3. Paco has dinner at Schwa's (pronunciation of Schwa)

The schwa is the vowel sound in many lightly pronounced unaccented syllables in words of more than one syllable.It is sometimes signified by the pronunciation "uh" or symbolized by an upside-down rotated e. A schwa sound can be represented by any vowel. In the exercise below you can see some examples in common words:

Schwa in a

alarm

Schwa in e

ferocious

Schwa in i

family

Schwa in o

sailor
Schwa in u
alarm /ə'lɑ:rm / ferocious /fə'rəʊʃəs/ family /'fæməli /
sailor /'seɪlə(r)/
 circus /'sɜ:kəs/

Imagen de  debsilveren Flickr. Licencia CC

 Imagen de  Sabbath P en Flickr.  Licencia CC Imagen de  gruntzooki en Flickr.  Licencia CC Imagen de  T. Hawk en Flickr.  Licencia CC Imagen de  def110  en Fickr.  Licencia CC
       

 

Importante

Watch these videos about the vowel sound schwa.
You can listen to the explanations and then practice your pronunciation with the video on the left.
Besides, you can learn some differences in pronunciation with American English schwa with the video on the right.
 

Ejercicio Resuelto

1) doctor 2) banana 3) protect

4) tomorrow 5) difficult 6) survive

7) summer 8) level 9) theatre

10) pupil 11) measure 12) wizard

Look at the words above and decide where in the word the schwa sound occurs.

Reflexiona

The upside-down e sound/symbol.
Imagen de  Howcheng en Wikipedia.  Dominio público.

 

 

The mid-central vowel sound (rounded or unrounded) in the middle of the vowel chart, stressed or unstressed. In IPA phonetic transcription, it is written as [ə]. In this case the term mid-central vowel may be used instead of schwa to avoid ambiguity.

 

 
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles was born on September 4, in 1981. She is often referred professionally under the mononym Beyoncé. She is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, actress and model.
Beyoncé during The Beyoncé Experience tour in 2007.
Imagen de Mr Azed en Flickr . Licencia CC. The song Halo, by Beyoncé (2008)

QUESTIONS:

1) How many of these words contain the sound schwa?

make / never / again / shut / grace/ light / awakened / forget / feel / even / know / doubt

2) Say where the sound schwa is in these words:

addicted / really / there / surround / away

 

Listen to the song and answer the questions above.

Comprueba lo aprendido

Pregunta

Take into account what you have learnt about the schwa sound and decide where this sound is in these words:

1) about

 

Respuestas

a) about

b) about

Retroalimentación

Pregunta

2) together

Respuestas

a) together

b) together

Retroalimentación

Pregunta

3) difference

Respuestas

a) difference

b) difference

Retroalimentación

Curiosidad

Some curiosities about the Schwa sound 

Did you know that the schwa ...

1) comes from an Hebrew word which means no vowel sound?

2) is the most common vowel sound in English?

3) is represented by the upside down e letter?

4) may be found in any vowel in English?

5)  is not only a vowel sound but also a restaurant in Chicago? No, we aren't joking.

A revolutionary eating experience in Chicago's underground.
Imagen de  jasmined en Flickr. Licencia CC