grammarfreak
Junior Member
- Joined
- Dec 8, 2010
- Member Type
- Student or Learner
- Native Language
- Spanish
- Home Country
- Dominican Republic
- Current Location
- Dominican Republic
Dear teachers :
As far as I have learned about the schwa sound, it is a reduced vowel sound that occurs in unstressed syllables of muti-syllable words or function words to reduce a vowel sound, its purpose is to allow the unstressed syllable to be said more quickly so that the stressed syllable may be easier to be pronounced, it does not have an exact and standard pronunciation; I think this is because vowels do not have the same sound; apart from being the most common sound in spoken English, I also think is very natural in English and has the same sound either in american or in british pronunciation. Schwa sound is represented by the IPA ( International Phonetic Alphabet ) and dictionaries as an upside down letter e, just like this symbol /ə/.
My questions are as follows :
1) The schwa sound /ə/ is related to a short u sound which is represented by IPA as /ʌ /, both are a short, quick and relaxed sound, but I found that the short u sound occurs in unstressed and stressed syllables has a stronger beat than the schwa sound in both type of syllables.
The word '' another ''/əˈnʌð ər/ has two schwa sounds in (a and e ), but the short u sound in (o) is stressed.
The word '' pronunciation '' /prəˌnʌn siˈeɪ ʃən/ has two schwa sounds in ( o and io), but the short u sound in ( u ) is unstressed, it has a secondary stress in this sound; the stress is in the letter ( a ).
2) The majority of function words have no schwa sound originally or separately, but in conversation they took the schwa sound to reduce the vowel sound, like in : the, that, to, was, has, a, can, etc. Can these words be pronounced as no schwa sound in a conversation too?
3) I want to learn a way that helps me to identify the schwa sound easily so as not to confuse it with a real vowel sound because it is a very common sound in spoken English.
4) My last question is about the function word to when taking a schwa sound in a conversation. In this case I sometimes hear the to sounds as an a schwa sound preceded by an r , and sounding like r ə, for instance:
a) I swear to God : /aɪ swɛər tə Gɒd/ ;
I hear it as : /aɪ 'swɛrə Gɒd/
b) So, go to work : /soʊ, goʊ tə wɜrk/ ;
I hear it as : /soʊ, 'goʊrəwɜrk/
c) We had to learn : /wi hæd tə lɜrn/ ;
I hear it as : /wi 'hærəlɜrn/
Although I do not know if it is common in English, I have heard the letters d and t lose its sound and take an r sound in some words that have rd and rt follow by certain vowels in a conversation, and sometimes individually; in some words that end in d or t and are follow by a vowel; in some words that end with a d or t sound and are follow by a vowel. The letter t is also sometimes pronounced as r, and the past form ed sounds as /rɪd/ when preceded by d. The following are examples about this matter :
1) Order : /ˈɔr dər/ ;
It sounds like : /ˈɔr ər/
2) Important : /ɪmˈpɔr tnt/ ;
It sounds like : /ɪmˈpɔr nt/
3) Hideaway : /ˈhaɪd əˌweɪ/ ;
It sounds like : /ˈhaɪrəˌweɪ/
4) Negative : /ˈnɛg ə tɪv/ ;
It sounds like : /ˈnɛg ərɪv/
5) Modern : /ˈmɒd ərn/ ;
It sounds like :/ˈmɒr ərn/
6) I heard it : /aɪhɜrd ɪt/ ;
It sounds like : /aɪ 'hɜrɪt/
7) Heat it : /hit ɪt/ ;
It sounds like : /hirɪt/
8) Write it : /raɪt ɪt/ ;
It sounds like : /'raɪrɪt/
9) Hide it : /haɪd ɪt/ ;
It sounds like : /'haɪrɪt/
10) Decided : /dɪˈsaɪ dɪd/ ;
It sounds like : /dɪˈsaɪrɪd/
11) Provided : /prəˈvaɪ dɪd/ ;
It sounds like : /prəˈvaɪ rɪd/
In my opinion, I think this is the reason why to when spoken as a schwa sound in a conversation takes the r ə sound, as in the examples a); b) and c) above.
I need your assistance and explanation in this matter, please if any of you know a good book about phonetics, I will appreciate your recommendation.
Sincerely,
Grammarfreak
Observation :
I forgot to complete the last point above mentioned ( the number 4 ) in this thread, what I want to mean is that these sounds I have only heard them in american spoken English. The number 4 exposition ( the last one ) also includes the last paragraph.
As far as I have learned about the schwa sound, it is a reduced vowel sound that occurs in unstressed syllables of muti-syllable words or function words to reduce a vowel sound, its purpose is to allow the unstressed syllable to be said more quickly so that the stressed syllable may be easier to be pronounced, it does not have an exact and standard pronunciation; I think this is because vowels do not have the same sound; apart from being the most common sound in spoken English, I also think is very natural in English and has the same sound either in american or in british pronunciation. Schwa sound is represented by the IPA ( International Phonetic Alphabet ) and dictionaries as an upside down letter e, just like this symbol /ə/.
My questions are as follows :
1) The schwa sound /ə/ is related to a short u sound which is represented by IPA as /ʌ /, both are a short, quick and relaxed sound, but I found that the short u sound occurs in unstressed and stressed syllables has a stronger beat than the schwa sound in both type of syllables.
The word '' another ''/əˈnʌð ər/ has two schwa sounds in (a and e ), but the short u sound in (o) is stressed.
The word '' pronunciation '' /prəˌnʌn siˈeɪ ʃən/ has two schwa sounds in ( o and io), but the short u sound in ( u ) is unstressed, it has a secondary stress in this sound; the stress is in the letter ( a ).
2) The majority of function words have no schwa sound originally or separately, but in conversation they took the schwa sound to reduce the vowel sound, like in : the, that, to, was, has, a, can, etc. Can these words be pronounced as no schwa sound in a conversation too?
3) I want to learn a way that helps me to identify the schwa sound easily so as not to confuse it with a real vowel sound because it is a very common sound in spoken English.
4) My last question is about the function word to when taking a schwa sound in a conversation. In this case I sometimes hear the to sounds as an a schwa sound preceded by an r , and sounding like r ə, for instance:
a) I swear to God : /aɪ swɛər tə Gɒd/ ;
I hear it as : /aɪ 'swɛrə Gɒd/
b) So, go to work : /soʊ, goʊ tə wɜrk/ ;
I hear it as : /soʊ, 'goʊrəwɜrk/
c) We had to learn : /wi hæd tə lɜrn/ ;
I hear it as : /wi 'hærəlɜrn/
Although I do not know if it is common in English, I have heard the letters d and t lose its sound and take an r sound in some words that have rd and rt follow by certain vowels in a conversation, and sometimes individually; in some words that end in d or t and are follow by a vowel; in some words that end with a d or t sound and are follow by a vowel. The letter t is also sometimes pronounced as r, and the past form ed sounds as /rɪd/ when preceded by d. The following are examples about this matter :
1) Order : /ˈɔr dər/ ;
It sounds like : /ˈɔr ər/
2) Important : /ɪmˈpɔr tnt/ ;
It sounds like : /ɪmˈpɔr nt/
3) Hideaway : /ˈhaɪd əˌweɪ/ ;
It sounds like : /ˈhaɪrəˌweɪ/
4) Negative : /ˈnɛg ə tɪv/ ;
It sounds like : /ˈnɛg ərɪv/
5) Modern : /ˈmɒd ərn/ ;
It sounds like :/ˈmɒr ərn/
6) I heard it : /aɪhɜrd ɪt/ ;
It sounds like : /aɪ 'hɜrɪt/
7) Heat it : /hit ɪt/ ;
It sounds like : /hirɪt/
8) Write it : /raɪt ɪt/ ;
It sounds like : /'raɪrɪt/
9) Hide it : /haɪd ɪt/ ;
It sounds like : /'haɪrɪt/
10) Decided : /dɪˈsaɪ dɪd/ ;
It sounds like : /dɪˈsaɪrɪd/
11) Provided : /prəˈvaɪ dɪd/ ;
It sounds like : /prəˈvaɪ rɪd/
In my opinion, I think this is the reason why to when spoken as a schwa sound in a conversation takes the r ə sound, as in the examples a); b) and c) above.
I need your assistance and explanation in this matter, please if any of you know a good book about phonetics, I will appreciate your recommendation.
Sincerely,
Grammarfreak
Observation :
I forgot to complete the last point above mentioned ( the number 4 ) in this thread, what I want to mean is that these sounds I have only heard them in american spoken English. The number 4 exposition ( the last one ) also includes the last paragraph.
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