Laxing rules

Laxing rules

1. 1.: CiV laxing/idiot rule

   • forces a stressed vowel (i/y) to be pronounced lax when followed by a consonant, then an i, then one more vowel
     • Examples: decide-decision, revise-revision, idiot, familiar

2. Lax vowels:

3. Tense vowels:

4. 2.: Free U laxing

   • if the letter u is followed by a vowel, the stressed vowel must be pronounced lax
     • Examples: grade-gradual, rite-ritual

5. 3.: Trisyllabic laxing

   • If the stressed vowel is in at least the third-last syllable of the word, it must be lax.
     • Examples: sane - sanity, grade - gradual, compare - comparison

6. 4.: Laxing ending

   • a stressed syllable followed by a laxing ending must be lax
     • such endings: -ic, -id, -it, -et, -el, -ish

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