Can the last い in かわいい be dropped? In the Genki I textbook, it says that the i and the u vowels are sometimes dropped when placed between voiceless consonants or at the end of an utterance preceded by voiceless consonants. The example given, , demonstrates both points. Currently, I am learning about adjectives and was wondering whether the vowel drop is also applied to adjectives (or words in general) that end in "", for example and . Since the i is at the end of an utterance preceded by voiceless consonants in both examples, I believe that the vowel drop is acceptable. Therefore, is it appropriate in speech to say "kawaides" and "ureshides" or do I have to say the long i-vowel?

The vowel drop described in your textbook happens between consonants. However, even though the vowel is dropped, the rhythm of the word isn't changed.

> [[s.ki.de.s]] ↔ [[su.ki.de.su]]

(the dot `.` denotes separation of syllables).

You cannot do the same with the [[i]] in [[ka.wa.i.i.de.s(u)]] or . (I don't understand your comment about voiceless consonants, but neither [[i]] is between consonants.)

* * *

However, a final -i is sometimes dropped in colloquial speech. I would describe this as a separate phenomenon, though.

> → or
> → or

In writing (e.g. ads, manga), the silent mora is usually represented by (or ).

For your two words, you'd get

> →
> →

The second be pronounced [[u.ɺe.ɕ. ]], i.e. with a(n almost?) silent final -i. However, note that the rhythm is not ~~[[u.ɺeɕ]]~~.