The Schwa Sound

This a very tricky rule to explain and has many complications. It is avoided by many programs and teachers.

The schwa sound is represented in IPA as an upside down letter e. The schwa is in an unstressed syllable and it can be spelt with any vowel letter. Not at all tricky!!

Listen for the schwa sound

The schwa is found in the unstressed syllable of a word. To find the unstressed vowel place your hand under your chin to feel the syllables. The unstressed vowel moves the least. The stress may move depending on the morphology of the word – president, preside, presidential: define, definite, definitely.

Example words

•a -zebra, panda, human, about, along, animal

•e - garden, travel, frozen

•i – fossil, president, definite

•o – lion, freedom, parrot

•u- circus, support, circumstance, album

•er – teacher, baker, walker

•or – doctor, inspector, gladiator, director

• ar – collar, dollar, rectangular, caterpillar

•ure – measure, picture, nature

How to teach

• First recognise the schwa sound – where is it in the word?
• Then think if morphology help here? E.g. er as a suffix = person who. So teacher, what does a teacher do? “teach”, so add the suffix er.
• Say words for reading and say them differently for spelling to emphasize the schwa sound. This is a really useful strategy for learning these words, especially those which are tricky for the individual.