12/18/2023 0 Comments What is a schwa![]() ![]() If you happ en t o think of any intriguing words with three or more syllabl es th at don’t c ontain a schwa, please post th em in the comments secti on below. If you think of any word with three or more syllabl es, you’ll prob ably find a schwa in it somewhere…. ![]() ə/ appears roughly once in every three vowel sounds a native GB English speak er makes. This is bec ause th e schwa will only be used when th e words are in c onnected speech: Though you’ll notice th at I didn’t use a schwa when I pr onounced them j ust now. Th e schwa is also found in littl e functi on words like ‘to’, ‘for’, ‘can’ and ‘some’. It helps t o know where th e stress in the word is – a schwa is nev er on th e stressed syllabl e – list en again: Th e schwa is found in unstressed syll abl es of content words: M ACHINE, SOLDI ER, C ORRUPT, P URSUE, and you’ll notice th at on these syllabl es, th e spelling is any of a, e, o, u, making it hard t o spot a schwa on spelling alone. It is very simil ar t o th e long thinking vowel sound /ɜː/ as in BIRD, but it is always weak, so it’s short and soft. Th e mouth p ositi on for / ə/ is neutr al – th e lips are relaxed, not rounded, th e jaw is roughly half way op en, and th e tongue is flat, not forw ard or back. ![]() All th e schwas in this less on are in red, so let’s c ommence. It has a neutr al mouth p ositi on, it only appears on unstressed syll ables, and it c an be spelt with any vowel lett er. Th e schwa sound / ə/ is th e most comm on vowel sound in English about one in three vowels a native speak er pr onounces. ![]()
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