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    Repairing the outcome of vowel reduction
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    Vowel reduction results in an ill-formed or less favoured phonological configuration in case it affects 1) a word-initial vowel, 2) a vowel following /h/, 3) a vowel in a closed syllable and in a syllable with a complex onset. A configuration of schwa 1) in word-initial position, 2) following /h/, 3) in a closed syllable and in a syllable with a complex onset is in need of some sort of 'repair'. The repair strategies employed are the subject of this topic.

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    [+]Repairing the reduction of a word-initial vowel.

    Since a word cannot begin with schwa, a word-initial vowel cannot reduce, which is illustrated in (1):

    1
    Examples of words with unreducable, initial vowels
    a'part /apat/ separate; unusual [*əpat]
    a'kasia /aka:zia/ acacia [*əka:zija]
    i'dee /ide:/ idea [*əde:]
    I'daard /ida:d/ name of a village [*əda:t]
    al'tyd /ɔltid/ always [*əltit]
    oe'ral /urɔl/ (< /uərɔl/ ) upset, shaken [*ərɔl]
    oe'rémis /ure:məs/ (< /uəre:məs/ ) excited; elated [*əre:məs]

    Vowel reduction, however, appears to be such a forceful process that some unstressed, short, word-initial vowels did undergo reduction. The resulting schwa, however, could not endure in word-initial position, for it was replaced by a short full vowel. Some examples of this are given in (2):

    2
    Examples of loanwords with an initial full vowel which replaced a reduced vowel
    e'noarm /e:nwarm/ enormous → [ə] noarm → [i/o/u] noarm
    o'ranje /o:rɔnjə/ orange, amber → [ə] ranje → [u] ranje
    e'gaal /e:ɡa:l/ even → [ə] gaal → [i] gaal

    Another possibility is that j /j/ was inserted before schwa, see (3):

    3
    Examples of loanwords with /j/ preceding a reduced vowel
    Eu'ropa /øəro:pa/ Europe → [ə] ropa → [jə] ropa
    e'staal /ɛsta:l/ (< 'etalon ) sample → [ə] staal → [jə] staal

    But schwa could also delete, as in the words in (4):

    4
    Loanwords with a deleted reduced vowel
    attrap'pearje /atrapjɛrjə/ catch in the act → [ə] trappearje → trappearje
    e'klips /e:klɪps/ eclipse → [ə] klips → klips
    extra

    The form klips mainly shows up in the compounds moanne#klips eclipse of the moon, sinne#klips eclipse of the sun and klips#rym short verse containing a clever play on words.

    There is one case, see (5), where the reduced vowel was replaced with the non-native affix eks-:

    5
    Loanword in which the reduced initial vowel is replaced with the non-native affix eks-
    a'strant
    /astrɔnt/
    cheeky, sassy
    →
    [ə]
    strant
    →
    [ɛks]
    trant

    So, although there is a strong tendency for short, unstressed vowels to reduce − in whichever position − the ban on word-initial schwa appears to be stronger.

    [+]Repairing the reduction of a vowel following /h/

    /h/ only precedes vowels (see the glottal fricative /h/), but not schwa, so a vowel following /h/ cannot reduce. This means that the highlighted vowels in the words in (6) cannot, and do not, undergo reduction:

    6
    Examples of words with the initial sequence /h/ + short full vowel
    ha'meie / homeie (drive) gate
    ha'byt habit
    ha'boes here's to you!
    he'raut herald
    hy'draulysk hydraulic
    his'toarje history; story
    hoe'ra hurray, hooray, hurrah

    Though a vowel is more reduction-prone in an open than in a closed syllable, reduction does not occur here. Neither does it in the words in (7):

    7
    More examples of words with the initial sequence /h/ + short full vowel
    ham'boai oboe
    har'moanika accordion; harmonika
    her'foarming reformation
    her'metysk hermetic
    hor'loazje watch
    hor'tinsje hydrangea

    Schwa would end up in a closed syllable here, which is a less favoured configuration. However, the coda consonant is /m/ or /r/, both of which belong to the set of unmarked schwa codas (see schwa). This means that the impossibility of vowel reduction here is solely to be ascribed to the presence of /h/.

    In this case as well, vowel reduction appears to be such a forceful process that some unstressed, short vowels following /h/ did undergo reduction. But the resulting configuration was repaired, which was achieved in various ways, as illustrated in (8):

    8
    Examples of the repair of the sequence /hə/
    a. By replacing schwa with a short full vowel
    horloazje watch → [hər] loazje → [hə] loazje → [ha] lloazje (~ [a] lloazje )
    hortinsje hydrangea → [hər] tinsje → [hə] tinsje → [ha] ttinsje → [a] ttinsje
    b. By deleting /h/ and by replacing remaining word-initial schwa with a full vowel
    horribel horrible → [hər] ribel → [hə] ribel → [ə] ribel → [u] ribel
    c. By deleting the word-initial sequence /hə/
    histoarje history; story → [hə] stoarje → stoarje
    d. eks-
    histoarje history; story → [hə] stoarje → [ɛks] stoarje
    extra

    In case schwa is replaced with the full vowel /a/, preceding /h/ may delete (see the glottal fricative /h/), as the examples in (8a) show.

    extra

    The personal pronoun him /hɪm/ him has the reduced variant em /əm/, as in dat ha'k em [hakm̩] ferteld that I have told him. In this case, the forbidden sequence /hə/ is repaired by deletion of /h/. Confer the Dutch personal pronoun haar /ha:r/ her, which has the reduced variants er /ər/ and der /dər/, but not her /hər/!

    [+]Repairing the reduction of a vowel in a closed syllable and in a syllable with a complex onset

    If the full vowel of a syllable with a single onset and a single coda undergoes reduction, schwa ends up in a less favoured configuration. The single onset is fine, less so is the fact that schwa is in a closed syllable. There are words in which the latter configuration is repaired by moving the coda consonant to the onset. It is especially with /r/ that this movement took place, and predominantly in loanwords. Examples are given in (9):

    9
    Examples of /r/ moving from coda to onset in a syllable with a reduced vowel
    kar'biel jack-rafter → [kər] biel ~ [krə] biel
    kar'wei job, chore → [kər] wei ~ [krə] wei
    par'fors absolutely → [pər] foarst ~ [prə] foarst
    bar'bier barber → [bər] bier ~ [brə] bier
    ter'myn convulsion, spasm → [tər] myn ~ [trə] myn
    oppera'teur bell-wether, ringleader → op [pər] teur ~ op [prə] teur
    ker'bintich stiff (with old age) → [kər] bintich ~ [krə] bintich
    ker'bûstich windy, blustery → [kər] bûstich ~ [krə] bûstich

    Moving /r/ from coda to onset resulted in an open syllable, which is an improvement. At the same time, however, the schwa syllable acquired a complex onset, which is a change for the worse, even though the onset has the ideal shape of obstruent + liquid. There are, so to speak, conflicting interests here. This may be the very reason that moving /r/ was not obligatory, so that forms which do and do not show the traces of it occur side by side, as shown by the doublets in (9). Here as well, vowel reduction manifests itself as a forceful, virtually inescapable process.

    If the full vowel of a syllable with a complex onset (obstruent + liquid) undergoes reduction, schwa also ends up in a less favoured configuration, for in the unmarked case a schwa syllable does not begin with a consonant cluster. There are words ‒ only loanwords in this case ‒ in which this was repaired by moving the right-most onset consonant to the coda. Examples are given in (10):

    10
    Examples of a liquid moving from the complex onset to the coda in a syllable with a reduced vowel
    a. From a complex onset with /r/ as right-hand member
    pro'bearje to try → [prə] bearje ~ [pər] bearje
    pro'sint per cent, percent → [prə] sint ~ [pər] sint
    pro'fessor professor → [prə] fester ~ [pər] fester
    ynstru'mint instrument → yns [trə] mint ~ ys [tər] mint
    distri'búsje distribution → dis [trə] búsje ~ dis [tər] búsje
    agre'mint garnish, ornament → ak [krə] mint ~ ak [kər] mint
    à pro'pos apropos → ap [prə] po ~ ap [pər] po
    b. From a complex onset with /l/ as right-hand member
    suppli'ant supplicant → sup [plə] jant ~ sup [pəl] jant
    employ'earje to employ → ym [plə] earje ~ ym [pəl] earje
    bible'teek library → bi [blə] teek ~ bi [bəl] teek

    Moving the liquid from onset to coda results in an onset occupied by a single consonant, which is an improvement. At the same time, however, the schwa syllable acquires a coda, a change for the worse. Here as well there appear to be conflicting interests, and here as well this may be the reason that moving the liquid is not obligatory, which results in doublets.

    In both cases, vowel reduction creates a schwa syllable. The latter, however, has to accommodate more consonants than it does in the unmarked case. Such a situation is best remedied by the deletion of /r/, especially when /r/ is in the syllable coda, since this results in an open syllable. This is what occurs in a fair number of (loan)words, as illustrated by the examples in (11) (see /r/-deletion for the deletion of /r/ in general):

    11
    Examples of words with a deleted coda-/r/
    portret portrait → [pər] tret → [pə] tret
    probearje to try → [prə] bearje → [pər] bearje → p [ə] bearje
    kwartier quarter → [kwər] tier → [kwə] tier (→ [kə] tier )
    akkordearje to agree → ak [kər] dearje → ak [kə] dearje
    operateur bell-wether → op [pə] [rə] teur → op [pər] teur → op [pə] teur
    sekretaris secretary → sik [krə] taris → sik [kər] taris → sik [kə] taris (→ siktaris )
    porslein china(ware) → [pər] slein → [pə] slein
    grifformeard Reformed → grif [fər] meard → grif [fə] meard
    extra

    Although both liquids can undergo movement, this happens far more often to /r/ than it does to /l/. This is nicely illustrated by the (loan)word flu'wiel velvet, with the reduced variant f [lə]wiel, which in its turn has the variant f [ər]wiel, in which /l/, in moving from onset to coda, has turned into /r/. See also kolo'nel colonel, with the variant kernel. The change from /r/ to /l/ is not attested. This asymmetry may have to do with the fact that /r/ has a centralizing effect on a preceding vowel, which /l/ has not. Though schwa is an indeterminate, minimally specified vowel, it does have a central position in the vowel space, so that schwa and /r/ go together well. /r/ has a stronger centralizing effect on a preceding than on a following vowel. Within one and the same syllable, /r/ and a preceding vowel belong to one and the same constituent, viz. the rhyme, whereas /r/ and a following vowel belong to different constituents, viz. the onset and the rhyme. This may explain why movement of /r/ from onset to coda (see (10)) is more common than the other way around (see (9)).

    extra

    Since a schwa syllable prefers to have a sonorant consonant as a coda, vowel reduction in words like kompin'saasje compensation, pavil'joen pavilion and amal'gaam amalgam ought to be more likely than in words like anek'doate anecdote and adop'tearje to adopt. This, however, runs counter to fact (though reduction in adoptearje gives a slightly worse result). In the native words trepp [ət] teapot (from the compound trek#pot, the literal meaning of which is brewing pot) and jitt [ək] vinegar, reduction resulted in a schwa syllable with a voiceless plosive as a coda, a highly disfavoured configuration. Apparently, vowel reduction does not always result in optimal phonological structures.

    extra

    If a word is always realized with a reduced vowel, it may be assumed that this schwa has become part of the underlying representation. The original full vowel, however, may still show up in derived forms. Examples are mande ['mɔndə], which occurs in the fixed collocation yn 'e mande jointly, communally, together and as the left-hand member of a few nominal compounds, like mande#guod common property and mande#lân common land, and grouwel ['ɡrɔ.wəl] horror, next to which stand mandélich [mɔn'de:ləx] common, communal and grouwélich [ɡrɔ.w've:ləx] horrible, gruesome. Confer the Dutch nouns genie [ʒə'ni] genius and minister [mi'nɪstər] minister with the derivatives geniaal [ɣe:ni'ja:l] brilliant and ministerieel [ministɪ.ri'je:l] ministerial.

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      About this article
      Author(s): Willem Visser
      Category: Frisian Phonology
      Keywords: vowel reductionrepair strategies
      Version: 1.0, December 2015
      Version history:
      version editor(s) date remarks
      1.0 Willem Visser December 2015
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