Sounds in unstressed syllables are frequently weakened, for instance by shortenings, elisions, etc.

Because grammatical words (words that do not have a dictionary meaning in the way we normally expect nouns adj, and adverbs to have are usually unstressed, their reduced or weak pronunciation are very frequent, even more than the strong form. But not all grammatical words have an alternation between weak and strong pronunciation. !or instance, only monosyllabic grammatical words my have a weak form. "hanges affecting grammatical words are systematic since they follow general language rules and properties of sounds. !or instance, the more centralised a vowel. #he weaker it is. #he greatest weakening for any sound is the elision. ($arcia and %aidment &oach' (sually a speaker can be understood even if he is not using weak forms so why is it important) !irstly, because native speaker will find an *all+strong+form* pronunciation unnatural and foreing+sounding, something that learner may want toavoid. Secondly, speakers who are not familiar with the use of weak forms are likely to have difficulty understanding speakers who do use weak forms. ,-./0 "123$/S .eakening makes all vowel move to the centre of the vowel space. #hey will first move to the central vowel quality nearest to their original one. .hen a vowel is already weak (as in *could* it can stay unchaged or it may be further weakened to a schwa. "-3S-323# "123$/S "onsonant change are not an intrinsic part of weak forms but an optional in a scale of weakening which depends on the speech register that is used. 4h4 my be elided if it is not at the beginning of the utterance (following a potential pause 4d4 4t4 may be elided when at the end of a word and preceded by another consontant. #he S#&-3$ !-&% is used in the following cases' (&oach 5 when thy occur AT THE END of a sentence. /xpect for' she6 he6 we6 you6 him6 her' them6 us, which do occur in weak forms in final position. 7 .hen a weak+form word is being CONTRASTED with another word. *the letter from him, not to him* 8 CO-ORDINATED USE OF PREPOSITIONS' *9 travel to and from 0ondon* *2 work of and about literature* : .hen a weak+form word is given stress for the purpose of EMPHASIS. *;ou must give me more money* < .hen a weak from word is being cited or quoted. *;ou shouldn*t put *and* at the end of a sentence.* !rom $arcia y %aidment 9 chose other reasons why weak or strong should be used. ( 5 in the following grammatical structures the strong forms will be used. *#hat*s the picture 9 was looking at* *you were later than 9 was this morning.* * 1e can sing well, bit 9 can too*

*She is more younger than 9 am* #he reason is that a word which normally follows the italic+word preposition or auxiliary verb has either been deleted or moved to some other position in the sentence, leaving the auxiliary or preposition behind. #he auxiliary or preposition is said to be stranded. 2n exception is when *have* is immediately preceded by another auxiliary (can*t, could etc . 9n this case the weak form will be used even though *have* is stranded. 7 #here are some word in which their use of the weak or strong form is determined by their function. 'her' 1) as possessive adjective 4h4 is not dropped as in 'this is her car' 7 as personal pronoun a *schwa* may be used as in ' it belongs to her' Just /d st/ /d s/ 5 *only* or simply* as in *I just told her the truth' WEAK 2) *precisely* or *exactly* as in *9 arrived just in time* is usually stressed so it*s S#&-3$ 8 *2 short time ago* or *a shot time before* as in *9*ve just seen him* it can be ./2= if unstressed or S#&-3$ if stressed. Some /sm/ /sm/ /sm/ S#&-3$ 5 .hen it precedes countable singular nouns and it means *a certain* in 'some animal was shot' 'some girl talked to me on the phone' 7 when it precedes certain non+countable noun and means *a considerable amount of* in * I ha en't seen !ou for some time' 8 .hen used as a pronoun as in *"ome bo!s ran* or 'I bought some' #) 'part of a whole* in which is usually stressed and strong, *9 met some (but not all of the people at the party. ./2= 5 *9 need some money* 4sm/ That //t/ /t/

S#&-3$' Ad ecti!e or "ro#oun *that boy is sad* ./2=' re$%ti!e "ro#oun or co# u#ctio# *$e's the man that I was talking about' %pronoun) 'I know that !ou ha e a bike' %conjunction) There /e/ //

S#&-3$' Ad!er& *9 bought it there* ./2=' as an e'iste#ti%$ co#structio# *#here is* () Co#structed #e*%ti!e +or,s : >ossessive nouns such as yours, his, hers never used in weak forms < .ords such as' on, off, up out, round while (as grammatical words do not have a weak form.