[Grammar] articles and gerunds

[Joejoe]

Hi,

There's this sentence from a book about English sounds. Can anyone explain why there is no definite article before the first gerund and there is one before the seocnd gerund?

• The unstressed sound in "was" is called schwa and is one of the most frequent sounds in English, cerated by shortening of the vowel and the placing of stress elsewhere

Wouldn't it be more consistent saying: ...created by shortening of the vowel and placing of stress elsewhere. Aren't the words shortening and placing equally important in the process of creating the sound?

 

[GoesStation]

Rather than removing the last definite article, I'd add one before "shortening".

 

[Joejoe]

Yes, doing this would also be okay. And you're right that it would sound even better. I was just wondering what the intention of the author might have been, using the article the way he did...

 

[MikeNewYork]

It is not clear that the author had an intention.