Definition, Meaning & Synonyms
shwa
Noun
/ʃwɑː/
Definition
A phonetic symbol representing an unstressed vowel sound.
Examples
- The word ‘sofa’ has a shwa sound in the second syllable.
- In English, the letter ‘a’ in ‘banana’ is often pronounced as a shwa.
- You might hear a shwa in the unstressed syllable of ‘celebrate’.
Meaning
In linguistics, ‘shwa’ refers to a relaxed, neutral vowel sound that occurs in many languages. It is commonly represented by the symbol ‘ə’ in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).
Synonyms
- Unstressed vowel
- Neutral vowel sound
- Reduced vowel
