Accent Modification – Stress Within a Word (Part Two)
In part one of this blog, I mentioned that knowing where to stress and reduce syllables is important for clear pronunciation. In part two, we look at reducing vowel sounds to schwa. The schwa sound /ə/ is a reduced vowel sound that is short in duration. The schwa sound is always unstressed (not emphasized). In English, the vowel letters a, e, i, o, u can all be reduced to the schwa sound. This means that many English syllables can be made shorter in length.
Syllable-timed languages versus Stress-Timed Languages
Students who speak a syllable-timed language (French, Spanish, Italian, Cantonese, Mandarin, Brazilian Portuguese, Korean, etc.) will often give equal weight to each syllable in English, regardless of whether the syllable is stressed or unstressed. However, in English,we do not give equal weight to each syllable. Some syllables are longer than others.
How to produce the schwa sound /ə/:
Step 1. Open your mouth very slightly by dropping your jaw slightly. Relax your lips and leave them in a neutral position.
Step 2. Lift your tongue to the middle of your mouth.
Remember: Your lips, tongue, and jaw should be very relaxed for this sound. The schwa sound sounds like a quick ‘uh’ sound.
The schwa sound in two-syllable nouns
Let’s look at a few examples of the schwa sound in two-syllable nouns, where the schwa sound is in the second syllable. (Note: The vast majority of two-syllable nouns are stressed on the first syllable). In the words below, the syllables containing the schwa sound are in lowercase, while the STRESSED syllables are bolded and in UPPER case (capital letters). Remember that the schwa sound is always reduced, which means that it is always shorter in length.
CHOClate PURpose FOcus SALad
The schwa sound in two-syllable verbs
The schwa sound often occurs in the first syllable of many two-syllable verbs beginning with con- and com-. Here are some examples:
comPLAIN conTROL conTAIN comPARE
Notice that the first syllable of the verb contains the schwa sound and is reduced, while the second syllable is longer and STRESSED. (The majority of verbs are stressed on the second syllable).
The schwa sound also occurs in the first syllable of some two-syllable verbs beginning with, pro- and su-.
proDUCE proTECT proPOSE proVIDE suGGEST suPPORT suPPLY
Note: There are exceptions, for example, in the verbs ‘PROmise’, ‘PROcess’, ‘PROsper’, and ‘SUffer’, the first syllable is stressed.
Many two-syllable verbs beginning with ‘a ’ have the schwa sound in the first syllable:
acCEPT adMIRE adVISE aFFECT aFFORD aGREE aNNOY aPPROVE aSSUME
Notice that the first syllable in these verbs is ‘reduced’ and shorter in length.
Four-syllable nouns and adjectives with the schwa sound
Now let’s look at some four-syllable nouns and adjectives which have the schwa sound in the first and third syllables. The stress pattern looks like this: ● ⬤ ● ●
aCADemy aNATomy aNALysis aNALogy aMENity
conSERvative comPETitive conSECutive comPARable
In the accent modification course, students learn where to place primary stress within a word and where to reduce vowel sounds to schwa. We hope this blog has been helpful.
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