ABSTRACT
1. Phonological reduction in English is well documented, under this very term or others, for instance in A.C. Gimson's standard reference work on English pronunciation (1980: 234ff, 261ff). In numerous studies dealing with this phenomenon, reduction implies a process in which a form or set of forms undergoes change with respect to certain phonetic features. This processual approach will be followed here, too. 1 The changes that occur are a matter of degree, as may be illustrated by [juː - jʊ - jə], a case in which the height and backness of the vowel are affected, or by [ızntıt - ınnı?] (isn't it) in which, traditionally speaking, place and manner of articulation are affected and one element, the first /t/, is deleted altogether.
