Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
The reduced vowel sound called schwa is the most common vowel sound in spoken
English. Schwa is a quick, relaxed, neutral vowel pronunciation very close to a short
u.
The purpose of schwa is to allow unstressed syllables to be said more quickly so the
main beats of spoken words are easier to place on the stressed syllables.
Schwa does not have an exact and standard pronunciation. Due to the near-identical
pronunciation of schwa and short u, many dictionaries merge the transcription of the
two sounds and strictly use //. Separate symbols are retained here to indicate
whether a vowel sound falls on a stressed or unstressed syllable.
Schwa occurs in two different circumstances:
1
in an unstressed syllable of a multi-syllable word
2
as a reduced vowel sound in a function word
Schwa in an unstressed syllable
In words with more than one syllable, not every syllable is given equal emphasis when
spoken. Three levels of syllable stress are possible:
1
stressed
2
secondarily stressed
3
unstressed
Every multi-syllable word has a single stressed syllable. The single stressed syllable of
the word has the most emphasis. The remainder of the syllables may have a secondary
stress or may be unstressed.
The word emphasize has all the levels of stress. The first syllable is stressed, the
second syllable is an unstressed syllable pronounced as schwa, and the third syllable
has a secondary stress.
em pha size
petition
celebrate
president
experiment
occur
condition
campus
support
cut
sun
love
truck
stuff
Example in Dictionary
Merriam-Webster
Cambridge Dictionary
/k&t/
/k&t/
/sn/
/sn/
/lv/
/lv/
/trk/
/trk/
/stf/
/stf/
can
do
to
you
Dictionary Citation
/kn/
/du/
/tu/
/ju/