Schwa

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The stressed syllables in table, pencil, famous, and today are pronounced correctly by most learners. When it comes to the unstressed syllables, however, some find it difficult to believe that they all contain the same vowel – represented by /ə/ in the transcriptions /'teІbəl/, /'pensəl/, /'feІməs/, and /tə'deІ/.
The most common vowel sound in English is called schwa, and knowing about it may help improve both pronunciation and understanding of spoken English. It is an unstressed central vowel, often described as weak, short, and neutral.
We hear it all the time, although the spelling of English doesn’t help us know where it is. For example, not all the vowels in banana and pasta sound the same – we say /bə'nɑ:nə/ and /'pɑ:stə/. Schwa never occurs in stressed syllables, but it is very frequently found in unstressed ones, no matter what letters are used in writing.



Many pronunciation mistakes we make in English are due to the influence of spelling. When in doubt, always look up words in an online dictionary. Listen to them carefully several times, and then try to repeat what you hear – not what you see.

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