#80, Susan Ryan’s Tip: ‘The Importance of the Schwa Vowel Sound’

In order to improve your English pronunciation it is critical that you learn to use the schwa sound. That is because the combination of stressed syllables with long clear vowels and unstressed syllables with the schwa vowel sound help to create the rhythm of spoken English. Native English speakers listen for this rhythm and it helps them to identify words.

What is the schwa sound?

The schwa is a vowel sound, it is not a letter of the alphabet. It sounds like “uh” and is pronounced with your tongue in the middle section of your mouth. Your mouth should be very relaxed when you say this sound. Because the schwa sound can be represented by any vowel, it is the most common vowel sound in English. The IPA symbol for the schwa sound is /ə/.

Here are some examples of how native English speakers use the schwa vowel sound in words with more than one syllable. In the first group of words below the vowel in first syllable is stressed and the vowel in the second syllable sounds like a schwa /ə/.

womən

breakfəst

recənt

postəge

In this group of words the vowel in first syllable sounds like a schwa /ə/ and the vowel in the second syllable is stressed.

bəlieve

dəliver

rəpeat

prənounce

Remember that vowels that occur in stressed syllables have a long clear sound. The pitch should be slightly higher. The vowels in unstressed syllables are reduced and are often pronounced with the schwa sound. Pronouncing vowels in this pattern will help you create a rhythm that makes it easy for native English speakers to understand you.

An excellent animated website that you can use to view the articulation of the schwa vowel sound and all of the other American English vowel and consonant sounds is the Phonetics website from the University of Iowa.

http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/english/movies/schwa-sound.htm

Susan Ryan is an American English pronunciation teacher and accent reduction coach. She currently lives in South Florida. Read more articles by Susan at http://www.confidentvoice.com/blog/