Reduktion deutscher Diphthonge im Lautbestand der Dienstrvorter
Reduction of German Diphthongs in Auxiliary Words

Summary/Abstract: The present article is an analysis of peculiarities related to phonetic realisation of German auxiliary words. The said words constitute 89% of the list of the 100 most frequently used words in the German language. In spontaneous and dialogue speaking, they are unstressed in 85% of cases. De-accentuation results in weakening of the constituent segments, which further manifests itself in the forms of reduction, assimilation, or elision. Such weakening is also called "weak forms". The object of the research is German diphthongs used in monosyllabic auxiliary words. The following peculiarities of diphthong reduction have been distinguished on the basis of auditory and acoustic experiments: monophthongisation, monophthong centralisation, and diphthong elimination. E.g.: ein - ['ąen] > [an] > [A/an] > [n]; aus - ['ąps] > [as] > [AS] . The experiment proves the opinion that historical principles of diphthong change, like monophthongisation and centralisation are still possible at present in auxiliary words pronounced during a spontaneous dialogue.

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