Schwa: Difference between revisions
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Some languages have more than one schwa. In addition to the English one, [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] has [ɐ], which, as its 'a'-like symbol implies, is a little more open. | Some languages have more than one schwa. In addition to the English one, [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] has [ɐ], which, as its 'a'-like symbol implies, is a little more open. | ||
[[Russian language|Russian]] unstressed | [[Russian language|Russian]] unstressed ''o'' is pronounced schwa, identical to unstressed ''a'', and, like ''a'', it can occur in final position, a fact almost never reflected in English, which normally gives full value to final ''o'' in names like ''Yevtushenko'' and ''Chern(y)enko''. | ||
The name is derived from a [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] word that means "emptiness" or "vanity," and it is also the name of a Hebrew vowel mark that is sometimes pronounced like a schwa, and sometimes not pronounced at all.<ref>Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. "sheva".</ref> | The name is derived from a [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] word that means "emptiness" or "vanity," and it is also the name of a Hebrew vowel mark that is sometimes pronounced like a schwa, and sometimes not pronounced at all.<ref>Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. "sheva".</ref> | ||
Revision as of 20:50, 21 February 2010
Schwa[1] is the name linguists use for the most neutral of vowel sounds, the usual, weak, pronunciation of the indefinite article a, the gentle grunt of uh huh. Its phonetic symbol is [ə], which in Azeri is used as a letter.
In English, it can be represented by a number of vowel-letters: it is the u in careful, the e in worker, the a in above and the o in person.
Some languages have more than one schwa. In addition to the English one, Portuguese has [ɐ], which, as its 'a'-like symbol implies, is a little more open.
Russian unstressed o is pronounced schwa, identical to unstressed a, and, like a, it can occur in final position, a fact almost never reflected in English, which normally gives full value to final o in names like Yevtushenko and Chern(y)enko.
The name is derived from a Hebrew word that means "emptiness" or "vanity," and it is also the name of a Hebrew vowel mark that is sometimes pronounced like a schwa, and sometimes not pronounced at all.[2]