Definition:
The most common vowel sound in English, represented as ə in the International Phonetic Alphabet.
The schwa represents a mid-central vowel in an unstressed syllable, such as the second syllable of woman and the second syllable of buses. Any vowel letter can stand for the schwa sound.
See also:
Etymology:
From the Hebrew, "to be even"Examples and Observations:
- "Vowels change in quality when they are reduced. The reduced vowel tends to be not only very short, but also very unclear, producing an obscure sound that is hard to identify. Consider, as an example, the name of the California town Orinda, pronounced /ər'in-də/, with the first vowel and the last vowel reduced to schwa. Only the second vowel in the word, the stressed vowel, maintains its clarity. The other two vowels are very unclear."
(Judy B. Gilbert, Clear Speech: Pronunciation and Listening Comprehension in North American English, 3rd ed. Cambridge Univ. Press, 2005) - "If you listen for it, you can hear schwa in all sorts of places where syllables aren't stressed--for example, at the beginnings of words like official, occasion, event and fatigue. Many people . . . feel that 'schwa-ful' pronunciations are lazy, but really you would sound pretty odd if you did pronounce the full vowel in place of schwa in these words. Pronunciations like 'ohfficial' and 'ohccasion' sound unnatural and rather theatrical. Schwa also occurs in the middle of words like coronation and afterwards. Again, it would be peculiar not to sound schwa in this position--for instance, 'corohnation' for coronation. . . .
"Schwa usage varies greatly between dialects. Australian English speakers often put schwas in places where British and American speakers won't. Striking differences are also now appearing as a consequence of the worldwide spread of English."
(Kate Burridge, Blooming English: Observations on the Roots, Cultivation and Hybrids of the English Language. Cambridge Univ. Press, 2004)
Pronunciation: SHWA
Also Known As: mid-central vowel
Alternate Spellings: shwa
