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When I look up some dictionaries, the pronunciation of the word 'deduce' is /dɪˈduːs/, but it is pronounced as duh·doos ([dəˈduːs]). Is there a rule when to pronounce the vowel /ɪ/ like that?

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1 Answers1

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Dictionaries use phonemic transcriptions i.e. only contrastive sounds, not how native speakers actually speak. The word deduce is pronounced differently in both British and American English:

  • American: /dɪˈduːs/ (di-DOOS)
  • British: /dɪˈdjuːs/ (di-DYOOS)

The first syllable of deduce is unstressed whereas the second one is stressed (i.e. the strongest syllable). It's very common in spoken English to reduce unstressed /ɪ/ to a schwa sound (in certain words). The IPA symbol for schwa is ə (the sound at the end of commA). That's why most speakers pronounce it duh-DOOS/ duh-DYOOS. (In most British accents, you'll also hear the second syllable pronounced with a 'J' sound because of assimilation.)

You will also hear behind, behave, behaviour etc., pronounced with [bə-] (read this answer on Linguistics SE).

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    That's a very important fact for any English learner to understand. Most English speakers reduce most of their unstressed vowels to some central vowel, usually represented as schwa /ə/. They may think they're pronouncing something else (usually a letter) but in fact it's schwa. Don't believe what native speakers tell you about pronunciation. They never learned it in school. – John Lawler Jul 17 '21 at 17:28
  • @JohnLawler That's decidedly an AmE phenomenon (the schwa-ification of vowels), not English in general. – J... Jul 18 '21 at 07:00
  • @J... I don't quite agree. There are accents that don't reduce vowels as much, but most UK accents do it as much as American accents. – trlkly Jul 18 '21 at 07:08
  • Technically, even /ɪ/ is usually reduction of closer and/or more front vowels like /e/, /ɛ/, or /i/. – trlkly Jul 18 '21 at 07:12
  • @trlkly I mean specifically reduction to schwa (ie: the total elimination of enunciation, not just a softer enunciation) – J... Jul 18 '21 at 07:14
  • @J... Happens here in Australian English. For instance, I've looked at texts that use /ɨ/ for certain reduced vowels and thought, "Nah, I can't discern any difference between that and /ə/." (Incidentally, Wikipedia ascribes /ɨ/ to American English!) Anyway, I think you might be overlooking John's point. Reduced vowels being collectively represented as /ə/ is probably a broad transcription. A narrow transcription could be more precise, but it's not essential. – Tim Pederick Jul 18 '21 at 07:52
  • You seem to be saying that the word is commonly pronounced as "duh-DOOS" in American English, rather than "dee-DOOS". As a native speaker of American English who has listened to many different speakers of American English from all across the country, I can legitimately say that I've never heard the former "duh" pronunciation, nor have I ever been tempted to use it. I'm therefore very skeptical of this claim. – Cody Gray - on strike Jul 18 '21 at 09:19
  • @CodyGray AmE accents vary quite a bit. "duh-DOOS" you'll hear generally in accents that have other schwas, like reducing "the" /ði/ to /ðə/. (Think Kansas, etc). – J... Jul 18 '21 at 09:38
  • What you see in British English is not the reduction of /ɪ/ to /ə/. It's variation between /ɪ/ and /ə/. The latter is not an allophone of the former. – Araucaria - Not here any more. Jul 18 '21 at 22:52