| Above: | Mid central vowel |
| Ipa Symbol: | ə |
| Ipa Number: | 322 |
| Decimal1: | 601 |
| X-Sampa: | @ |
| Imagefile: | IPA Unicode 0x0259.svg |
| Braille: | en |
pronounced as /vowels/
The mid central vowel (also known as schwa) is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is (IPA|ə), a rotated lowercase letter e, which is called a "schwa".
While the Handbook of the International Phonetic Association does not define the roundedness of pronounced as /[ə]/, it is more often unrounded than rounded. The phonetician Jane Setter describes the pronunciation of the unrounded variant as follows: "a sound which can be produced by basically relaxing the articulators in the oral cavity and vocalising."[1] To produce the rounded variant, all that needs to be done in addition to that is to round the lips.
Afrikaans contrasts unrounded and rounded mid central vowels; the latter is usually transcribed with (IPA|œ). The contrast is not very stable, and many speakers use an unrounded vowel in both cases.
Danish and Luxembourgish have a mid central vowel that is variably rounded. In other languages, the change in rounding is accompanied with the change in height and/or backness. For instance, in Dutch, the unrounded allophone of pronounced as //ə// is mid central unrounded pronounced as /[ə]/, but its word-final rounded allophone is close-mid front rounded pronounced as /link/, close to the main allophone of pronounced as //ʏ//.
"Mid central vowel" and "schwa" do not always mean the same thing, and the symbol (IPA|ə) is often used for any obscure vowel, regardless of its precise quality. For instance, the unstressed English vowel transcribed (IPA|ə) and called "schwa" is a central unrounded vowel that can be close-mid pronounced as /link/, mid pronounced as /[ə]/ or open-mid pronounced as /link/, depending on the environment.The French vowel transcribed that way is closer to pronounced as /link/.
If a mid-central vowel of a language is not a reduced vowel, or if it may be stressed, it may be more unambiguous to transcribe it with one of the other mid-central vowel letters: (IPA|ɘ ɜ) for an unrounded vowel or (IPA|ɵ ɞ) for a rounded vowel.
The mid central unrounded vowel is frequently written with the symbol pronounced as /[ə]/. If greater precision is desired, the symbol for the close-mid central unrounded vowel may be used with a lowering diacritic, pronounced as /[ɘ̞]/. Another possibility is using the symbol for the open-mid central unrounded vowel with a raising diacritic, pronounced as /[ɜ̝]/.
| Language | Word | Meaning | Notes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albanian | Albanian: nj'''ë''' | [ɲə] | 'one' | |||||
| Standard | Afrikaans: [[Afrikaans alphabet|l'''i'''g]] | pronounced as /[ləχ]/ | 'light' | |||||
| Many speakers | Afrikaans: [[Afrikaans alphabet|l'''u'''g]] | 'air' | Many speakers merge pronounced as //œ// with pronounced as //ə//, even in formal speech. See Afrikaans phonology | |||||
| Bhojpuri | pronounced as /[kər]/ | 'to do' | ||||||
| Catalan; Valencian: [[Catalan orthography|s'''e'''c]] | pronounced as /[ˈsək]/ | 'dry' | Stressable schwa that corresponds to the open-mid pronounced as /link/ in Eastern dialects and the close-mid pronounced as /link/ in Western dialects. See Catalan phonology | |||||
| Catalan; Valencian: [[Catalan orthography|'''a'''mb]] | pronounced as /[əm(b)]/ | 'with' | Reduced vowel. The exact height, backness and rounding are variable. See Catalan phonology | |||||
| Some Western accents | ||||||||
| Chinese | Hokkien | Chinese: l'''êr''' (Chinese: 螺) | pronounced as /[lə˧˥]/ | 'snail' | ||||
| pronounced as /[əm'an]/ | 'worm' | |||||||
| Standard | Danish: [[Danish orthography|hopp'''e''']] | pronounced as /[ˈhʌ̹pə]/ | 'mare' | Sometimes realized as rounded pronounced as /[ə̹]/. See Danish phonology | ||||
| Standard | Dutch; Flemish: [[Dutch alphabet|renn'''e'''r]] | pronounced as /[ˈrɛnər]/ | 'runner' | The backness varies between near-front and central, whereas the height varies between close-mid and open-mid. Many speakers feel that this vowel is simply an unstressed allophone of pronounced as /link/. See Dutch phonology | ||||
| Most dialects | pronounced as /[ˈtʰiːnə]/ | 'Tina' | Reduced vowel; varies in height between close-mid and open-mid. Word-final pronounced as //ə// can be as low as pronounced as /link/. See English phonology | |||||
| bird | pronounced as /[bɜ̝ːd]/ | 'bird' | May be transcribed in IPA with (IPA|ɜː). Other South African varieties use a higher, more front and rounded vowel pronounced as /link/. See South African English phonology | |||||
| Often transcribed in IPA with (IPA|ɜː). It is sulcalized, which means the tongue is grooved like in pronounced as /[ɹ]/. 'Upper Crust RP' speakers pronounce a near-open vowel pronounced as /link/, but for some other speakers it may actually be open-mid pronounced as /link/. This vowel corresponds to rhotacized pronounced as /link/ in rhotic dialects. | ||||||||
| bust | pronounced as /[bəst]/ | 'bust' | Spoken by some middle class speakers, mostly female; other speakers use pronounced as /link/. Corresponds to pronounced as /link/ or pronounced as /link/ in other dialects. | |||||
| May be lower. Some Indian varieties merge pronounced as /link/ or pronounced as /link/ with pronounced as //ə// like Welsh English. | ||||||||
| May also be further back; it corresponds to pronounced as /link/ or pronounced as /link/ in other dialects. | ||||||||
| Middle class pronunciation. Other speakers use pronounced as /link/. Corresponds to pronounced as /link/ or pronounced as /link/ in other dialects. | ||||||||
| Faroese: [[Faroese phonology|vát'''u'''r]] | pronounced as /[ˈvɔaːtəɹ]/ | 'yellow' | ||||||
| Northeastern dialects | pronounced as /[ˈvaːtəɹ]/ | |||||||
| Some dialects | Galician: leit'''e''' | pronounced as /[ˈlejtə]/ | 'milk' | Alternative realization of final unstressed pronounced as //e// or pronounced as //ɛ// (normally pronounced as /[i~ɪ~e̝]/) | ||||
| Galician: f'''e'''n'''e'''cer | pronounced as /[fənəˈs̪eɾ]/ | 'to die' | Alternative realization of unstressed pronounced as //e// or pronounced as //ɛ// in any position | |||||
| German: [[German orthography|B'''e'''schlag]] | 'fitting' | See Standard German phonology | ||||||
| Southern German accents | German: [[German orthography|od'''er''']] | pronounced as /[ˈoːdə]/ | 'or' | Used instead of pronounced as /link/. See Standard German phonology | ||||
| Georgian | Georgian: [[Georgian scripts|დგას]]/ | [dəɡas] | 1st person singular 'to stand' | Phonetically inserted to break up consonant clusters. See Georgian phonology | ||||
| Kashmiri | pronounced as /[kət͡s]/ | 'how many' | ||||||
| pronounced as /[təh]/ | 'to be bald' | Contrasts with a rhotacized close-mid pronounced as /link/. | ||||||
| Khanty | аԓ'''ә'''ӈ | pronounced as /[aɬəŋ]/ | 'early' | Reduced vowel. Occurs only in unstressed syllables. See Khanty phonology | ||||
| Khmer | Central Khmer: [[Khmer script|ដឹក]] | pronounced as /[ɗək]/ | 'to transport' | See Khmer phonology | ||||
| Southern Gyeongsang dialect | Korean: 거미 | pronounced as /[kəmi]/ | 'spider' | In southern gyeongsang, The sounds ㅡ(eu)/ɯ/ and ㅓ(eo)/ʌ/ merge with /ə/. | ||||
| Korean: 그물 | pronounced as /[kəmuɭ]/ | 'net' | ||||||
| Kurdish | Sorani (Central) | Kurdish: [[Kurdish orthography|شهو]]/Kurdish: şew | pronounced as /[ʃəw]/ | 'night' | See Kurdish phonology | |||
| Palewani (Southern) | ||||||||
| Luxembourgish; Letzeburgesch: d'''ë'''nn | pronounced as /[d̥ən]/ | 'thin' | More often realized as slightly rounded pronounced as /[ə̹]/. See Luxembourgish phonology | |||||
| Malay | Standard Indonesian | Indonesian: l'''e'''lah | [lə.lah] | 'tired' | See Malay phonology | |||
| Standard Malaysian | p'''e'''ngadil | [pə.ŋä.dɪl] | 'referee' | |||||
| Johor-Riau | Malay: apa | [ä.pə] | 'what' | Common realization of /a/ at the end of words and before /h/. See Malay phonology | ||||
| Terengganu | Common realization of /a/ at the end of words and before /h/. See Terengganu Malay | |||||||
| Jakartan dialect | Malay: dat'''a'''ng | [da.təŋ] | 'to come' | Usually occurs around Jakarta, often inherited from earlier Proto-Malayic syllable *-CəC. For the dialects in Sumatra in which the word-final /a/ letter ([<nowiki/>[[Open front unrounded vowel|a]]]) changes to an [ə] sound, see Malay phonology. | ||||
| Moksha | Moksha: т'''ъ'''рва | [tərvaˑ] | 'lip' | See Moksha phonology | ||||
| Many dialects | Norwegian: [[Norwegian alphabet|sterk'''e'''st'''e''']] | pronounced as /[²stæɾkəstə]/ | 'the strongest' | Occurs only in unstressed syllables. The example word is from Urban East Norwegian. Some dialects (e.g. Trondheimsk) lack this sound. See Norwegian phonology | ||||
| b'''e'''diedt | pronounced as /[bəˈdit]/ | 'means' | The example word is from the Canadian Old Colony variety, in which the vowel is somewhat fronted pronounced as /[ə̟]/. | |||||
| Portuguese | Brazilian[2] | Portuguese: [[Portuguese orthography|maç'''ã''']] | pronounced as /[maˈsə̃ᵑ]/ | 'apple' | Possible realization of final stressed /ɐ̃/. Also can be open-mid pronounced as /[ɜ̃]/. | |||
| Romanian | Chițoran | 2001 | p=7"> | Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan: [[Romanian alphabet|p'''ă'''ros]] | pronounced as /[pəˈros]/ | 'hairy' | See Romanian phonology | |
| Russian | Standard | Russian: [[Russian orthography|коров'''а''']] | pronounced as /[kɐˈrovə]/ | 'cow' | See Russian phonology | |||
| [[Gaj's Latin alphabet|v'''r'''t]] | pronounced as /[ʋə̂rt̪]/ | 'garden' | pronounced as /[ər]/ is a possible phonetic realization of the syllabic trill pronounced as //r̩// when it occurs between consonants. See Serbo-Croatian phonology | |||||
| Southern | Swedish: [[Swedish orthography|vant'''e''']] | pronounced as /[²väntə]/ | 'mitten' | Corresponds to a slightly retracted front vowel pronounced as /[ɛ̠]/ in Central Standard Swedish. See Swedish phonology | ||||
| '''a̠'''tan | pronounced as /[ətan]/ | 'ɡood' | ||||||
| Welsh | Welsh: m'''y'''nydd | [mənɪð] | 'mountain' | See Welsh phonology | ||||
| Above: | Mid central rounded vowel |
| Ipa Symbol: | ɵ̞ |
| Ipa Symbol2: | ə̹ |
| Ipa Symbol3: | ɞ̝ |
| Showbelow: | no |
Languages may have a mid central rounded vowel (a rounded pronounced as /[ə]/), distinct from both the close-mid and open-mid vowels. However, since no language is known to distinguish all three, there is no separate IPA symbol for the mid vowel, and the symbol pronounced as /[ɵ]/ for the close-mid central rounded vowel is generally used instead. If precision is desired, the lowering diacritic can be used: pronounced as /[ɵ̞]/. This vowel can also be represented by adding the more rounded diacritic to the schwa symbol, or by combining the raising diacritic with the open-mid central rounded vowel symbol, although it is rare to use such symbols.
| Language | Word | Meaning | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | Afrikaans: [[Afrikaans alphabet|l'''u'''g]] | pronounced as /[lɞ̝χ]/ | 'air' | Also described as open-mid pronounced as /link/, typically transcribed in IPA with (IPA|œ). Many speakers merge pronounced as //œ// and pronounced as //ə//, even in formal speech. See Afrikaans phonology | ||
| Standard | Danish: [[Danish orthography|hopp'''e''']] | pronounced as /[ˈhʌ̹pə̹]/ | 'mare' | Possible realization of pronounced as //ə//. See Danish phonology | ||
| Southern[3] | Dutch; Flemish: [[Dutch orthography|h'''u'''t]] | pronounced as /[ɦɵ̞t]/ | 'hut' | Found in certain accents, e.g. in Bruges. Close-mid pronounced as /link/ in Standard Dutch. See Dutch phonology | ||
| California[4] | English: [[English orthography|f'''oo'''t]]|italic=yes | pronounced as /[fɵ̞ʔt]/ | 'foot' | Part of the California vowel shift. Typically transcribed in IPA with (IPA|ʊ). | ||
| French: [[French orthography|j'''e''']] | 'I' | Only somewhat rounded; may be transcribed in IPA with (IPA|ə) or (IPA|ɵ). Also described as close-mid pronounced as /link/.[5] May be more front for a number of speakers. See French phonology | ||||
| German: [[German orthography|W'''o'''nne]] | pronounced as /[ˈv̞ɞ̝nə]/ | 'bliss' | Typically transcribed in IPA with (IPA|ɞ). | |||
| Irish: [[Irish orthography|sc'''oi'''l]] | pronounced as /[skɞ̝lʲ]/ | 'school' | Allophone of pronounced as //ɔ// between a broad and a slender consonant. See Irish phonology | |||
| Luxembourgish; Letzeburgesch: d'''ë'''nn | pronounced as /[d̥ə̹n]/ | 'thin' | Only slightly rounded; less often realized as unrounded pronounced as /[ə̜]/. See Luxembourgish phonology | |||
| Norwegian: [[Norwegian alphabet|n'''ø'''tt]] | pronounced as /[nɞ̝tː]/ | 'nut' | Also described as open-mid front pronounced as /link/; typically transcribed in IPA with (IPA|œ) or (IPA|ø). See Norwegian phonology | |||
| Canadian Old Colony | b'''u'''tzt | pronounced as /[bɵ̞t͡st]/ | 'bumps' | Mid-centralized from pronounced as /link/, to which it corresponds in other dialects. | ||
| Central Standard | Swedish: [[Swedish alphabet|f'''u'''ll]] | 'full' | Pronounced with compressed lips, more closely transcribed pronounced as /[ɵ̞ᵝ]/ or pronounced as /[ɘ̞ᵝ]/. Less often described as close-mid pronounced as /link/. See Swedish phonology | |||
| Northern dialects | Tajik: [[Tajik orthography|к'''ӯ'''ҳ]]/ | pronounced as /[kɵ̞h]/ | 'mountain' | Typically described as close-mid pronounced as /link/. See Tajik phonology | ||
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