Written o = reduced /ə/

 How many ways do we pronounce written single o?

Reduction is a basic element of American English Pronunciation.
In this lesson, we answer a question, “What is Reduction?”
and we focus on the unstressed syllable: reduced /ә/.

is king of the vowel sounds.

 

hello
/hə-ˈlow/

Hello, everyone.

 

today
/tə-ˈdey/

What are you going to do today?

 

tonight
/tə-ˈnɑyt/

What are you going to do tonight?

 

tomorrow
/tə-ˈmɑ–ɚ–ow/

What are you going to do tomorrow?

 

I don’t know
/ɑy–də-ˈnow/

I don’t know what I’m going to do.

 

has to … have to
/ˈhæ–stə/ … /ˈhæf–tə/

The cat has to get down from the tree.
I guess I’ll have to help her.

 

a lot of …  lots of
/əˈlɑ–də/ … /ˈlɑ–t͡sə/

I see a lot of rubber ducks.

I see lots of rubber ducks.

---

See also:

Reduction: gonna