miércoles, 24 de octubre de 2012

The Schwa Sound


“The central vowel /ə/ can claim to be the ‘smallest’ English
 vowel sound and yet   it is the only phoneme with its own name. 
It is by far the most frequent vowel sound in continuous speech, 
though it never carries stress. It is its unstressed nature that
contrasts with stressed vowels to contribute to the rhythmical nature of English.(…) 
Its correct use is crucial to the smooth rhythmic quality of spoken English. /ɜ:/ is its longer, stressed equivalent.”
 "Sound Foundations, Learning and teaching pronunciation", Adrian Underhill, Macmillan, 2005. (Page 11)

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