ə

See also: ǝ [U+01DD LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED E], Ǝ [U+018E LATIN CAPITAL LETTER REVERSED E], ә [U+04D9 CYRILLIC SMALL LETTER SCHWA], Ә [U+04D8 CYRILLIC CAPITAL LETTER SCHWA], Ə [U+018F LATIN CAPITAL LETTER SCHWA], and Appendix:Variations of "e"

ə U+0259, ə LATIN SMALL LETTER SCHWA ← ɘ [U+0258] IPA Extensions ɚ → [U+025A]

Character variations

ᵊ U+1D4A, ᵊ MODIFIER LETTER SMALL SCHWA ← ᵉ [U+1D49] Phonetic Extensions ᵋ → [U+1D4B]

Translingual

Etymology

Coined by German philologist Johann Andreas Schmeller in 1821 for his grammar of Bavarian.

Pronunciation

• IPA:

  (file)

Symbol

ə (English symbol name schwa)

1. (IPA) a reduced mid-central vowel, undefined for rounding.
2. (superscript ⟨ᵊ⟩, IPA) [ə]-coloring or a weak, fleeting, epenthetic or echo [ə].
3. (UPA) a reduced e vowel.
4. (superscript ⟨ᵊ⟩, UPA) an extremely short or fleeting ə.

Usage notes

The IPA provides two letters for reduced vowels: mid ⟨ə⟩ and low (open) ⟨ɐ⟩. These are not defined for rounding. For languages such as English, French and Russian that have additional or just different reduced vowels, some sources use the non-IPA letters ⟨ᵿ⟩ and ⟨ᵻ⟩ for rounded and unrounded high (close) reduced vowels, or redefine IPA ⟨ɵ⟩ as a rounded reduced mid vowel.

See also

• With hook: ɚ
• With ogonek: ə̨
• E
• Ǝ (turned E), ǝ
• Ә (Cyrillic schwa)
• ع (ain)
• Wikipedia article on Schwa

English

Symbol

ə

1. (lexicography) schwa, e.g. \sō′fə\ for sofa.

   (superscript ⟨ᵊ⟩) optional schwa, e.g. \băt′ᵊl\ for battle.

   (superscript ⟨ᵊ⟩) French final schwa, as in \bᴀstôn′yᵊ\ for Bastogne.

Azerbaijani

Pronunciation

• (phoneme) IPA^(key): /æ/

• Audio:

  (file)

Letter

ə (lower case, upper case Ə)

1. The seventh letter of the Azerbaijani alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) hərf; A a, B b, C c, Ç ç, D d, E e, Ə ə, F f, G g, Ğ ğ, H h, X x, I ı, İ i, J j, K k, Q q, L l, M m, N n, O o, Ö ö, P p, R r, S s, Ş ş, T t, U u, Ü ü, V v, Y y, Z z

Comox

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ə]

Letter

ə (no case)

1. A letter of the Comox alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) a, æ, aw, ay, ɔ, č, č̓, e, ɛ, ə, əw, əy, g, gʸ, h, i, ɩ, j, k, k̓, kʷ, k̓ʷ, kʸ, k̓ʸ, l, l̓, ɬ, ƛ, ƛ̓, m, m̓, n, n̓, o, ɔy, p, p̓, q, q̓, qʷ, q̓ʷ, s, š, t, t̓, θ, tᶿ, t̓ᶿ, u, ʊ, w, w̓, ꭓ, ꭓʷ, x, xʷ, y, y̓, ʔ, ꞉

Fe'fe'

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ə/

Letter

ə (lower case, upper case Ə)

1. A letter of the Fe'fe' alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Halkomelem

Alternative forms

• (Stó꞉lō) e
• (Cowichan) u

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ə/

Letter

ə (no case)

1. (Musqueam) A letter of the Halkomelem alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

• Musqueam

• (Latin-script letters) c, c̓, č, h, k, kʷ, k̓ʷ, l, l̓, ƛ̓, ɬ, m, m̓, n, n̓, p, p̓, q, q̓, qʷ, q̓ʷ, s, š, t, t̓, t̓ᶿ, θ, w, w̓, x, xʷ, ꭓ, ꭓʷ, y, y̓, ʔ, a, a꞉, e, e꞉, i, i꞉, u, u꞉, ə

• Stó꞉lō

• (Latin-script letters) A a, Ch ch, Chʼ chʼ, E e, H h, I i, K k, Kʼ kʼ, Kw kw, Kwʼ kwʼ, L l, Lh lh, M n, O o, Ō ō, P p, Pʼ pʼ, Q q, Qʼ qʼ, Qw qw, Qwʼ qwʼ, S s, Sh sh, T t, Tʼ tʼ, Th th, Thʼ thʼ, Tlʼ tlʼ, Ts ts, Tsʼ tsʼ, U u, W w, X x, Xw xw, X̱ x̱, X̱w x̱w, Y y, ʼ, ꞉

• Cowichan

• (Latin-script letters) A a, Aa aa, Ch ch, Chʼ chʼ, E e, Ee ee, H h, Hw hw, I i, Ii ii, K k, Kw kw, Kwʼ kwʼ, L l, Lʼ lʼ (ʼl), Lh lh, M m, Mʼ mʼ (ʼm), N n, Nʼ nʼ (ʼn), O o, Oo oo, Ou ou, P p, Pʼ pʼ, Q q, Qʼ qʼ, Qw qw, Qwʼ qwʼ, S s, Sh sh, T t, Tʼ tʼ, Th th, Tlʼ tlʼ, Ts ts, Tsʼ tsʼ, Tth tth, Tthʼ tthʼ, U u, W w, Wʼ wʼ (ʼw), X x, Xw xw, Y y, Yʼ yʼ (ʼy), ʼ

Kwak'wala

Alternative forms

• ⟨a̱⟩ in Uʼmista orthography (standard Kwakʼwala)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ə/

Letter

ə (lower case, upper case Ə)

1. (Liqʼwala dialect) A letter of the Kwak'wala alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

• Uʼmista
• (Latin-script letters) A a, A̱ a̱, B b, D d, Dł dł, Dz dz, E e, G g, Gw gw, G̱ g̱, G̱w g̱w, H h, I i, K k, Kw kw, K̓ k̓, K̓w k̓w, Ḵ ḵ, Ḵw ḵw, Ḵ̓ ḵ̓, Ḵ̓w ḵ̓w, L l, ʼL ʼl, Ł ł, M m, ʼM ʼm, N n, ʼN ʼn, O o, P p, P̓ p̓, S s, T t, T̓ t̓, Tł tł, T̓ł t̓ł, Ts ts, T̓s t̓s, U u, W w, ʼW ʼw, X x, Xw xw, X̱ x̱, X̱w x̱w, Y y, ʼY ʼy, ʼ

• Liq̓ʷala
• (Latin-script letters) A a, Ə ə, B b, D d, Ꟛ ꟛ, Dᶻ dᶻ, E e, G g, Gʷ gʷ, Ǧ ǧ, Ǧʷ ǧʷ, H h, I i, K k, Kʷ kʷ, K̓ k̓, K̓ʷ k̓ʷ, Q q, Qʷ qʷ, Q̓ q̓, Q̓ʷ q̓ʷ, L l, L̓ l̓, Ł ł, M m, M̓ m̓, N n, N̓ n̓, O o, P p, P̓ p̓, S s, T t, T̓ t̓, Ƛ ƛ, Ƛ̓ ƛ̓, C c, C̓ c̓, U u, W w, W̓ w̓, X x, Xʷ xʷ, X̌ x̌, X̌ʷ x̌ʷ, Y y, Y̓ y̓, ʔ

Lushootseed

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ə/

Letter

ə (lower case, upper case Ə)

1. The eleventh letter of the Lushootseed alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Maskelynes

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ə/

Letter

ə (lower case, upper case Ə)

1. A letter of the Maskelynes alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Okanagan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ə/

Letter

ə (lower case, upper case Ə)

1. A letter of the Okanagan alphabet, written in the Latin script; ⟨ə́⟩ counts as a distinct letter.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) A a, Á á, C c, C̓ c̓, Ə ə, Ə́ ə́, Ɣ ɣ, Ɣ̓ ɣ̓, H h, Ḥ ḥ, I i, Í í, K k, K̓ k̓, Kʷ kʷ, K̓ʷ k̓ʷ, L l, L̓ l̓, Ł ł, Ɬ ɬ, Ƛ̓ ƛ̓, M m, M̓ m̓, N n, N̓ n̓, P p, P̓ p̓, Q q, Q̓ q̓, Qʷ qʷ, Q̓ʷ q̓ʷ, R r, R̓ r̓, S s, T t, T̓ t̓, U u, Ú ú, W w, W̓ w̓, X x, Xʷ xʷ, X̌ x̌, X̌ʷ x̌ʷ, Y y, Y̓ y̓, ʕ, ʕ̓, ʕʷ, ʕ̓ʷ, ʔ

Osage

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ə]

Letter

ə (lower case, upper case Ə, Osage equivalent 𐓛)

1. A letter of the Osage alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Slovene

Etymology

Probably from IPA transcription ə or even before from German transcriptions.

Pronunciation

• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /ə́/, /ə̀/
• (symbol name): IPA^(key): /ə̀ː/, IPA^(key): /pɔʋɡláːsnik/ (polglasnik)
• Rhymes: -ə, -aːsnik

Symbol

ə

1. (tonal SNPT) Phonetic transcription of sounds [ə́, ə̀].

Usage notes

Symbol is sometimes used as a letter to denote pitch and pronunciation in a word, but that is mostly limited to foreign or specialized dictionaries.

See also

• ē
• è
• e
• ê
• ḙ
• é
• é

References

• Toporišič, Jože (2000), Slovenska slovnica / Jože Toporišič. - 4. prenovljena in razširjena izd. (in Slovene), Maribor: Obzorja, →ISBN

Uyghur

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /æ/

Letter

ə (lower case, upper case Ə)

1. A letter of Uyghur New Script of China, written in the Latin script.

See also

• ə on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• (Latin script):  Aa  Bb  Cc  Dd  Ee  Ff  Gg  Hh  Ii  Jj  Kk  Ll  Mm  Nn  Oo  Pp  Qq  Rr  Sſs  Tt  Uu  Vv  Ww  Xx  Yy  Zz

Wakhi

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ə/

Letter

ə (lower case, upper case Ə)

1. A letter of the Wakhi alphabet, written in the Latin script.