Linguistics

It is simply a matter of mouth physics: [?] is the most relaxed, neutral position of our speech paraphernalia.

AnonymousWhy are unstressed vowels reduced to [?]?

CalifJimNot all unstressed vowels are reduced in English either.

Please elaborate. I think they are.

enoonPlease elaborate. I think they are.

There are hundreds of examples of unstressed syllables not pronounced 'uh'.

The first syllable of 'sensational'.
The first syllable of 'cooperate'.
The first syllable of 'deny'.
The first syllable of 'example'.
The first syllable of 'forgiveness'.
The second syllable of 'protein'.
The se

There is also the point that even when the unstressed syllable in some positions is pronounced /?/ by some people, it may be pronounced /?/ by others, as in verb endings: wanted, splashes,

CalifJimThere are hundreds of examples of unstressed syllables not pronounced 'uh'.The first syllable of 'sensational'. etc.

I have always called them secondary stress: ma"-gic' pro"-tein' fab"-u'-lous.. The very definition of unstressed syllable is one in which the vowel is a schwa, and vice versa, in my book. How do you account for three levels of stress in

enoonHow do you account for three levels of stress in "fabulous"?

In order of decreasing stress: fab, lous, u.

Chomsky and Halle (The Sound Pattern of English) recognize four levels of stress, but I didn't think we were getting that deep into the nitty-gritty in this thread.

CJ

CalifJimIn order of decreasing stress: fab, lous, u.

fab, u, lous

It seems we found an area where communication breaks down. Your answer was unexpected. Chomsky and Halle should clean each others' ears, if you ask me.

There may be as many levels of stress as there are dimensions in string theory, but I have always found three to be sufficient