Date: Thu, 27 Jun 1996 08:31:23 -0400

From: "Dale F.Coye" CoyeCFAT[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]AOL.COM

Subject: Re: variation in unstressed vowels



David Bergdahl writes:



Ohio is an area where official and like words, which in the east began

with

a

schwa when I lived there 25+ yrs. ago, have /o/ as the in initial syllable,

which, incidentally, is stressed.



Do you mean the first syllable of "official" has a secondary stress? Or how

would you characterize it? And I wonder if it's invariably /oh/ or is does it

vary between schwa and /oh/? When you say "like words" would that be a

whole range of words like opinion, oppress, offensive which also behave in

this way?



Dale Coye