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LATO Posted 16 years ago
Speech & Pronunciation

Schwa

is it all right to reduce unstressed syllables (not all of course) to schwa even though in dictionaries
the IPA used for them is /I/?

wouldn't it cause any trouble concerning diction.

e.g. decided /dI-sai-dId/
painted /pein-tId/

thanks.
  

Top answer

LATO is I s it all right to reduce unstressed syllables (not all of course) to schwa even though in dictionaries the IPA used for them is /I/? No. Not in the sense of "schwa" that you are using, as if it were one fixed sound.

— CalifJim

  • LATO is I s it all right to reduce unstressed syllables (not all of course) to schwa even though in dictionaries the IPA used for them is /I/?
  • No.
  • Not in the sense of "schwa" that you are using, as if it were one fixed sound.
  • /I/ is actually one of several schwas.
  • See .
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2 Answers
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LATO is Is it all right to reduce unstressed syllables (not all of course) to schwa even though in dictionaries the IPA used for them is /I/?
No. Not in the sense of "schwa" that you are using, as if it were one fixed sound. /I/ is actually one of several schwas.

See .

CJ
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It guess it would sound weird to only use "pure" central schwas in every unstressed syllable, and it would be wrong to use it in stressed ones instead of /?/.

If you want a better opinion on your prounciation, I'm afraid you'll have to record your own speech and post a link to the audio clip here.
Oops, I hadn't seen Jim's answer. I'm way too slow, gee.
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