Introduction

1. Reasons for choosing the themetopic:

English learners may have many troubles in listening,
speaking, reading, and writing. Most of them have been
discussed quite clearly in many courses, studies, and English
teachers’ lectures. However, from my own troubles, I see it is
possible that the systems of listening facilities still have a few
about reductions in spoken English. As a freshman, I feel
confused in front of dealing with a fast English tape or, of
course, English speakers as well. This topic is chosen for my
scientific research in the hope that it will, to some extents,
help others like me overcome this kind of challengeSo it is not
reasonable to pay less attention to the troubles, most of us
don’t know much, systematically than those we know well.
These are the reasons I choose this theme.
2. Aims Purposes of the study:
It is necessary to know as much about English as
possible. Therefore, I do this research with the aims of helping
the freshmen overcome the troubles in the first steps of
listening. In addition, English teachers may have more
facilities in their lectures.
3. Scope of the study:
As a small scientific research themetopic in English, the
study's themename is also the its scope of the study:
Reductions in English speech.
4. Methods of the study:

4
 The main methods in my study are choicematerial
collection, analysis, systematization, and classification. Firstly,
I have collected all materials from different sources such as
Internet, reference books, etc. Then, I have analyzed all the
collected materials with consulted much much help from my
supervisor and many other enthusiastic teachers in English
department without whom I cannot complete the research.

Literature Review

When speaking, English speakers use stress, intonation,

and aspects of connected speech, etc. One of the most
difficulties for those who learn English learners as a foreign
language is how to listen to English speech. Reductions are an
important part of informal English speech that requires
learners must know well many efforts to make a progress in
listening, and speaking.
Reduction is much in many ways related with to stress,
and intonation. If you stress words in English, English
speakers may misunderstand you because you may give too
much information. English speakers are used to hearing stress
on some words and not the others. You may sound angry,
impatient, or unfriendly. English speakers usually only stress
all words only when they are impatient or angry. When you
listen to English, you hear some words more clearly than the
others word. These clear words are usually information key
words and, they are stressed. The

5
 others are function words and , they are unstressed.
Therefore, stress makes helps us understand the speakers. To
make stress correctly, we must use reductions are needed
and will . Reductions make a contrast between grammatical
words and content words.
Reduction is a progress that speakers speak faster,
make sounds shorter, weaker and more unstressed more
clearly.
There are three kinds of reduction in English speech:
1) Qualitative reductions
2) Quantitative reductions
3) Zero reductions

Chapter 1: Qualitative reductions

The reductions of the length of a vowel without

changing its quality are called quantitative reduction.
In English speech, some pronouns have strong forms with / :
/, / : /, or / u: / sound may be a little reduced to / /, / /, or
/ u /.
Here is a chart of common cases:

Words Strong forms Weak forms

be /b :/ /b /
been / b : n/ / b n/
he /h :/ /h /
me /m :/ /m /
she / :/ / /
the /ð :/ /ð /
to / tu: / / tu /
6
 we /w :/ /w /
who / hu: / / hu /
you / ju: / / ju /
your / j :r / /j r/

Chapter 2: Quantitative reductions

"Many monosyllabic form words are subject to

quantitative variation according to whether they receive the
accent or not"(Gimson, 1980: 175)
In spoken English, “unstressed syllables sound softer,
are usually shorter, and are frequently reduced or centralized.
This means that the vowels tend to become / /, / /, / /
and the consonants are weaker” (Dauer, 2002: 93)
2.1. The schwa / /:
The vowels in most unstressed syllables tend to be pronounced the
same. The symbol for this sound is / / and English speakers often call it as
the weak vowel, the reduced vowel or the schwa. In English, the schwa is the
most common of all sounds.
The schwa / / is a relaxed and easy sound: keep your voice going
when you pronounce the schwa / /.
Note:  Any written English vowel can be pronounced with the
schwa / /  (Zawadzki, 1996: 42).

7
 E.g.: Woman /  w m n /
Women /  w m n /
Holiday /  h l de /
Person /  p : s n /
Success / s kses /
The schwa / / is pronounced unclearly so that it is very
difficult for English learners to hear without knowing it well.
2.2.1. The schwa / / with function words:
Speaking English with only strong forms sounds wrong.
The use of weak forms of English if you want your English to
sound English  (OConnor, 1980: 92).
Here is a chart of grammatical words that are reduced
with the schwa / /:

Words Weak forms Examples Phonemic

with / /
A / / I have a hat / h„v h„t
/
Am / m/ I am listening / m l sn ŋ /
An / n/ She has an / i: h„z n
umbrella m brel /
And / n/+consonant O and I / w nd /
/ bl„k n w
Black and
/
white

Are / /+ consonant Where are you / we j n /

now? / ðe j re :fl/
They are awful
As / z/ As good as / z d zg
gold ld /

8
 At / t/ At last / t  l : st /
But /b t/ But why not? /b tw n t/
Can /k n/ How can I /h k n
help? help /
Could /k d/ She could / i: kv d k m
come /
Do /d / What do they / w td ðe
(aux) do? d /
Does /d z/ What does he / w td z d
(aux) do? /

For /f /+consonant Tea for two /  ti: f  tu: /

Thanks for / „ŋks f r :
asking sk ŋ /
From / fr m / She is from L.A. / i: z fr m ele
/
Had /h d/ He had come /  hi: h d k m 
(aux) back b„k /
Has /h z/ She has done it / i: h z d n t
(aux) /
Her /h / Her hands / h  h„ndz /
Must / m st / I must go / a m st  /
Of / v/ Some of each /s m v i: /
Shall / l/ What shall we /w t l wi:  d
do? /
Should / d/ I should do so. /a d d s
/
Some /s m/ Some money /s m m n /
Than /ð n/ Its easier than / ts  i: z ð n
that „t /
That / ð t / (only in She said that / i: sed ð t  i: k
relative clause) she could do it d du: t/
The /ð / The tie / ð ta /

9
 Them /ð m/ Tell them / tel ð m /
/ m/ Pick them up /p k m p/
Their /ð Their houses / ð  ha s z/
/+consonant Is their office? / zð r fi: s /
/ ð r / + vowel
There / ð /+ Theres a hat. /ð z h„t /
consonant Is there a / zð r  pa: t
/ ð r / + vowel party? /
To / t /+ Go to work / t w :k/
consonant
Us / s/ He makes us / hi: me ks s
smile sma l /
Was /w z/ It was dark. / t written z da:
k/
Were /w They were / ðe w t :k
/+consonant talking. ŋ/
/ w / + vowel They were / ðe written r
asking me. a:kiŋ m /
Would /w d/ I would like ... / a w d la k /
You /j / What are you / w t j d iŋ
doing? /
Your /j r/ Close your / kl sj r a s
eyes. /

2.1.2. The schwa / / with content words:

In rapid speech even content words may be reduced
quantitatively, because  the more rapid the speeches, the
greater the tendency to reduction and obscuration of
unaccented words are  (Gimson, 1980: 264).
Quantitative reduction not only occurs in grammatical
words but also in some common content words. A
10
monosyllable in a position that is adjacent to a primary stress,
especially if they contain a short vowel.
E.g.: They sit here / ðe s t h /

2.2. The short vowel / /

"In the North of England, speakers may use / / in place
of / /" (Hancock, 2004 : 46).
E.g.: luck / l k / /l k/

Chapter 3: Zero reductions

The omission of a vowel or a consonant is called zero

reduction. According to Zinder (1964), when speaking fast, all
unstressed parts may be very reduced, even omitted. This
chapter shows kinds of this reduction.
3.1. Vowel omission:
Many English speakers, especially in Australia and
America, generally reduce the number of syllables in word
when speaking informally and fast.  If you pronounce all the
letters of a word, you may say the wrong number of syllables.
(Zanwadzki, 1996:29). Therefore, English speakers may
misunderstand you.

11
 Here are cases that / / in unstressed syllables can
disappear - leave forms with fewer syllables:
3.1.1. Consonant + / / + / reductions / r / + weak vowel
/ / is omitted
E.g.: Different / d f r nt /  / d fr nt /
Preferable / pref r b l /  / prefr b l /
3.1.2. / r / + weak vowel + consonant  weak vowel is
omitted
E.g.: Library / la br r /  / la br /
3.1.3. Consonant + weak vowel + / l /  weak vowel is
omitted
E.g.: Family / f„m l /  / f„ml /
Awful / :f l/  / : fl /
3.1.4. Primarily accent + / / or / / in weak syllable  /
/ or / / is omitted (in rapid speech).
E.g.: Police /p li: s /  / p li: s /
3.1.5. / / after / p, k, t / / / is omitted.
E.g.: Career / k r /  /k r /
Tonight / t na t /  / t na t /
To come / t k m//t k m/
3.1.6. / / before / l, m, n, r /  / / is omitted
E.g.: Canal / k n„l /  / k n„l /
Business / b z n s/ / b zn s /
3.1.7. A word-final consonant + initial / / + a
continuant  / / is omitted.
E.g.: Get along / et l ŋ /  / et l ŋ/

12
 3.1.8. A final / / + following / r / + word-internal vowel  /
/ is omitted.
E.g.: Father and son / fa; ð r nd s n /  / fa; ð r n s n
/
3.1.9. The loss of / / in "is" often happens with following
"it".
E.g.: sit right?
/z t ra t /
3.1.10. The loss of " ".
"English speakers often delete " " in informal
conversation". (Zawadzki, 1996 : 197)
E.g.: Is it Ok?  Oh...suppose so
3.1.11. "Any, anything, anyone"
"In spoken English, words such as any, anything,
anyone are sometimes reduced when they follow "get" or
"got" (Nunan, 2004 : 57)
E.g.: Didnt you getny hats?
We havent gotnything to eat yet.
3.2. Consonant omissions
3.2.1. The loss of / h /
"When a pronoun or auxiliary verb beginning with the /
h / sounds unstressed and does not come at beginning of a
phrase, the / h / is normally dropped in spoken English. The
sound that comes after the / h / is then linked to the last
sound of the previous word". (Judith, 1990)

Words & Reduce Examples with reduced forms

Strong d forms

13
 forms
Had / d/ We would had come if we had
/ h„d / known it.
/w l d/
Has / / She has come.
/ h„z / /  i: j z  k m /
Have / z/ We have much money.
/ h„v/ / wi: j v m m n /
He / / Is he right?
/ hi: / / z ra t /
Her / r/ I took her hand.
/h :/ / / / a t k h„nd /
Him / m/ Let him do it!
/h m/ / let m  du: t /
His / z/ I like his tie.
/h z/ / a la k z ta /

Some English speakers in London do not pronounce the

/ h / (Hancock, 2004).
E.g.: Head / hed /  / ed /

Note: Linking is especially important with silent "h".

3.2.2.
3.2.2.1 The loss of / v /:
According to Kelly (20030, / v / in of can disappear when
the next word begin with a consonant.
E.g.: Lost of time / l t v ta m /  / l t ta m /
3.2.2.2 The loss of / j /
In America, the / j / is dropped from words like: "new,
student..."
The loss of preceding consonant in the two continual
consonants (in informal speech)
14
 E.g.: give me a cake /  vm ke k /  /  m ke
k/
3.2.2.3 The loss of cluster of adverbs formed with "ly"
E.g.: openly /  p nl /  /  p l /
3.2.2.4. The loss of / g / in V-ing  V-in
E.g.: going  goin
3.2.3. The loss of / t /
3.2.3.1. Omission of / t / after / n /
 In rapid speech, / t / is usually omitted after / n / in
unstressed syllable of common in Canada and the
Middle West
E.g.: Winter / w nt /  / w n / (sounds like
winner)
Toronto ( t is omitted)
 Many English speakers omit / t / across word
boundaries in very common words:
Want to / w n t /  / w n / (informal
written: "wanna")
Going to / ŋ/  / n / (informal written:
"gonna")
 Negative particle / -nt / + consonant / vowel  / t / is
omitted.
E.g.: I dont know
/a d n / (informal written: "dunno")
Except: / -nt / + / j - /  / - n /
E.g.: didnt you / d dn /
 The loss of / t / in final cluster / -nt /, / -lt /
E.g.: Went mad
15
 Felt blue

Note: nasal + / t / + nasal  / t / is pronounced as a glottal

stop instead of being omitted.
3.2.3.2. Reduced / t / in past tense.
In the past tense, "/ t / in a verb becomes a quick / d /
sound or is silent". (Gilbert, 2000: 147)
E.g.: wanted / w n d/ (many English speakers say: /
w n n /)
3.2.3.3. Reduced / t / in between vowels:
* In many accents, for examples American accent, / t /
is often pronounced "as a quick / d / in between vowels".
(Gilbert, 2000: 118)
E.g.: "Write it" (sounds like "ride it")
Some common words: water. Better, later,
hotter, city, betty, atom, etc.
Even these: sit any, lot of, get all, hit
it, etc.
* In some accents, including some parts of London,
the / t / between two vowel sounds is made not with the
tongue but by stopping the air at the back of the throat to
make a short silence.
E.g.: "Butter" is pronounced "buer"
3.2.3.4. Word - final / t / + word - initial / t, d /  / t / is omitted
(informal speech).
E.g.: Ive got to come
/a v g tt k m //a v g t k m/
3.2.3.5. The loss of / t / in it when the following word begins
with a consonant.

16
 E.g.: I think it might be morning.
/a ŋk a ma t b m :niŋ /
3.2.4. Simplification of consonant groups.
English speakers often simplify groups of three (or
more) consonants by omitting the middle consonants.
E.g.: months / m n s /  / m ns /
Tests / tests /  / tess /
3.2.4.1. Consonant groups with / t, d /
* When / t / or / d / occurs between two other stop
consonants, they are never pronounced. So English
learners should leave them out.
E.g.: locked car / l k ka: /

Note: In this case, even "ed" is omitted (/ t /, / d /)

* Stop + / t / or / d / + fricative  / t / or / d / is omitted.
E.g.: kept singing / kep s ŋ ŋ /
* Fricative (often / s, f / ) + stop/ fricative/nasal  / t / is
omitted.
E.g.: / st / + stop: last time / la:s ta m /
+ fricative: west side / wes sa d /
+nasal: best man / bes mæn /
/ ft / + stop: lift boy / l f b /
+ fricative: left shoe / lef u: /
+ nasal: soft mattress / s f  mætr s /
* The / t / in / st, ft / may be omitted when other consonants
follow, but it is not very common.
E.g.: Next week/ neks wi: k /
Best road / bes r d/
Last lap / la:s læp /
17
* Nasal (often / n, m / + / d / + stop/ nasal  / d / is omitted
E.g.: / nd / + stop: tinned beans / t n bi: nz /
+ nasal: blind man / bla n mæn /
/ md /+stop: it seemed good / t si:m d/
+nasal: skimmed milk / sk m m lk /

Note: In this case, even "ed" can be omitted.

* The / d / in / nd ,md / may be omitted when other
consonants follow, but it not very common.
E.g.: Blind chance / bla n a ns /
Send seven / sen sev n /
She seemed well / i: si:m wel /
* Voiceless plosive/ affricative + / t / + initial consonant word 
/ t / is omitted.
E.g.: reached home
* Voiced plosive/ affricative + / d / _ initial consonant word  /
d / is omitted.
E.g.: changed face
* Omission of word-final / d / before / t, d /
E.g.: We could try
* Omission of final alveolar explosive / t, d / before / h, j /.
E.g.: Red house
Violent jacket
3.2.4.2. Other consonant groups:
* The loss of stop in: fricative + stop + fricative
E.g.: Desk / desks /  / dess /
Months / m n s /  / m ns /
3.3. Contractions. ( Essberger,1997).

18
 Contraction is a kind of reduction in which we shorten
letters both in writing (informal) and in speaking.
Especially, when speaking English, we often use
contracted forms to save time.
3.3.1. Positive contrastions.
Short Long form Short Long form
form form
Im I am Shell She will
Ive I have Shed She had/ she would
Ill I will/ I shall Its It is/ it has
Id I would/ I had/ I Itll It will
should
Youre You are Were We are
Youve You have Weve We have
Youll You will Well We will
Youd You would/ you Wed We had/ we would
had
Hes He is Theyre They are
Hell He will Theyve They have
Hed He had/ he Theyll They will
would
Shes She is/ she has Theyd They had/ they
would

3.3.2. Negative contractions.

Notes: There are two possible forms of the verb "to be"
E.g.: "They arent" or "theyre not", etc.
In questions, "am not" is contracted to "arent".
Short Long form Short form Long form
form
Arent Are not Maynt May not
Cant Can not, cannot Mightnt Might not
Couldnt Could not Mustnt Must not

19
 Darent Dare not Neednt Need not
Didnt Did not Oughtnt Ought not
Doesnt Does not Shant Shall not
Dont Do not Shouldnt Should not
Hasnt Has not Wasnt Was not
Havent Have not Werent Were not
Hadnt Had not Wont Will not
Isnt Is not wouldnt Would not

3.3.3. Other contractions:

The contraction ’s ( = is/ has) is not used only with
pronouns. It can also be used with nouns, names, question
words and words like "here" and "there".
Short Long form Example
form
Heres Here is Heres your bread.
Therell There will Therell be nobody here tomorrow.
Theres There is Theres a person!
Thats That is Thats my house!
Thatll That will Thatll cost £8.
Hows How is Hows your father?
Thiss This is Thiss my friend.
Howre How are Howre you?
Whatll What will Whatll they will do?
Whats What is Whats this?
Whatre What are Whatre they saying about?
Whatm What am Whatm I supposed to say?
Whens When is Whens the birthday?
Whos Who is Whos your lover?
Wheres Where is Wheres your house?
Whod Who would Whod like sweet?
Who had
Whatd What would Whatd you do then?
What had Whatd you done before?
Howd How would Howd she reach Paris?
How had Howd you made this?
20
 Whered Where Whered you go?
would Whered they gone?
Where had
Whend When Whend he visited her then?
would Whend he come?
When had
Wholl Who will Wholl be there?
Note: some common contractions in informal, rapid speech:

+) Aint = am not/ are not/ is not

E.g.: You aint a teacher.
+) Aint = has not/ have not
E.g.: they aint come yet.
Whatcha = what are you
E.g.: Whatcha going to do?
+) Whatcha = what have you
E.g.: Whatcha got there?
+) The faster speech is, the more the reduction is.
Do you want a beer?
 Do you wanna beer?
D you wanna beer?
 D ya wanna beer?
Ya wanna beer?
 wanna beer?
+) n = and
E.g.: Rock n roll
+) Sm = some
E.g.: I got sm beer

21
Chapter 4: Use of full forms
Reductions are used in everyday English. But there are
certain contexts that only strong forms are used.
4.1. Strong forms are used when function words are
stressed for the purpose of emphasis or expressing
the disagreement.
E.g.: You must go now.
/  m st /
4.2. Strong forms are used when function words stand
at the end of groups or sentences.
E.g.: What’s that for?
/f :/
Exceptions: he, him, his, her, them and us still have their
reduced formed in final position (unless they are stressed).
E.g.: I like her / a la k /
4.3. When a function word is being contrasted with
another words, its full form must be used.
E.g.: It must be he not me.
/  hi: / /  mi: /
4.4. When function words are being quoted, the full
forms are used.
E.g.: You can’t say and here.
/  ænd /
22
 Conclusion

In this research report, I have systematized reductions

in spoken English. Through it, English learners may feel
listening less difficult and English teachers may have many
useful facilities.
Because of my limited knowledge, not all results here
may be enough. To make this study better, I really wish to get
contributory ideas and comments from readers.
Last but not least, I would like to express my deepest
thanks to all people that have helped me do this study. It is
my supervisor, Mr. Nguyçn Ninh BØc who has given me a lot
of invaluable suggestions. It is enthusiastic English teachers:
Mr. Khoa Anh Vièt, Ms. Trßn Lan Anh, Ms Nguyçn Minh Huè
whose constant help and encouragement are very important
to my progress. It is my friends who always stand by me and
help me overcome my troubles. And it is the authors without
whose previous ideas I can not do this research.
Hanoi, March of 2006
Leâ TroÏng Khaùnk

23
 APPENDIX I: Manner of articulation.

1. Plosive (complete closure + sudden release):

/ b, p, d, t, g, k /
2. Fricative (narrowing resulting in audible friction):
/ v, f, z, s, , h, ð, , /
3. Affricate (closure + low separation)
/ , /
4. Nasal (complete closure + air escape through nose):
/ m, n, ŋ /
5. Lateral (closure in mouth centre + air escape at tongue
sides):
6. Approximant (slight narrowing but not enough to cause
friction):
/ w, j, r /
APPENDIX II: Voicing

Voiced Voiceless
b p
v f Voiced Voiceless
ð m
n
d t
ŋ
z s
w h
j
r
g k

24
 BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Barker, A. (1984). Introducing English Pronunciation.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (C. U. P.).
2. Beare, K. (2006). Http: // www. esl. about. com
Http: // www. esl. about. com/ library/ grammar/ blgr
contractions. htm. 6 February 2006.
3. Daucer, R. M. (2002). Accurate English. Tp Ho Chi Minh:
NXB tp Ho Chi Minh.
4. Essberger, J. (1997). http: //www. englishclub. com
5. Geis, M. L. (1995). Speech acts and conversational
Interaction. Cambridge: C. U. P.
6. Gilbert, J. B. (2000). Clear speech - Pronunciation and
listening comprehension in North American English. Tp Ho
Chi Minh: NXB tp Ho Chi Minh.
7. Gimson, A. C. (1980). An introduction to pronunciation of
English. Edward Arnold.
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