Schwa Happens

In the English language there is an interesting sound that can come from any of the vowels – a, e, i, o, u, and y. The sound is called a schwa.

A schwa is represented in print with an upside-down e, like this: ?. The sound a schwa makes sounds like a short u (“?” or “uh”).

Schwas are only found in multi-syllable words. Let me give an example. Cotton. You don’t say, cot-ton (where the o sounds like the word ton), you say, cotton (and the second o sounds like a short u). This is a schwa.

In the word, love, the o sounds like short u, but it is not a schwa because it is a one syllable word. Same with the word “was.” Not a schwa.

An “a” at the end of a word will always be a schwa. Examples: cola (c? l?), mocha, umbrella, pizza, Montana.

Here a few more examples of words with a schwa – there are many in the English language.

• Serpent
• Tomato
• Velvet
• Signal
• Mental
• Lemon
• Denim
• Above
• Cadet
• Pecan
• Beside
• Mitten
• Napkin

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