SCHWA

Laid back, relaxed and... no stress

I'm NEVER stressed!!!

1. SCHWA - INTRODUCTION

As we have already mentioned in previous classes, the "Schwa" sound can represent any vowel. It is the sound made when a vowel in a word or inside a sentence is not pronounced with a "stress". Some whole words, like conjunctions, prepositions, pronouns and articles, when not stressed are pronounced witrh a "schwa" sound: I got a gift for my sister the other day. It’s a book about a man who survived a trip to the North Pole. Individual words, like my name, Helen, contain this sound (on the second "e", which is unstressed.) Nearly all words with more than syllable contain this sound. Where are the "Schwas" in the following words? hypothetical table vegetable control computer

2. WHY SCHWA?

English is a stress timed language, which means that it is rythmic. Often, this means that unstressed syllables do not count as syllables. (We'll see this in a later section.) WHAT? WHERE? WHY?

• The schwa is a very short, neutral vowel sound: /ə/.
• It is essentially a "reduced" vowel.
• The schwa only occurs in unstressed syllables or words.
• That way, more important sounds and words stand out more.
• The schwa saves us time: we can speak faster by “gliding” over the unstressed syllables.
• In fact, some unstressed syllables can disappear altogether when we speak fast.
• It saves us energy when we speak because it minimises our effort. If we had to pronounce all the vowels, we would need a lot more energy and effort to speak English!!!

11. SCHWA - HOW TO PRONOUNCE

As we have said, to pronounce the schwa, your mouth needs to relax. Your jaw, lips and tongue are in a neutral position. There should be no tension anywhere inside or around your mouth. LET'S HAVE A GO: Just open your mouth, as if you were tired, and let a sound come out. This is the most COMMON SOUND in the English language, so it's worth saying it right. Relax your jaw: it is just slightly open. The schwa is a soft sound, so the mouth barely opens. Relax your lips: they open naturally, together with your jaw. There is no tension in the tongue. Do not try to actively form the schwa: don’t smile or round your lips to say any other vowel sound. Relax your tongue: it is flat and relaxed, neither high nor low in your mouth. /Ə/ /Ə/ /Ə/ /Ə/ /Ə/ /Ə/ /Ə/ /Ə/ /Ə/ /Ə/ /Ə/ /Ə/ /Ə/ /Ə/ /Ə/

3. SCHWA IN PREFIXES AND SUFFIXES

A lot of unstressed prefixes and suffixes contain a schwa. Listen to the pronunciation of a few common prefixes in their stressed and unstressed version. Can you hear the difference? advanced – adverb complete – complicated concern – concert percent – perfect profession – profit submit – subway

4. THE SCHWA SYMBOL: /Ə/

In the phonetic alphabet the schwa is written as an upside-down "e": /ə/. It can be spelt by any of the five vowels in the English alphabet (and even dipthongs and tripthongs). In particular the letters A, O and U, when unstressed, are often pronounced as schwas. Sometimes the "e" and the "i" are also pronounced as "Schwas". Example of "e" prounced as Schwa: the word "imminent" - In UK English is usually pronounced /ˈɪm.ɪ.nənt/ and in US English, /ˈɪm.ə.nənt/ An example with an "i" pronounced as Schwa: impossible: /ɪmˈpɒsəbəl/

5. More examples of words containing Schwa:

6. NO SCHWA

Some words do not typically have a Schwa on the unstressed syllable. Example: window. NB: Actually, the second syllable -"dow" DOES contain a Schwa, as it is part of the dipthong /əʊ/. Compound words often have no unstressed syllable, like blackboard, or greenhouse where both syllables are stressed. Other words with no SCHWA on the unstressed syllable, particularly on the letter "i": where there is a prefix, suffix or secondary stress. Words like imperative or indicative. (However, the "a" is pronounced as Schwa.) Sometimes the letter "e" is pronounced /i/ in an unstressed position. Examples: receive, receipt; belief, believe; relief, relieve, etc

7. THE DISAPPEARING SCHWA

In connected speech, some syllables with a schwa can disappear altogether. This goes to show how the schwa saves time and effort when we speak quickly. So don’t be surprised if you hear people say fam’ly instead of family p’lice instead of police (/s/ vs "please" /z/) av’rage instead of average diff’rent instead of different gen’ral instead of general int’resting instead of interesting sep’rate instead of separate med’cine instead of medicine ... to name just a few. rest'rant is another example (pronounced with a kind of "French· accent!) The suffixes -ful and -cal often lose their schwa when -ly is added to form an adverb. So this is what happens: beautiful → beautifully → beautif’ly /ˈbjuːtəfli/ practical → practically → practic’ly /ˈpræktɪkli/

8. SCHWA FOR ANY VOWEL

So, even though it is so frequent, the schwa doesn’t have a letter of its own. It is represented by any of the vowel letters in the English alphabet as well as the semi-vowel Y. A – appear, woman, Africa E – frequency, movement, tired (one syllable, but with a tripthong /ˈtaɪərd/!!!) I – April, family, (as we have seen, the "i" can even disappear completely), cousin O – oppose, aeroplane, doctor U – supply, industry, focus Y – syringe, analysis, vinyl AI – curtain, certain (cf mountain : often pronounced with an /i/ sound and not a Schwa) IO – fashion, cushion OU – nervous, serious You can also hear a schwa in four of the eight commonly used English diphthongs: /əʊ/ as in go, /ɪə/ as in near, /eə/ as in fair, and /ʊə/ as in sure

9. EXTRA SCHWA

Believe it or not, in some words the schwa even has no letter at all, but is added as an extra sound. NO LETTER: before the m in word endings -thm and -sm rhythm, tourism

10. SCHWA ENDINGS/SUFFIXES

British English also pronounces these endings as schwas - the "r" is silent: –ar: sugar, popular - The "u" can be pronounced as /u/ or Schwa /ˈpɒpjʊlə/ or /ˈpɑpjələ/ –er: teacher, faster, gamer, Instagrammer, YouTuber, TicToker, (notice the primary and secondary stresses) twitter, –or: doctor, editor –our: colour, favour –re: centre, theatre –ur: Arthur, murmur –ure: figure, nature Sothe schwa is everywhere and nowhere at the same time!!! It is very frequent; it is spoken as a quick, subtle sound, and it is written in many different ways. As a result, it is almost hidden to the ear and the eye and can be tricky to recognise or detect when listening or reading.

REMEMBER:

Learning a language involves training your mouth to move in new and unfamiliar ways. But with the schwa, the challenge consists in not making any movements at all – which can also feel strange and unfamiliar. Later on we'll see how this sound helps us to join words into phrases and not just for use on unstressed syllables in individual words.

12. SCHWA - PRACTICE 1

Let’s start to practise with a simple word: about The first syllable is pronounced as a schwa. It is spoken quickly and softly: /ə/ The second syllable carries the stress and is pronounced more strongly. /baʊt/ Together they form /əˈbaʊt/. Now let’s look at the word remedy. The first syllable is stressed; the second one contains a schwa: /ˈremədi/ Here’s a word with three "a"s and two schwas: banana. The three syllables don’t all sound the same because only one is stressed. The second "a" is stressed: it is spoken longer. The first and the last "a"s are schwas: they sound short and weak. The result is a fluent /bəˈnɑːnə/ instead of a rather robotic ba–na–na.

13. SCHWA - PRACTICE 2

Now it’s your turn to practise the schwa in your groups. REMEMBER: some unstressed words, such as articles (the, a), prepositions (at, from, to) and conjunctions (and, or) also contain schwas. Tip: Focus on the stressed syllable when you speak.

13. SCHWA - PRACTICE 2

at quarter to seven – They came at quarter to seven. a pleasant afternoon – It was a pleasant afternoon. lots of beautiful pictures – We took lots of beautiful pictures. pizza or salad – Would you like pizza or salad? to the theatre on Saturday – We went to the theatre on Saturday. an excellent idea – That’s an excellent idea. some butter for breakfast – Please buy some butter for breakfast. at the general hospital – He works at the general hospital. carefully measured the portions – He carefully measured the portions. a reliable payment system – We need a reliable payment system. difficult to understand – It’s not difficult to understand. about a year ago – They moved about a year ago. from London to Bristol – He drove from London to Bristol. America and Canada – She’s lived in America and Canada. a famous actor – He became a famous actor.

14. MORE -SCHWA IN SUFFIXES: -our -ate -able

15. SCHWA IN SUFFIXES ACTIVITY

Look at the following suffixes. ALL of them have the Schwa sound: -er, -or, -ian, -ful, -ation, -tion, -icion, – ent, -less, -ion Now work in your groups. Add the suffixes to the following words and pronounce them. Make a list of all the possible words you can form and mark the Schwa sounds. wonder, suspect, manage, detect, write, interpret, home, success, instruct, protect, harm, pronounce, demonstrate, discuss, admire, survive, beauty, correct, communicate, politics, buy, thought, infect….

16. SCHWA LIMERICKS

17. TONGUE TWISTER - /Ə/

(1) Identify WHERE the "Schwa" sounds are and (2) practise the tongue-twister

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers; A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked; If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?

17. TONGUE TWISTER - /Ə/

(2) KEY Now practise the tongue-twister

PetƏ PipƏ picked Ə peck Əf pickƏl (d) Pipe picked; If PetƏ PipƏ picked Ə peck Əf pickƏl (d) peppeƏs, Where's thƏ peck Əf pickƏl (d) peppƏs PetƏ PipƏ picked?

18. SCHWA TEST TIME

19. SCHWA TEST TIME

Now RECORD these sentences ON https://vocaroo.com/and SEND ME THE LINK (the Schwa sound is red): 1) I have a carrot and a banana. 2) The atlas contains a lot of maps. 3) He talked about his illness. 4) I will answer this letter. 5) Father went around the apartment. 7) The company will supply the telephones. 8) I was sitting alone on the sofa. 9) The performance in the circus was amazing. 10) He suggested a system.

20. SCHWA SONG

In ‘Blurred Lines’, Robin Thicke manages to rhyme almost an entire verse using the humble schwa. WORK ON THE LYRICS IN YOUR GROUPS AND, AS YOU LISTEN TO THE SONG, DECIDE WHERE THE "SCHWA" SOUNDS ARE (from 32" seconds)

Ok, now he was closeTried to domesticate youBut you’re an animalBaby, it’s in your natureJust let me liberate youYou don’t need no papersThat man is not your makerAnd that’s why I’m gon’ take a…

21. KEY: THESE ARE THE SCHWAS

Ok, now he wƏs close Tried tƏ dƏmesticate tʃƏBƏt you’re Ən anƏmƏlBaby, it’s in yƏ natʃƏJƏst let me libƏrate tʃƏYou don’t need no papƏsThat man is not tʃƏ makƏƏnd that’s why I’m gon’ take Ə…

And finally ... I hope you have learnt about the SCHWA and how important this sound is.

REMEMBER: your ability to recognise and pronounce this sounds will help you to: 1. UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU HEAR 2. BE UNDERSTOOD AND SOUND NATURAL!!!