Schwa Sound

Anglo-saxon culture

Prof. Belisa HowardFebruary 5, 2021

Do you know which is the most common vowel sound in English?

the Schwa sound

Previous knowledge:

• Short and long vowel sound.
• Stress and unstressed syllables.

What is the schwa sound?

• Again
• Problem
• Family
• Develop
• Album
• Pennsylvania

The schwa is a muffled vowel sound that is heard in countless English words. Listen to the following words and then repeat aloud; pay attention to the sound of the highlighted vowel.

Did you see how the underlined vowel doesn’t say one of its normal sounds? Instead, depending upon the word, it says a muffled /ŭ/ or /ĭ/ sound. Also, did you notice how the schwa appears in an unstressed syllable?

Let's all pronounce the word "again"notice the difference of the vowel "a" (it is not as in "hat" or as in "hate".

Let's make a little pronunciation practice with the word Privacy /ˈpraɪvəsi/

Go

Some cases where we will usually find a Schwa sound:

We can also have a schwa sound with we have words with these endings: YL -OUS -AIN -tion -IBLE, -ABLE, DLE.

1. The letter "a" at the end of multi-syllable words: data /ˈdeɪtə/, Alaska /əˈlæskə/. Or at the beginning of them: about /əˈbaʊt/, ago /əˈgoʊ/.
2. The vowel before the consonant "L" at the end of multi-syllable words: Dental /ˈdɛntəl/ or /ˈdɛnəl/, Hospital /ˈhɑˌspɪtəl/
3. The vowel (usually "a" or "o") before the letter "n" at the end of words: human /ˈhjumən/.

Other examples: Syllable Mountain Bible

homework

• Read the complementary resources to have more information about the Schwa sound.
• Write three words (any words), then figure out if these words have one or more than one schwa sound and where. We will socialize it at the beginning of our next class.

Resources to study at home:

Now it is time to play!