Relaxed pronunciation

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Relaxed pronunciation (also called condensed pronunciation or word slurs) is a phenomenon that happens when the syllables of common words are slurred together. It is almost always present in normal speech, in all natural languages (not in some constructed languages such as Loglan or Lojban, which are designed so that all words are parsable).

Some shortened forms of words and phrases, such as contractions or weak forms can be considered to derive from relaxed pronunciations, but a phrase with a relaxed pronunciation is not the same as a contraction. In English, where contractions are common, they are considered part of the standard language and accordingly used in many contexts (except on very formal speech or in formal/legal writing); however, relaxed pronunciation is markedly informal in register. This is also sometimes reflected in writing: contractions have a standard written form, but relaxed pronunciations may not, outside of dialect spelling.

Certain relaxed pronunciations occur only in specific grammatical contexts, the exact understanding of which can be complicated. See trace (linguistics) for some further info.

English

The following sections contain common words said with relaxed pronunciation in American English, along with pronunciations given in IPA, and a common written indication of this pronunciation where applicable:

Of, have, and to

The words of, to, and have all tend to elide to nothing more than a schwa [ə] in many common situations. This sometimes leads to spelling confusion, such as writing "I could of..." instead of "I could have..." or "I could've".

You

"You" tends to elide to [jə] (often written "ya"); softening of the preceding consonant also may occur: (/t/ + /jə/ = [tʃə], and /d/ + /jə/ = [dʒə])

• did you: [ˈdɪdʒə], didja
• did you / do you: [ˈdʒə], d'ya
• don't you: [ˈdoʊntʃə], doncha
• got you: [ˈɡɑtʃə], gotcha
• get you / get your: [ˈɡɛtʃə], getcha
• would you: [ˈwʊdʒə], wouldja

Other

• give me: [ˈɡɪmi], gimme
• is he: [ˈɪzi], izee
• is it: [zɪt], ’zit
• isn't it: innit
• let me: [ˈlɛmi], lemme
• don't know: [dəˈnoʊ], dunno
• probably: [ˈpɹɑli], probly
• want a: [ˈwɑɾ̃ə], wanna
• what is that: [ˌwʌˈsæt], wussat
• what is up: [wəˈsʌp], wassup
• what is up: [sʌp], ’sup
• what are you: [ˈwʌtʃə], whatcha
• what do you: [ˈwʌɾəjə], whaddaya
• you all: [jɑl], y’all

Dutch

• kweenie = Ik weet het niet ("I don't know")

Examples of the Dutch as spoken in the Netherlands include:

• der = de hare ("hers")
• ie = hij ("he"), often used in phrases such as dattie for dat hij ("that he")
• amme = aan mijn ("on / to my"), for example in ammezolen for aan mijn zolen ("not on your life")

Often, especially in Belgian Dutch, the -t at the end of the word is omitted.

• nie = niet
• da = dat For example, kweet da nie = Ik weet dat niet ("I don't know that")

Russian

The most notable example in Russian language is the greeting здравствуйте ([ˈzdrastvujtʲɪ]), which is colloquially pronounced [ˈzdrastʲɪ]. Other examples include:

• меня [mʲɪˈnʲa] → мя [mʲa] ('me')
• сейчас [sʲɪjˈtɕas] → ща [ɕɕa] ('now')
• что [ʂto] → чё [tɕo] ('what')
• когда [kɐˈɡda] → када [kɐˈda] ('when')

French

Among other relaxed pronunciations, tu as (you have) is frequently elided to t'as in colloquial French. The same with je suis (I am) to j'suis or ch'uis (very informal, or regional), and je (ne) sais pas (I don't know) to ch'ais pas (very informal, or regional). Moreover, most of the negative forms ne or n' are lost in non-formal discussion. The expression, "Qu'est-ce que..." is little used in colloquial speech for forming the interrogative, but when it is, in very informal use, it is shortened:

"Qu'est-ce que tu veux ?" becomes... "Qu'est-c'tu veux ?"

"Qu'est-ce que tu as dit?" becomes... "Qu'est-c't'as dit?"

Spanish

The most notable example is Chilean Spanish.

Forms of the verb estar ("to be") are often shortened by dropping the first syllable (as if the verb were *tar).

• Acá está. → Acá ta. ("Here it is", joking tone or baby-talk)

The preposition para ("for", "in order to") can be shortened to pa' (this sounds uneducated in most dialects):

• Pa' servirle. (lit. "To serve you", i. e. "At your service".)
• No es pa' cualquiera. ("It is not for anyone.")

The d in the final -ado of past participles is usually pronounced softly, and, in relaxed pronunciation, can disappear: Estoy cansado ("I am tired") is heard as Toy cansao. Doing so with the final -ido, as in *Toy perdío ("I am lost"), is perceived as more uneducated. This can lead to hypercorrections like *bacalado instead of bacalao ("cod").

The preposition de ("of") also tends to get shortened to e when the previous word ends in a vowel.

In many dialects, the very common phrase voy a + infinitive ("I'm going to..."), which shows the immediate future tense, is shortened: some people pronounce vua /bwa/, others via /bja/. This is quite common but also considered uneducated.

Some dialects like Andalusian Spanish lose the syllable-final s. Since it is important as a mark of plurals, it is substituted with vowel opening.

The contractions:

para + el = pal

para + la = pala

para + los = palos

para + las = palas

para + donde = paonde

para + allá = payá o pacá

Or the common pa'que from para que.

Portuguese

Examples:

tá = está ([it/she/he] is)

'vambora = vamos embora (let's go)

'bora = vamos embora (let's go)

pra, pa = para (to)

cê = você (you)

home = homem (man)

vô = vou (I will)

portuga, tuga = português (both for the Portuguese people and language)

para + o = pro -further contraction-> po

para + a = pra -> pa

para + os = pros -> pos

para + as = pras -> pas

In some dialects, que (that) is reduced to the "q" sound:

que + a = q'a

que + o = q'o

que + ela = q'ela (that she)

que + ele = q'ele (that he)

que + é = q'é (that is)

que + foi = q'foi (that was), etc...

Japanese

Japanese can undergo some vowel deletion or consonant mutation in relaxed speech. While these are common occurrences in the formation of some regular words, typically after the syllables ku or tsu, as in 学校 gakkō (学 gaku + 校 kō) "school" or 出発 shuppatsu (出 shutsu + 発 hatsu) "departure", in rapid speech, these changes can appear in words that did not have them before, such as suizokkan for suizokukan 水族馆 "aquarium." Additionally, the syllables ra, ri, ru, re and ro sometimes become simply n or when they occur before another syllable beginning with n or d, and disappear entirely before syllabic n. This can happen within a word or between words, such as 分かんない wakannai "I dunno" for 分からない wakaranai "I don't know" or もう来てんだよ mō kite n da yo "they're already here" for もう来ているんだよ mō kite iru n da yo.

Relaxed pronunciation also makes use of several contractions.

Turkish

Examples:

• Ne haber? (What's up?)→ N'aber?
• Ne oluyor? (What's going on?) → N'oluyor?
• Ne yapıyorsun? (What are you doing?) → N'apıyorsun?
  • This can further be reduced → N'apıyon

In all of these cases, the pronounced length of the initial vowel is slightly extended, though in the case of "napıyon" the terminal vowel maintains its initial length or, if anything, is shortened.

Urdu

In Urdu, it is common to skip the sound of 'h (ہ)' in normal speaking. Like saying "AAP Kahan Ja Rahay Hain آپ کہاں جا رہے ہیں۔" will be pronounced in this way (Aap Kan Ja Rayan آپ کاں جا رے ایں).

See also

• Elision
• Register (linguistics)
• Syncope (phonetics)
• Vowel reduction

External links

• Complete list of words said with Relaxed Pronunciation - also includes contractions