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Meaning of "schwa" in the English dictionary

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DICTIONARY
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ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD SCHWA

Via German from Hebrew shewā, a diacritic indicating lack of a vowel sound.
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Etymology is the study of the origin of words and their changes in structure and significance.
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PRONUNCIATION OF SCHWA

schwa  [ʃwɑː] play
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GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF SCHWA

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Schwa is a noun.
A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

WHAT DOES SCHWA MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Schwa

In linguistics, specifically phonetics and phonology, schwa refers to the mid-central vowel sound in the middle of the vowel chart, denoted by the IPA symbol ə, or another vowel sound close to that position. An example in English is the vowel sound in the second syllable of the word sofa. Schwa in English is mainly found in unstressed positions, but in some other languages it occurs more frequently as a stressed vowel. In relation to certain languages, the name "schwa" and the symbol ə may be used for some other unstressed and toneless neutral vowel, not necessarily mid-central.

Definition of schwa in the English dictionary

The definition of schwa in the dictionary is a central vowel represented in the International Phonetic Alphabet by ((ə )). The sound occurs in unstressed syllables in English, as in around, mother, and sofa. Other definition of schwa is the symbol ((ə )) used to represent this sound.

WORDS THAT RHYME WITH SCHWA


armoire
ɑːmˈwɑː
baignoire
ˈbenwɑː
boudoir
ˈbuːdwɑː
bourgeois
ˈbʊəʒwɑː
Chihuahua
tʃɪˈwɑːwɑː
Chippewa
ˈtʃɪpɪˌwɑː
conservatoire
kənˈsɜːvəˌtwɑː
devoir
ˈdevwɑː
devoirs
dəˈvwɑː
Dubois
djuːˈbwɑː
fatwa
ˈfætwɑː
Kwa
kwɑː
memoir
ˈmɛmwɑː
noir
nwɑː
Renoir
ˈrɛnwɑː
repertoire
ˈrɛpəˌtwɑː
reservoir
ˈrɛzəˌvwɑː
Seychellois
ˌseɪʃɛlˈwɑː
tous-les-mois
ˌtuːleɪˈmwɑː
wawa
ˈwɑːˌwɑː

WORDS THAT BEGIN LIKE SCHWA

schtoom
schtuck
Schubert
schuit
schul
Schumacher
Schuman
Schumann
schuss
schussboomer
schusser
Schuster
Schutzstaffel
Schutzstaffeln
schuyt
schvartze
Schwaben
Schwann
Schwarzkopf
schwarzlot

WORDS THAT END LIKE SCHWA

Adamawa
bushwa
Djawa
Iowa
Kanazawa
kawa
kawakawa
Kurosawa
malwa
Ojibwa
Okinawa
Oshawa
Ottawa
pohutukawa
shwa
Sumbawa
tawa
Tihwa
twa
Warszawa

Synonyms and antonyms of schwa in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS

Translation of «schwa» into 25 languages

TRANSLATOR
online translator

TRANSLATION OF SCHWA

Find out the translation of schwa to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.
The translations of schwa from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «schwa» in English.

Translator English - Chinese

schwa
1,325 millions of speakers

Translator English - Spanish

schwa
570 millions of speakers

English

schwa
510 millions of speakers

Translator English - Hindi

schwa
380 millions of speakers
ar

Translator English - Arabic

schwa
280 millions of speakers

Translator English - Russian

Schwa
278 millions of speakers

Translator English - Portuguese

schwa
270 millions of speakers

Translator English - Bengali

শোহয়া
260 millions of speakers

Translator English - French

schwa
220 millions of speakers

Translator English - Malay

Schwa
190 millions of speakers

Translator English - German

schwa
180 millions of speakers

Translator English - Japanese

シュワー
130 millions of speakers

Translator English - Korean

85 millions of speakers

Translator English - Javanese

Schwa
85 millions of speakers
vi

Translator English - Vietnamese

schwa
80 millions of speakers

Translator English - Tamil

schwa
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Marathi

श्वा
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Turkish

schwa
70 millions of speakers

Translator English - Italian

schwa
65 millions of speakers

Translator English - Polish

szwa
50 millions of speakers

Translator English - Ukrainian

Schwa
40 millions of speakers

Translator English - Romanian

SCHWA
30 millions of speakers
el

Translator English - Greek

schwa
15 millions of speakers
af

Translator English - Afrikaans

sjwa
14 millions of speakers
sv

Translator English - Swedish

schwa
10 millions of speakers
no

Translator English - Norwegian

schwa
5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of schwa

TRENDS

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «SCHWA»

The term «schwa» is quite widely used and occupies the 48.336 position in our list of most widely used terms in the English dictionary.
0
100%
FREQUENCY
Quite widely used
78
/100
The map shown above gives the frequency of use of the term «schwa» in the different countries.
Principal search tendencies and common uses of schwa
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «schwa».

FREQUENCY OF USE OF THE TERM «SCHWA» OVER TIME

The graph expresses the annual evolution of the frequency of use of the word «schwa» during the past 500 years. Its implementation is based on analysing how often the term «schwa» appears in digitalised printed sources in English between the year 1500 and the present day.

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about schwa

EXAMPLES

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «SCHWA»

Discover the use of schwa in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to schwa and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
1
The Schwa was Here
They say his clothes blend into the background, no matter where he stands.
Neal Shusterman, 2006
2
What's a schwa sound anyway?: a holistic guide to phonetics, ...
In What's a Schwa Sound Anyway? Sandra Wilde answers many questions related to phonics and its relationship to learning to read and spell.
Sandra Wilde, 1997
3
'schwa' - Articulation and Use of a Sound in the English and ...
Seminar paper from the year 2002 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 1,0, University of London, course: Aspects of Contemporary French, 6 entries in the bibliography, language: English, comment: ...
Sylvia Hadjetian, 2007
4
Schwa: World Operations Manual
Offers a guide to running a small planet, including tips on taking control of target citizens, entertaining your planet, and building the planet's future
‎1997
5
French Sound Structure
ographic Representations of Schwa As many of the designations indicate (e- muet, etc.), we are dealing almost exclusively with interpretations of the letter < e > in French, as in petit 'small,' premier 'first,' samedi 'Saturday,' étudiera 'will study, ' ...
Douglas C. Walker, 2001
6
Phonological Projection: A Theory of Feature Content and ...
Following this line of reasoning we should be able to draw the same conclusions about schwa in other languages that have the vowel in their inventory. I will therefore discuss the behaviour of schwa in two languages other than Dutch, viz.
Marc van Oostendorp, 2000
7
English Phonology: An Introduction
only in stressed syllables and schwa only in totally unstressed syllables, the phonemic status of the latter raises some questions. Taking stress into account, schwa is in complementary distribution with all other vowels (except l\I): where schwa ...
Heinz J. Giegerich, 1992
8
The Blackwell companion to phonology. 4. Phonological interfaces
In acoustic terms, schwa's resonance structure may be modeled (as a first approximation) by a tube that has no significant constrictions anywhere along its length, such that its formants derive not from two tubes (and/or a Helmholtz resonator) ...
Marc van Oostendorp, 2011
9
Studies in Compensatory Lengthening
Schwa et Syllabes en Francais Annie Rialland La question du schwa est une des plus etudiees de la phonologie fran9aise mais, inversement, celle de la syllabation phonetique est mal connue et pourtant les deux sont liees. On salt en  ...
Leo Wetzels, Engin Sezer, 1986
10
Sound & Rhythm. Understanding Spoken English
the Phenomenon oF Vowel RedUCtIon oR the SChwA SoUnd In a word such as OR phan l l the second syllable is not accented, and thus has less power than the first one, so the vowel contained in the second syllable is articulated with ...
Nancy Lippmann, 2009

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «SCHWA»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term schwa is used in the context of the following news items.
1
Ten Years Later, Schwa is as Excellent as Ever
In 2008, the food writer Alan Richman invited my wife and me to dine at Schwa. He was working on a story about the restaurant's enigmatic chef, Michael ... «Chicagomag.com, Jul 15»
2
Daily Dime: Cargo, A-Rod, Sale, The Schwa
Let's have some fun with The Schwa before he's returned to the minors (if that even happens). Christian Yelich, OF, at CIN (Leake), $3000: It's been a slow ... «Yahoo Sports, Jun 15»
3
The Power of Schwa: Surging Demand for English Language Spurs …
HONG KONG– You gotta have schwa. Actually, if you're a native English speaker, you've already been using plenty of schwa, because you naturally understand ... «Wall Street Journal, Jun 15»
4
It's all about that schwa
In English, many times when a syllable is unstressed, the vowel will change to the “uh” sound, and different unstressed vowels can show up as schwa, says ... «Michigan Radio, May 15»
5
No Chef in America Cooks Dinner Quite Like Phillip Foss
The famously mercurial chef, proprietor of Chicago's famous (or perhaps infamous) restaurant Schwa, can arguably be credited more than any other figure for ... «Eater, Apr 15»
6
Schmerztherapie-Spezialist schwa-medico übernimmt neurotech …
(PresseBox) (Ehringshausen, 06.02.2015 ) Die schwa-medico Gruppe mit Sitz in Ehringshausen, Hessen, baut den Vertrieb medizinischer Produkte im ... «PresseBox, Feb 15»
7
Time for a New Year's resolution? Definately? Defiantly? Definitely!
When we get to that second “i” in definitely we hit a very special sound in English called the schwa. The schwa is that caveman sounding grunt - “uh”. «The Conversation AU, Dec 14»
8
Children's Read & Write: Learning to fly with summer books
"The Schwa Was Here" by Neal Shusterman is a terrific novel. The Schwa is an eighth-grader who is never noticed. There are a lot of rumors about the Schwa ... «Chicago Tribune, Sep 14»
9
The NFL Has Some Questions About The N-Word
And that, thus educated, a crew of mostly white referees will spend their Sundays monitoring for schwa sounds. This is going to be something. Advertisement. «Deadspin, Aug 14»
10
Alien Autopsy: William Barker on Schwa, two decades later
Twenty years ago, William Barker's Schwa artwork revealed a world of alien abductions, stick figure insanity, conspiratorial crazy, and a hyper-branded ... «Boing Boing, Jul 14»

REFERENCE
« EDUCALINGO. Schwa [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/schwa>. May 2024 ».
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