Pronounciation of rebut












0














According to the Mac OS X's built-in dictionary app, the pronunciation of the word "rebut" is "rəˈbət". It is also the case on this site: https://vocabulary-words.com/rebut/



Shouldn't it be "rɪˈbʌt" instead?










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    I agree that the first syllable should have /ɪ/, not /ə/. I don’t think this is a case of the archephoneme /ɨ/ (as in roses or enough). The second syllable is just a matter of transcription, though. /ʌ/ never appears in unstressed syllables and /ə/ never in stressed ones, so some (American) systems consider /ʌ/ the stressed variant of /ə/ and write them both as /ə/.
    – Janus Bahs Jacquet
    16 hours ago










  • The built in dictionary you’re referencing is probably the New Oxford American Dictionary.
    – Laurel
    16 hours ago
















0














According to the Mac OS X's built-in dictionary app, the pronunciation of the word "rebut" is "rəˈbət". It is also the case on this site: https://vocabulary-words.com/rebut/



Shouldn't it be "rɪˈbʌt" instead?










share|improve this question







New contributor




bigfoot is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
















  • 1




    I agree that the first syllable should have /ɪ/, not /ə/. I don’t think this is a case of the archephoneme /ɨ/ (as in roses or enough). The second syllable is just a matter of transcription, though. /ʌ/ never appears in unstressed syllables and /ə/ never in stressed ones, so some (American) systems consider /ʌ/ the stressed variant of /ə/ and write them both as /ə/.
    – Janus Bahs Jacquet
    16 hours ago










  • The built in dictionary you’re referencing is probably the New Oxford American Dictionary.
    – Laurel
    16 hours ago














0












0








0


1





According to the Mac OS X's built-in dictionary app, the pronunciation of the word "rebut" is "rəˈbət". It is also the case on this site: https://vocabulary-words.com/rebut/



Shouldn't it be "rɪˈbʌt" instead?










share|improve this question







New contributor




bigfoot is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.











According to the Mac OS X's built-in dictionary app, the pronunciation of the word "rebut" is "rəˈbət". It is also the case on this site: https://vocabulary-words.com/rebut/



Shouldn't it be "rɪˈbʌt" instead?







pronunciation






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asked 18 hours ago









bigfoot

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  • 1




    I agree that the first syllable should have /ɪ/, not /ə/. I don’t think this is a case of the archephoneme /ɨ/ (as in roses or enough). The second syllable is just a matter of transcription, though. /ʌ/ never appears in unstressed syllables and /ə/ never in stressed ones, so some (American) systems consider /ʌ/ the stressed variant of /ə/ and write them both as /ə/.
    – Janus Bahs Jacquet
    16 hours ago










  • The built in dictionary you’re referencing is probably the New Oxford American Dictionary.
    – Laurel
    16 hours ago














  • 1




    I agree that the first syllable should have /ɪ/, not /ə/. I don’t think this is a case of the archephoneme /ɨ/ (as in roses or enough). The second syllable is just a matter of transcription, though. /ʌ/ never appears in unstressed syllables and /ə/ never in stressed ones, so some (American) systems consider /ʌ/ the stressed variant of /ə/ and write them both as /ə/.
    – Janus Bahs Jacquet
    16 hours ago










  • The built in dictionary you’re referencing is probably the New Oxford American Dictionary.
    – Laurel
    16 hours ago








1




1




I agree that the first syllable should have /ɪ/, not /ə/. I don’t think this is a case of the archephoneme /ɨ/ (as in roses or enough). The second syllable is just a matter of transcription, though. /ʌ/ never appears in unstressed syllables and /ə/ never in stressed ones, so some (American) systems consider /ʌ/ the stressed variant of /ə/ and write them both as /ə/.
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
16 hours ago




I agree that the first syllable should have /ɪ/, not /ə/. I don’t think this is a case of the archephoneme /ɨ/ (as in roses or enough). The second syllable is just a matter of transcription, though. /ʌ/ never appears in unstressed syllables and /ə/ never in stressed ones, so some (American) systems consider /ʌ/ the stressed variant of /ə/ and write them both as /ə/.
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
16 hours ago












The built in dictionary you’re referencing is probably the New Oxford American Dictionary.
– Laurel
16 hours ago




The built in dictionary you’re referencing is probably the New Oxford American Dictionary.
– Laurel
16 hours ago










1 Answer
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oldest

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The "weak vowel merger": unstressed /ɪ/ often can be /ə/



In fully unstressed syllables, many English speakers don't have a clear distinction between /ə/ and /ɪ/. This has been called the "weak vowel merger". Most transcriptions of American English include the weak vowel merger, and generally transcribe the merged vowel as /ə/.



There are a few contexts where /ɪ/ is typically transcribed even in American English, though, like in the ending -ic as in the word static. I'm not to what extent this is predictable from the phonological context. In the context of Australian English, which is also supposed to show this merger, Cox and Palethorpe (2018) say "/ɪ/ is typically retained in suffixes
like -ish, -ic, -ism, -ing, and /ɪ/ often still occurs when the
following consonant is postalveolar or velar but this could
possibly be considered allophonic (or free variation) e.g.
paddock, stomach, beverage, manage" (p. 89).



Another complication is that some speakers who have this merger do use somewhat different qualities on average for word-final and non-word-final /ə/, and the word-final quality is retained even when a consonant like /z/ or /d/ is added by inflection. For speakers with this kind of "Rosa's" vs. "Roses" distinction, non-word-final schwa tends to be phonetically closer/higher than word-final schwa.



The complementary distribution of /ə/ and /ʌ/



In primary-stressed syllables, many English speakers don't have any distinction at all between /ə/ and /ʌ/. (Other speakers do report distinguishing stressed /ə/ and /ʌ/, e.g. in just "only" /ˈdʒəst/ vs. dust /ˈdʌst/.) If we assume that non-primary-stressed syllables containing /ʌ/ always have some kind of secondary or minor stress, then /ə/ and /ʌ/ are in complementary distribution for these speakers as long as we specify the stress pattern of a word.



This can be analyzed in different ways. One common way is to say that the phoneme /ə/ is phonologically restricted to unstressed syllables. But we could also say that /ə/ and /ʌ/ are not in fact distinct phonemes for these speakers.



Even if we don't actually adopt that viewpoint as a matter of technical analysis, the complementary distribution of /ə/ and /ʌ/ in the accents of these speakers means that we can unambiguously transcribe the phoneme /ʌ/ with the symbol "ə". Dictionary authors might choose to do this to reduce the number of unfamiliar symbols in their transcription scheme. I think that the symbol "ə" is more widely recognized than the symbol "ʌ", and most dictionaries are designed for a non-expert audience.






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    1 Answer
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    active

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    2














    The "weak vowel merger": unstressed /ɪ/ often can be /ə/



    In fully unstressed syllables, many English speakers don't have a clear distinction between /ə/ and /ɪ/. This has been called the "weak vowel merger". Most transcriptions of American English include the weak vowel merger, and generally transcribe the merged vowel as /ə/.



    There are a few contexts where /ɪ/ is typically transcribed even in American English, though, like in the ending -ic as in the word static. I'm not to what extent this is predictable from the phonological context. In the context of Australian English, which is also supposed to show this merger, Cox and Palethorpe (2018) say "/ɪ/ is typically retained in suffixes
    like -ish, -ic, -ism, -ing, and /ɪ/ often still occurs when the
    following consonant is postalveolar or velar but this could
    possibly be considered allophonic (or free variation) e.g.
    paddock, stomach, beverage, manage" (p. 89).



    Another complication is that some speakers who have this merger do use somewhat different qualities on average for word-final and non-word-final /ə/, and the word-final quality is retained even when a consonant like /z/ or /d/ is added by inflection. For speakers with this kind of "Rosa's" vs. "Roses" distinction, non-word-final schwa tends to be phonetically closer/higher than word-final schwa.



    The complementary distribution of /ə/ and /ʌ/



    In primary-stressed syllables, many English speakers don't have any distinction at all between /ə/ and /ʌ/. (Other speakers do report distinguishing stressed /ə/ and /ʌ/, e.g. in just "only" /ˈdʒəst/ vs. dust /ˈdʌst/.) If we assume that non-primary-stressed syllables containing /ʌ/ always have some kind of secondary or minor stress, then /ə/ and /ʌ/ are in complementary distribution for these speakers as long as we specify the stress pattern of a word.



    This can be analyzed in different ways. One common way is to say that the phoneme /ə/ is phonologically restricted to unstressed syllables. But we could also say that /ə/ and /ʌ/ are not in fact distinct phonemes for these speakers.



    Even if we don't actually adopt that viewpoint as a matter of technical analysis, the complementary distribution of /ə/ and /ʌ/ in the accents of these speakers means that we can unambiguously transcribe the phoneme /ʌ/ with the symbol "ə". Dictionary authors might choose to do this to reduce the number of unfamiliar symbols in their transcription scheme. I think that the symbol "ə" is more widely recognized than the symbol "ʌ", and most dictionaries are designed for a non-expert audience.






    share|improve this answer




























      2














      The "weak vowel merger": unstressed /ɪ/ often can be /ə/



      In fully unstressed syllables, many English speakers don't have a clear distinction between /ə/ and /ɪ/. This has been called the "weak vowel merger". Most transcriptions of American English include the weak vowel merger, and generally transcribe the merged vowel as /ə/.



      There are a few contexts where /ɪ/ is typically transcribed even in American English, though, like in the ending -ic as in the word static. I'm not to what extent this is predictable from the phonological context. In the context of Australian English, which is also supposed to show this merger, Cox and Palethorpe (2018) say "/ɪ/ is typically retained in suffixes
      like -ish, -ic, -ism, -ing, and /ɪ/ often still occurs when the
      following consonant is postalveolar or velar but this could
      possibly be considered allophonic (or free variation) e.g.
      paddock, stomach, beverage, manage" (p. 89).



      Another complication is that some speakers who have this merger do use somewhat different qualities on average for word-final and non-word-final /ə/, and the word-final quality is retained even when a consonant like /z/ or /d/ is added by inflection. For speakers with this kind of "Rosa's" vs. "Roses" distinction, non-word-final schwa tends to be phonetically closer/higher than word-final schwa.



      The complementary distribution of /ə/ and /ʌ/



      In primary-stressed syllables, many English speakers don't have any distinction at all between /ə/ and /ʌ/. (Other speakers do report distinguishing stressed /ə/ and /ʌ/, e.g. in just "only" /ˈdʒəst/ vs. dust /ˈdʌst/.) If we assume that non-primary-stressed syllables containing /ʌ/ always have some kind of secondary or minor stress, then /ə/ and /ʌ/ are in complementary distribution for these speakers as long as we specify the stress pattern of a word.



      This can be analyzed in different ways. One common way is to say that the phoneme /ə/ is phonologically restricted to unstressed syllables. But we could also say that /ə/ and /ʌ/ are not in fact distinct phonemes for these speakers.



      Even if we don't actually adopt that viewpoint as a matter of technical analysis, the complementary distribution of /ə/ and /ʌ/ in the accents of these speakers means that we can unambiguously transcribe the phoneme /ʌ/ with the symbol "ə". Dictionary authors might choose to do this to reduce the number of unfamiliar symbols in their transcription scheme. I think that the symbol "ə" is more widely recognized than the symbol "ʌ", and most dictionaries are designed for a non-expert audience.






      share|improve this answer


























        2












        2








        2






        The "weak vowel merger": unstressed /ɪ/ often can be /ə/



        In fully unstressed syllables, many English speakers don't have a clear distinction between /ə/ and /ɪ/. This has been called the "weak vowel merger". Most transcriptions of American English include the weak vowel merger, and generally transcribe the merged vowel as /ə/.



        There are a few contexts where /ɪ/ is typically transcribed even in American English, though, like in the ending -ic as in the word static. I'm not to what extent this is predictable from the phonological context. In the context of Australian English, which is also supposed to show this merger, Cox and Palethorpe (2018) say "/ɪ/ is typically retained in suffixes
        like -ish, -ic, -ism, -ing, and /ɪ/ often still occurs when the
        following consonant is postalveolar or velar but this could
        possibly be considered allophonic (or free variation) e.g.
        paddock, stomach, beverage, manage" (p. 89).



        Another complication is that some speakers who have this merger do use somewhat different qualities on average for word-final and non-word-final /ə/, and the word-final quality is retained even when a consonant like /z/ or /d/ is added by inflection. For speakers with this kind of "Rosa's" vs. "Roses" distinction, non-word-final schwa tends to be phonetically closer/higher than word-final schwa.



        The complementary distribution of /ə/ and /ʌ/



        In primary-stressed syllables, many English speakers don't have any distinction at all between /ə/ and /ʌ/. (Other speakers do report distinguishing stressed /ə/ and /ʌ/, e.g. in just "only" /ˈdʒəst/ vs. dust /ˈdʌst/.) If we assume that non-primary-stressed syllables containing /ʌ/ always have some kind of secondary or minor stress, then /ə/ and /ʌ/ are in complementary distribution for these speakers as long as we specify the stress pattern of a word.



        This can be analyzed in different ways. One common way is to say that the phoneme /ə/ is phonologically restricted to unstressed syllables. But we could also say that /ə/ and /ʌ/ are not in fact distinct phonemes for these speakers.



        Even if we don't actually adopt that viewpoint as a matter of technical analysis, the complementary distribution of /ə/ and /ʌ/ in the accents of these speakers means that we can unambiguously transcribe the phoneme /ʌ/ with the symbol "ə". Dictionary authors might choose to do this to reduce the number of unfamiliar symbols in their transcription scheme. I think that the symbol "ə" is more widely recognized than the symbol "ʌ", and most dictionaries are designed for a non-expert audience.






        share|improve this answer














        The "weak vowel merger": unstressed /ɪ/ often can be /ə/



        In fully unstressed syllables, many English speakers don't have a clear distinction between /ə/ and /ɪ/. This has been called the "weak vowel merger". Most transcriptions of American English include the weak vowel merger, and generally transcribe the merged vowel as /ə/.



        There are a few contexts where /ɪ/ is typically transcribed even in American English, though, like in the ending -ic as in the word static. I'm not to what extent this is predictable from the phonological context. In the context of Australian English, which is also supposed to show this merger, Cox and Palethorpe (2018) say "/ɪ/ is typically retained in suffixes
        like -ish, -ic, -ism, -ing, and /ɪ/ often still occurs when the
        following consonant is postalveolar or velar but this could
        possibly be considered allophonic (or free variation) e.g.
        paddock, stomach, beverage, manage" (p. 89).



        Another complication is that some speakers who have this merger do use somewhat different qualities on average for word-final and non-word-final /ə/, and the word-final quality is retained even when a consonant like /z/ or /d/ is added by inflection. For speakers with this kind of "Rosa's" vs. "Roses" distinction, non-word-final schwa tends to be phonetically closer/higher than word-final schwa.



        The complementary distribution of /ə/ and /ʌ/



        In primary-stressed syllables, many English speakers don't have any distinction at all between /ə/ and /ʌ/. (Other speakers do report distinguishing stressed /ə/ and /ʌ/, e.g. in just "only" /ˈdʒəst/ vs. dust /ˈdʌst/.) If we assume that non-primary-stressed syllables containing /ʌ/ always have some kind of secondary or minor stress, then /ə/ and /ʌ/ are in complementary distribution for these speakers as long as we specify the stress pattern of a word.



        This can be analyzed in different ways. One common way is to say that the phoneme /ə/ is phonologically restricted to unstressed syllables. But we could also say that /ə/ and /ʌ/ are not in fact distinct phonemes for these speakers.



        Even if we don't actually adopt that viewpoint as a matter of technical analysis, the complementary distribution of /ə/ and /ʌ/ in the accents of these speakers means that we can unambiguously transcribe the phoneme /ʌ/ with the symbol "ə". Dictionary authors might choose to do this to reduce the number of unfamiliar symbols in their transcription scheme. I think that the symbol "ə" is more widely recognized than the symbol "ʌ", and most dictionaries are designed for a non-expert audience.







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