Mid central vowel | |
---|---|
? | |
IPA Number | 322 |
Encoding | |
Entity (decimal) | ə |
Unicode (hex) | U+0259 |
X-SAMPA | @ |
Braille | ![]() |
Audio sample | |
IPA: Vowels |
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Vowels beside dots are: unrounded • rounded |
The mid central vowel (also known as schwa) is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨?⟩, a rotated lowercase letter e.
While the Handbook of the International Phonetic Association does not define the roundedness of [?],[1] it is more often unrounded than rounded. The phonetician Jane Setter describes the pronunciation of the unrounded variant as follows: "[?] is a sound which can be produced by basically relaxing the articulators in the oral cavity and vocalising."[2] 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 ⟨oe⟩. The contrast is not very stable, and many speakers use an unrounded vowel in both cases.[3]
Some languages, such as Danish[4] and Luxembourgish,[5] have a mid central vowel that is variably rounded. In some other languages, things are more complicated, as the change in rounding is accompanied with the change in height and/or backness. For instance, in Dutch, the unrounded allophone of /?/ is mid central unrounded [?], but its word-final rounded allophone is close-mid front rounded , close to the main allophone of /?/.[6]
The symbol ⟨?⟩ is often used for any unstressed obscure vowel, regardless of its precise quality. For instance, the English vowel transcribed ⟨?⟩ is a central unrounded vowel that can be close-mid , mid [?] or open-mid , depending on the environment.[7]
The mid central unrounded vowel is frequently written with the symbol [?]. If greater precision is desired, the symbol for the close-mid central unrounded vowel may be used with a lowering diacritic, []. Another possibility is using the symbol for the open-mid central unrounded vowel with a raising diacritic, [].
Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Afrikaans | Standard[3] | lig | [l] | 'light' | Also described as open-mid .[8] See Afrikaans phonology |
Many speakers[3] | lug | 'air' | Many speakers merge /oe/ with /?/, even in formal speech.[3] See Afrikaans phonology | ||
Catalan | Eastern Catalan[9] | amb | [?m(b)] | 'with' | Reduced vowel. The exact height, backness and rounding are variable.[10] See Catalan phonology |
Some Western accents[11] | |||||
Chinese | Mandarin[12] | ? / g?n | 'root' | See Standard Chinese phonology | |
Chuvash | ? | [?m'an] | 'worm' | ||
Danish | Standard[13][14] | hoppe | ['hp?] | 'mare' | Sometimes realized as rounded [].[4] See Danish phonology |
Dutch | Standard[6] | renner | ['r?n?r] | 'runner' | The backness varies between near-front and central, whereas the height varies between close-mid and open-mid. Many speakers feel that this vowel is simply an unstressed allophone of .[6] See Dutch phonology |
English | Most dialects[7][15] | Tina | ['t?i:n?] | 'Tina' | Reduced vowel; varies in height between close-mid and open-mid. Word-final /?/ can be as low as .[7][15] See English phonology |
Cultivated South African[16] | bird | [b:d] | 'bird' | May be transcribed in IPA with ⟨?:⟩. Other South African varieties use a higher, more front and rounded vowel . See South African English phonology | |
Norfolk[17] | |||||
Received Pronunciation[18] | Often transcribed in IPA with ⟨?:⟩. It is sulcalized, which means the tongue is grooved like in [?]. 'Upper Crust RP' speakers pronounce a near-open vowel , but for some other speakers it may actually be open-mid . This vowel corresponds to rhotacized in rhotic dialects. | ||||
Geordie[19] | bust | [b?st] | 'bust' | Spoken by some middle class speakers, mostly female; other speakers use . Corresponds to or in other dialects. | |
Indian[20] | May be lower. Some Indian varieties merge or with /?/ like Welsh English. | ||||
Wales[21] | May also be further back; it corresponds to or in other dialects. | ||||
Yorkshire[22] | Middle class pronunciation. Other speakers use . Corresponds to or in other dialects. | ||||
Galician | Some dialects | leite | ['lejt?] | 'milk' | Alternative realization of final unstressed /e/ or /?/ (normally [i~?~e?]) |
fenecer | [f?n?'s?e?] | 'to die' | Alternative realization of unstressed /e/ or /?/ in any position | ||
German | Standard[23] | Beschlag | 'fitting' | See Standard German phonology | |
Southern German accents[24] | oder | ['o:d?] | 'or' | Used instead of .[24] See Standard German phonology | |
Kensiu[25] | [t?h] | 'to be bald' | Contrasts with a rhotacized close-mid .[25] | ||
Kurdish | Sorani (Central) | ?/?ew | [w] | 'night' | See Kurdish phonology |
Palewani (Southern) | |||||
Luxembourgish[5] | dënn | [dn] | 'thin' | More often realized as slightly rounded [].[5] See Luxembourgish phonology | |
Malay | Malaysian Malay | pengadil | [p?.?ä.d?l] | 'referee' | See Malay phonology |
Norwegian | Many dialects[26] | sterkeste | [²stæ?k?st?] | 'the strongest' | Occurs only in unstressed syllables. The example word is from Urban East Norwegian. Some dialects (e.g. Trondheimsk) lack this sound.[27] See Norwegian phonology |
Plautdietsch[28] | bediedt | [b?'dit] | 'means' | The example word is from the Canadian Old Colony variety, in which the vowel is somewhat fronted [].[28] | |
Portuguese | Brazilian[29] | maçã | [ma's?] | 'apple' | Possible realization of final stressed /ã/. |
Romanian[30] | p?ros | [p?'ros] | 'hairy' | See Romanian phonology | |
Serbo-Croatian[31] | vrt | [rt?] | 'garden' | [?r] is a possible phonetic realization of the syllabic trill /r?/ when it occurs between consonants.[31] See Serbo-Croatian phonology | |
Swedish | Southern[32] | vante | [²vänt?] | 'mitten' | Corresponds to a slightly retracted front vowel [] in Central Standard Swedish.[32] See Swedish phonology |
Tyap | a?tan | [?tan] | '?ood' | ||
Welsh | mynydd | [m?n?ð] | 'mountain' | See Welsh phonology |
Languages may have a mid central rounded vowel (a rounded [?]), distinct from both the close-mid and open-mid vowels. However, since no language is known to distinguish all three, there is no separate IPA symbol for the mid vowel, and the symbol [?] for the close-mid central rounded vowel is generally used instead. If precision is desired, the lowering diacritic can be used: []. This vowel can also be represented by adding the more rounded diacritic to the schwa symbol, or by combining the raising diacritic with the open-mid central rounded vowel symbol, although it is rare to use such symbols.
Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Afrikaans | Standard[3] | lug | [l] | 'air' | Also described as open-mid ,[8] typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨oe⟩. Many speakers merge /oe/ and /?/, even in formal speech.[3] See Afrikaans phonology |
Danish | Standard[4] | hoppe | ['hp] | 'mare' | Possible realization of /?/.[4] See Danish phonology |
Dutch | Southern[33] | hut | [t] | 'hut' | Found in certain accents, e.g. in Bruges. Close-mid in Standard Dutch.[33] See Dutch phonology |
French[34][35] | je | [] | 'I' | Only somewhat rounded;[34] may be transcribed in IPA with ⟨?⟩ or ⟨?⟩. Also described as close-mid .[36] May be more front for a number of speakers. See French phonology | |
German | Chemnitz dialect[37] | Wonne | ['vn?] | 'bliss' | Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨?⟩.[37] |
Irish | Munster[38] | scoil | [skl?] | 'school' | Allophone of /?/ between a broad and a slender consonant.[38] See Irish phonology |
Luxembourgish[5] | dënn | [dn] | 'thin' | Only slightly rounded; less often realized as unrounded [].[5] See Luxembourgish phonology | |
Norwegian | Urban East[39] | nøtt | [nt:] | 'nut' | Also described as open-mid front ;[26][40] typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨oe⟩ or ⟨ø⟩. See Norwegian phonology |
Plautdietsch | Canadian Old Colony[41] | butzt | [bt?st] | 'bumps' | Mid-centralized from , to which it corresponds in other dialects.[41] |
Swedish | Central Standard[42][43] | full | 'full' | Pronounced with compressed lips, more closely transcribed [] or []. Less often described as close-mid .[44] See Swedish phonology |