to,” “at,” and “it” will not be written as “t.”)

Practice speaking rhythmically the key words of a sentence.

    HE          STORE

He’s at the store. He’s ət the store.
He’s in the store. He’s ən the store.
He’s from the store. He’s frəm the store.

TO THE ➜ tə thə

1. Go to the bank.
2. He went to the store.
3. I came to the office.
4. Let’s go to the meeting.
5. She went to the park.

FOR THE ➜ fər thə

1. It’s for the client.
2. He did it for the last time.
3. This is for the birds.
4. Mary’s preparing for the event.
5. This is for the dinner.

FROM A ➜ frəm ə

1. I got it from a friend.
2. He heard it from a colleague.
3. It’s derived from a plant.
4. It was from another store.
5. She’s from a town upstate.

OF ➜ əv (➜ə)

1. piece of paper
2. United States of America
3. glass of water
4. friends of mine.
5. a woman of character

WAS ➜ wəz

1. He was supposed to be here.
2. I was trying to find out.
3. She was about to ask.
4. Where was he going?
5. What was I saying?

CAN ➜ cən

1. I can try.
2. She can find out.
3. Can you go?
4. I can play guitar.
5. We can beat that offer.

THAT ➜ tht

1. He knows that we’re here.
2. They said that they’re finished.
3. The glass that’s on the table.
4. He said that he went to the store.
5. She said that it’s for the client.

AND ➜ ənd ( ➜ ən)

1. Bread and butter.
2. Peas and carrots
3. She and I are going.
4. He went kicking and screaming.
5. Apples and oranges.