Smoothing/ levelling

Phonological process due to

economy of effort
 Im tired of this. Hes a liar

and hell lie again as soon as

he has a chance.

If I had enough power Id fire

him and hire someone else.

In different societies, reliable statistics show

that the higher the standard of education, the

lower the rate of unemployment.

 Levelling, also known as smoothing, is a
phonological process due to economy of effort that
takes place in rapid colloquial speech. It takes place
when closing (front or back) diphthongs are
followed by //. The second element of the diphthong
(// or /U/) is dropped/elided and, to compensate for
the loss of this sound, the first element is slightly
lengthened. The diphthong, therefore, is levelled to a
pure vowel.

Levelling is a form of reduction, a form of

compression. In slower more formal speech, however,
the full diphthongs are realised.

Levellling may take place within a word, at

morpheme boundary or at word boundary.
 /e / / / [e:]
layer greyer he may arrive
mayor player the other way around
bricklayer they are here
conveyor
payer
// / / [ :]
diet liar buy another.
fire drier high and low
wire higher its dry again
society buyer why are we
tyre*
shire*
iron

/// [: ]
royal employer boy and girl
loyal enjoyable to employ a person
lawyer joyous to destroy another
we enjoy a good
 /aU/ / / [: ]
flour nowadays now and then
flower how about
sour
shower
tower

U/ / / [:]

Noah mower I know about .

slower Borrow another
grower Go away!
lower
rower
PRACTICE:
Why dont we go away and hire a nice
house near a beach. We could buy a car. I
know a man who may have found one for
the Smiths.
There was this terrible fire when the electric
wires caught fire and all the tyres were
destroyed.
I know I borrowed some flour yesterday, but
could I borrow a cup of sour cream today?
If these showers continue, the flowers will
get soaked and we wont find any buyers.
 The players can play a fantastic game but
today a good game was lost because of
them. We know the coach wont say a word!

Now and then that boy at the corner will start

being a nuisance but will go away as soon as
the police appear.

Could you push the mower a bit slower round

the flower beds? The grass seems to be
drier there. How about going this way
around?