Final answer:
Vowel reduction is the process of changing the quality or duration of a vowel sound in a word, while deletion refers to removing or dropping a sound or phoneme. These auditory processes can affect how words are pronounced and spelled.
Step-by-step explanation:
Vowel Reduction: Vowel reduction refers to the process of changing the quality or duration of a vowel sound in a word. It commonly occurs in unstressed syllables, where vowels tend to become shorter or less prominent. For example, in the word 'banana,' the unstressed 'a' is reduced to a schwa sound /ə/. Vowel reduction can also involve changes in vowel quality, such as in the word 'soda,' where the stressed 'o' is reduced to a schwa sound /ə/.
Deletion: Deletion refers to the process of removing or dropping a sound or phoneme in a word. It can occur in various contexts, such as when a word undergoes inflectional or derivational changes. For instance, in English, the rule for deleting a silent final 'e' before adding a suffix that starts with a vowel is an example of deletion. For example, in the word 'like,' the silent 'e' is deleted when the suffix '-ing' is added, resulting in 'liking'.