Many speakers subject final short vowels to considerable
weakening. Frequently
the vowel is merely whispered. Cf. the spelling bij for bija.
In some cases this
weakening seems to have led to the complete loss of the vowel, although
this
tendency cannot be considered as typical; thus:
bija may be reduced as far as (bij)
meita may be reduced as far as (meit)
klausa may be reduced as far as (klaus).
Short vowels immediately preceding a final s are subject to the
same weakening,
and in the case of some speakers, total loss. Thus :
bijis may be reduced as far as (bijs)
meitas may be reduced as far as (meits)
cepures may be reduced as far as (cepurs).
In the present tense of mixed conjugation verbs in -it and -ināt,
the endings
containing ā, i. e., -ām, - āmies, -āt,
-āties, - ās, are normally pronounced with
short a.
T.G. Fenell. H.Gelsen