What is the most common sound in the English language?{

elocution

convertible

fertilizer

hippopotamus

elocution

convertible

fertilizer

hippopotamus

The Schwa: Every English Vowel’s

Favorite Disguisee

schwa- (noun) the mid-central, neutral vowel sound typically occurring in unstressed syllables in English, however spelled

e

MID-CENTRAL?

NEUTRAL?

UNSTRESSED?

MID-CENTRAL

Front or Back?

Open or Close?

Unrounded or Rounded?

Close

Open

Front Back

NEUTRAL

UNSTRESSED

the

Go to the store.

to

THE

GO to the STORE.

TO

From the Hebrew (shva)3א ש56ו

Adopted into German

Goethe?

Why is the schwa so common in English and other Germanic languages?{

“schwa.” Random House Unabridged Dictionary. 2013. Random House.

  “Pronunciation Tips: Schwa.” Learning English. BBC. 2013. Web. Feb

2013.  Gesenius, Wilhelm. “The Half-Vowels and the Syllable Divider.” Trans.

Array Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar. Emil Kautzsch and Arthur Ernest Cowley. English ed.1909. 51-54. Print.

  International Phonetic Association, Handbook of the International

Phonetic Association: A Guide to the Use of the International Phonetic Alphabet. 1999. Print. 12-15.

  Mendoza-Denton, Norma. “International Phonetic Alphabet.”

Varieties of English. Language Samples Project. 2001. Web. 2 Feb 2013.

  Philologos. “Uh, What's a Schwa?.” Jewish Daily Forward 25 Jan

2008, n. pag. Print.

Works Cited