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Inchoateknowledge Posted 20 years ago
Grammar

is it a matter of phonology?

denounce -- den(o)unciation
abound -- ab(o)undant

question: where is the 'o' vowel?
Is there a rule that governs it or is it just a coincidence?

Which branch of linguistics deals with this problem. phonology? no?
Do you know any good literature touching up on this problem?

Cheers
  

Top answer

I learned it as "trisyllabic laxing", where a diphthong becomes a monophthong in a three or more syllable word. It's a morphological issue.

— Anonymous

  • I learned it as "trisyllabic laxing", where a diphthong becomes a monophthong in a three or more syllable word.
  • It's a morphological issue.
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5 Answers
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I learned it as "trisyllabic laxing", where a diphthong becomes a monophthong in a three or more syllable word. It's a morphological issue.

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Hi Inchoateknowledge,

Phonology has to do with systems of sounds (in a particular language or language group).

As you probably know, the spelling correlates with the pronunciation in this particular case; just think of how the below words are pronounced.

****unciation vs. ****ounciation
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Thanks a lot.
BTW, how many syllables are there in pronunciation? pro nun ci a tion? five?
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Yes, five. Calling it trisyllabic laxing is misleading.
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It sounds a little more like morphology, but I could be wrong.
There are numerous cases where a particular alternation between two vowels (or consonants) occurs in this way. They occur in both the Germanic and Latinate components of English.

find - found; bind - bound; grind - ground; pride - proud; mice - mouse
keep - kept; sleep - slept; weep - wept
pronounce -
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