Reductions are when the speaker does not say a word the way it is spelled. The definition of reduce is to make smaller. That is precisely what a spoken reduction does. It takes a common word or phrase and makes the sounds fast to use. Reduce can also mean to weaken, which a spoken reduction also does by taking a word and removing the stress so that other words in the sentence receive more focus.
Reduction is also important in English as it conveys one’s feeling in the conversation. If you say word for word “I want to go to the store,” the listener might think that you are demanding to go to the store. It might leave a negative feeling between you and the other person. However, by saying “I wanna go to the store” gives the impression that you will be ok if you do not end up going to the store. Reduction usually occurs informally, and it is only used in the written form in very informal writing such as text messages between friends
As stated above, reductions are very common in informal speaking. This results in the frequent reduction of you in conversations to cha or ya/ja.
bet you = betcha
don't you = don'tcha
can't you = can'tcha
get you = getcha
got you = gotcha
want you = wantcha
do you = doya
are you = areya
would you = wouldja
could you = couldja
should you = shouldja
did you = didja
The words of often sounds like the unstressed schwa sound ("uh") and have often sounds like the word of.
kind of = kinda
lots of = lotsa
sort of = sorta
out of = outta
The pronunciation of this in many American accents is similar to of.
may have = may've
must have = must've
might have = might've
would have = woulda
could have = coulda
should have = shoulda
This reduction is very common in spoken English. The to sound again reduces to a simple schwa (uh, ə, sound in cut) sound that is represented with an a.
gotta
oughtta
hasta
wanna (want to, the t sound is dropped)
gonna (future going to, -ing sound is changed to n)
hafta (have to, v sound softens to an f)
Here is a video about two women with very different diets. Listen for examples of reductions.
Transcript with Marked Reductions
I really need to focus on eating what I like. A lotta junk food, usually.
I'm never gonna healthy, so... I think for me it's gonna be hard mentally. But physically it's gonna be harder for you.
I think one outta 10
That's all I'm gonna say about that.
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