If you were to describe the schwa to someone unfamiliar with linguistics, what would you say?

Just to review, schwa is the relaxed vowel sound that is often found in multi-syllable words and function words. It often sounds like “ih” or “uh” and can take ... Apr 23, 2025 ... schwa ... schwa, vowel, typically unstressed, represented in phonetic transcriptions by the symbol ə (upside-down e). It is the most common vowel ... Schwa is the most common vowel sound in the English language. In fact, roughly one in five English words has the schwa! It sounds like the short u or sometimes ... Jul 25, 2022 ... given that one of the conventional defining properties of /ə/ in English is that it occurs only in unstressed syllables, it might be best to ... Sep 5, 2015 ... The most common schwa sound is /ə/ as in about. Any unstressed vowel can be pronounced as /ə/. But the problem is: when I was trying to spell the word courage, ... Mar 25, 2025 ... Now, voice the sound and let it escape from your mouth naturally. The schwa sound is very brief; almost like a quick, neutral "uh" sound. It's ... Toddlers always add a schwa to the end of words to make one-syllable CVC words into easier-to-pronounce two-syllable CV-CV words. Examples: “Dad” changes to “ ... Nov 9, 2023 ... It's a short, indistinct vowel sound on an unstressed syllable. Think the “a” in “about” or the “e” in “rocket” when you say it in a sentence. Aug 5, 2024 ... Merriam-Webster defines schwa as “an unstressed mid-central vowel (such as the usual sound of the first and last vowels of the English word America),” Dec 20, 2021 ... The answer to whether a schwa can be stressed is yes. It may be beneficial to refer to the schwa as a “mid-central vowel” when stressed in phonetics and ...