Schwa
/ʃwɑ/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 An indeterminate central vowel sound as the "a" in "about", represented as /ə/ in IPA.
"The participle has also, owing to the accent, the lightest possible forms; but here there was no reduplication, and so in class I. the "schwa" took the form e before single mutes or fricatives, and elsewhere o."
- 2 Alternative form of shva. alt-of, alternative
- 3 a neutral middle vowel; occurs in unstressed syllables wordnet
- 4 The name of the Latin script letter Ə/ə.
Verb
- 1 To be reduced to schwa. rare
Example
More examples"A schwa represents a neutral vowel."
Etymology
Borrowed from German Schwa, from Hebrew שווא / שְׁוָא (shva, šəwā, “(mark indicating reduction or absence of a vowel)”), borrowed from Classical Syriac ܫ̈ܘܰܝܳܐ (š'wayyā, literally “even, equal”), in Syriac a term for a sign consisting of two vertical dots used to separate parts of a sentence. Doublet of shva.