Definitions for Schwa
ʃwɑschwa

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:3.7 / 3 votes

1. schwa, shwanoun

   a neutral middle vowel; occurs in unstressed syllables

WiktionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. schwanoun

   An indeterminate central vowel sound as the "a" in "about", represented as // in IPA and /@/ in SAMPA and X-SAMPA.

2. schwanoun

   The character , an upside-down, backwards, lower-case E

3. Etymology: Schwa, from שְׁוָא (š’vā), meaning "nought".

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Schwa

   In linguistics, specifically phonetics and phonology, schwa (, rarely or ; sometimes spelled shwa) is a vowel sound denoted by the IPA symbol ⟨ə⟩, placed in the central position of the vowel chart. In English and some other languages, it represents the mid central vowel sound (rounded or unrounded), produced when the lips, tongue, and jaw are completely relaxed, such as the vowel sound of the ⟨a⟩ in the English word about. In English, some long-established phonetic transcription systems assert that the mid central vowel as an unstressed vowel and transcribed with schwa (ə) is always a different vowel sound from the open-mid back unrounded vowel as a stressed vowel and transcribed with turned v (ʌ), although they may recognize allophony between the pair. As Geoff Lindsey explains, within these systems, it is said that "schwa is never stressed"; but other authorities (including Lindsey himself) recognize that in some varieties of English, such as General American English, the stressed vowel and the unstressed vowel are the same sound, and therefore the "never stressed" dictum is false. Lindsey gives examples of major dictionaries that use each system. In Albanian, Romanian, Slovene, Balearic Catalan, Mandarin and Afrikaans, schwa can occur in stressed or unstressed syllables. The name schwa and the symbol ⟨ə⟩ may be used for some other unstressed and toneless neutral vowel, not necessarily mid central. A similar sound is the short French unaccented ⟨e⟩, which is rounded and less central, more like an open-mid or close-mid front rounded vowel. Sometimes the term schwa can be used for any epenthetic vowel. Across languages, schwa vowels are commonly deleted in some instances, such as in Hindi, North American English, French and Modern Hebrew. In phonology, syncope is the process of deleting unstressed sounds, particularly unstressed vowels such as schwa.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. schwa

   A schwa is a term used in linguistics and phonetics to refer to a mid-central vowel sound that is typically unstressed in speech. It is usually represented by an upside-down 'e' in the International Phonetic Alphabet. The schwa is the most common vowel sound in English, for example, the 'a' in about or the 'u' in supply.

WikidataRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Schwa

   In linguistics, specifically phonetics and phonology, schwa refers to the mid-central vowel sound in the middle of the vowel chart, denoted by the IPA symbol, or another vowel sound close to that position. An example in English is the vowel sound in the second syllable of the word sofa. Schwa in English is mainly found in unstressed positions, but in some other languages occurs more frequently as a stressed vowel. In relation to certain languages, the name "schwa" and the symbol may be used for some other unstressed and toneless neutral vowel, not necessarily mid-central.

Matched Categories

1. • Vowel

Anagrams for Schwa »

1. chaws

How to pronounce Schwa?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say Schwa in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of Schwa in Chaldean Numerology is: 9

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of Schwa in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9

Examples of Schwa in a Sentence

1. Scott Remer:

   You can usually tell when they are testing the kids on the schwa and you can often tell when the kids are taken aback by it, the vast majority of instances where kids misspell is due to the schwa.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=Schwa
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Schwa
3. ^ Wikipedia
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwa
4. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
5. ^ Wikidata
   https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?search=Schwa