shwa
/ʃwɑː/
noun
- A weak, unstressed vowel sound in many languages, represented by the symbol ə, as the 'a' in 'about' or the 'e' in 'taken'.
- When learning pronunciation, it helps to recognize the shwa in unstressed syllables.
- Linguists use the shwa symbol to show the most common vowel in English.
- The word 'banana' has two shwa sounds.
Synonyms