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Mid central vowel
The mid central vowel is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. A reduced mid central vowel is known as a schwa. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents either sound is ⟨ə⟩, a rotated lowercase letter e.
The word, schwa, comes from the Hebrew Shva (via German), a Niqqud, which in most cases in Modern Hebrew denotes a de-emphasis of an accompanying vowel that would otherwise be pronounced strongly. Shva itself is silent and is not a mid central vowel, which does not exist in Modern Hebrew.
While the Handbook of the International Phonetic Association does not define the roundedness of [ə], a schwa 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." 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 ⟨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 or backness. For instance, in Dutch, the unrounded allophone of /ə/ is mid central unrounded [ə], but its word-final rounded allophone is close-mid front rounded [ø̜], close to the main allophone of /ʏ/.
"Mid central vowel" and "schwa" do not always mean the same thing, and the symbol ⟨ə⟩ is often used for any obscure vowel, regardless of its precise quality. For instance, the unstressed English vowel transcribed ⟨ə⟩ and called "schwa" is a central unrounded vowel that can be close-mid [ɘ], mid [ə] or open-mid [ɜ], depending on the environment. The French vowel transcribed that way is closer to [ø].
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: ⟨ɘ ɜ⟩ for an unrounded vowel or ⟨ɵ ɞ⟩ for a rounded vowel.
The mid central unrounded vowel is frequently written with the symbol ⟨ə⟩. If greater precision is desired, the symbol for the close-mid central unrounded vowel may be used with a lowering diacritic, ⟨ɘ̞⟩, or for the open-mid central unrounded vowel with a raising diacritic, ⟨ɜ̝⟩.
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Mid central vowel
The mid central vowel is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. A reduced mid central vowel is known as a schwa. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents either sound is ⟨ə⟩, a rotated lowercase letter e.
The word, schwa, comes from the Hebrew Shva (via German), a Niqqud, which in most cases in Modern Hebrew denotes a de-emphasis of an accompanying vowel that would otherwise be pronounced strongly. Shva itself is silent and is not a mid central vowel, which does not exist in Modern Hebrew.
While the Handbook of the International Phonetic Association does not define the roundedness of [ə], a schwa 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." 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 ⟨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 or backness. For instance, in Dutch, the unrounded allophone of /ə/ is mid central unrounded [ə], but its word-final rounded allophone is close-mid front rounded [ø̜], close to the main allophone of /ʏ/.
"Mid central vowel" and "schwa" do not always mean the same thing, and the symbol ⟨ə⟩ is often used for any obscure vowel, regardless of its precise quality. For instance, the unstressed English vowel transcribed ⟨ə⟩ and called "schwa" is a central unrounded vowel that can be close-mid [ɘ], mid [ə] or open-mid [ɜ], depending on the environment. The French vowel transcribed that way is closer to [ø].
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: ⟨ɘ ɜ⟩ for an unrounded vowel or ⟨ɵ ɞ⟩ for a rounded vowel.
The mid central unrounded vowel is frequently written with the symbol ⟨ə⟩. If greater precision is desired, the symbol for the close-mid central unrounded vowel may be used with a lowering diacritic, ⟨ɘ̞⟩, or for the open-mid central unrounded vowel with a raising diacritic, ⟨ɜ̝⟩.