The Schwa Sound: The Secret To American Pronunciation

hey there welcome this is me hadar and this is the accents way and I haven't gone live in a while and I know this is not a usual time for me to go live but hey I want to keep you on your toes listen up today we have something really really important if you watch my videos you know that I always talk about the schwa sound the schwa now what is the schwa today I want to discuss the schwa sound and talk about how to use it how to pronounce it when to use it and why it is so so important for you as a non-native speaker to be aware of this concept of the sound because as I wrote in the title it's the key to American pronunciation it's the secret to really understanding and owning American rhythm and pronunciation so hi to everyone who are who is joining right now hello hello hello how are you tell me where you're from there's a new feature where I can actually see and watch all the messages all the chat messages after the video is over so if I don't see it now I will see it later and you can always comment again on the video to get my response if you have more questions okay so we have Saudi Arabia serious fame amazing all around the world France hello hello okay so let's begin with talking about the schwa the schwa is the most neutral vowel sound in American English it's the most common sound that you hear and it sounds something like this a really neutral as you can see my jaw is relaxed my lips are relaxed I am not opening my mouth so try it with me just drop your jaw a little bit and release a short sound oh very good okay make sure it's not an A or or uh okay it's just the sound that you're making let's take the consonant combination P and B like this put try saying it puh that's sound between the P and the B is the schwa okay very quick very relaxed now it's the most common sound in English so you hear it all the time problem is non-native speakers don't always notice the schwa sound and I'll explain why in a second so the schwa sound appears in almost every word that has two or three syllables and more syllable is the small unit in a word so for example the word about has two syllables about the word controversy or controversial yeah I got a confuse its controversy or controversial then we have controversial so we have four syllables here okay so now that we know what syllables are let's look at a simple word as opportunity opportunity every word has to have a primary stress so before we talk about the schwa I need to talk to you about the stress patterns in English every word has to have a primary stress a primary stress is the one syllable that sticks out the most in the word opportunity it would be to offer two nutty okay it's longer it's higher in pitch sometimes it's hard to know what the primary stress is okay I hear people saying it depends on your first language but I have people I have heard people saying let's say engineer instead of engineer I heard people say mmm communicate communicate instead communicate so recognizing what the primary stress is is essential for clarity it's even more important than getting the right sounds okay getting the right are sound or right th so the primary stress of the word is the most important thing once you establish what the primary stress is let's go back to the example opportunity to the two is the primary stress okay so I put this on the side then the rest of the syllables now everywhere it has to have a primary stress and just one okay there's only one primary stress so once you know what the primary stress is and if you really struggle with it just to go to dictionary.com or any other dictionary and you'll see usually the syllable is marked with is marked in bold or it has an apostrophe right to the left of it okay so that's the primary stress I saw a question how will we know where the primary stress is you need to know the word cuz there are no rules it depends on the word I mean there are patterns and if you want to find out a little bit about the patterns go to my video how to pronounce long words okay just Google just search in my on my youtube channel how to pronounce long words and I talked about patterns of words how to find the stress in words that have suffixes endings so that can definitely help but the loss assume that we know with the primary stresses because this video is not about the primary stress it's about the schwa the weak stress so once we as you establish what the primary stress is the rest of the syllables either receive a secondary stress or a weak stress okay a secondary stress which means a pure vowel pronounced in an effortless way so I'm not saying it it's not opportunity right I'm not stressing it so much so in this case the opportunity the I the secondary stress I opened my mouth for the AHS and father oppor tunity okay so the two is the primary stress the AA is a second because I actually make a pure vowel bear ah also the e at the end is a vowel T opportunity okay it's a flap T as well but the e at the end is a pure vowel and since it's not the primary stress it's going to be a second area so I don't need to think about it too much just to pronounce that as is why do but why do we talk about the primary the secondary stress because once we establish what the primary stress the rest of the syllables either receive a secondary stress as we explained just now or a weak stress which is the schwa this really neutral sound uh for example ah purr purr that's why it's not oh poor there is no here or not up there there is no n upper - nah here's another schwa so it's not neat T it's nah team opportunity opportunity let's look at another example let's take the word holiday holiday what is the primary stress think about it holiday what is the one syllable that sticks out the most so if you can write in the comments the the big part of the word that you think is the primary stress I'll say it again holiday so in this case it takes time until you see the comments so I'm gonna answer it in the meantime holiday here the primary stress right okay so I see Holly I need one syllable ha absolutely ha perfect guys so the hi is the primary stress by the way how would you know if you're not sure you need to you can just nod your head once when you say the word holiday right you won't do holiday that doesn't make sense let's take another word let's take congratulations congratulations try it try to find a primary stress here congratulations so I won't do congratulations or congratulations congratu I see rat I seek oh no listen congratulations congratulations by the way go to the to my video how to pronounce long words because you will see that when there is their suffixes like shin okay tion the primary source is always going to be the one syllable before the suffix okay in this case it's late but you're right because the grass is a secondary stress okay congrat so I pronounce a pure vowel okay yeah I see leh congratulations going back to holiday the high is the primary stress the day I'm gonna tell you this the day is the a as a day that's a long vowel I cannot reduce it it's not holiday okay let's try to reduce it to a schwa I can't so I need to put a vowel there it's probably gonna be the secondary stress the day Holly let's say I read it phonetically Holly day but do I really need that ly in the middle is there a vowel there is it holiday like most non-native speakers will pronounce it or can we drop the ly to a schwa love now try it out loud with me is it holiday or ha la day holiday holiday does that make sense so although there is a vowel letter there I don't acknowledge it it doesn't represent a pure vowel because it doesn't receive any stress not a primary stress not a secondary stress I don't have to pronounce the vowel there and therefore it is reduced to a schwa I mean the schwa was there before this is the way you need to think about it when you go about a word or when you go about how to find when and how to use the schwa now I know they all tell you that there is a schwa out there and they all tell you if this is wrong but how do you know when to use it that's the most confusing thing so now I'm teaching you how to find out yourself how and when to use it okay so establish what the primary stress discover it and then see understand that the rest of the syllables should have either a pure vowel that you cannot reduce or a vowel that can reduce and it's going to sound okay if you can drop it to at one and it sounds okay and even better then it's probably a schwa let's take the word congratulations so the lay is the primary stress by the way a primary stress is longer and higher in pitch Lai shins the the suffix is at the end shins are always reduced shins lations lations the graph some of you marked it as the primary stress it's not the primary stress but you're right cannot reduce it we can say something like congratu congratulations congratu all right doesn't sound right also word with many syllables should have some secondary stresses okay it's possible that all syllables are going to be schwa it's not not in this case so the grass is a secondary stress but a lot of speakers say corn grass Chu Lai shins congratulations right does that ring a bell is this something you might say if so let me know in the comments below so delay is the primary stress they grab the secondary stress but let me tell you this do we really need the O at the beginning do we have to say congratulations or can we say congrat congrat congrat and then instead of jus do we need the jewel ations or can we say chip chip congratulations congratulations congratulations right so we don't have to insert a vowel there in fact there is no vowel it's reduced to this really neutral vowel sound Oh congratulations notice what it does to your rhythm as well I hope you're trying it with me so it's not congratulations that the tatata not every receives the same beat all of a sudden you have a long vowel lay a medium length vowel graph and two short vowels can and Jim and shun so we get this rhythm da-da-da-da-da instead of da da da da da congratulations congratulations congratulations what happens when you say congrats congrats then the primary stress becomes grats okay someone asked me about that grats Congrats congrats congratulations modify not modify ma primary stress there is no I we don't really need it it's not modify modify let's try to reduce the last syllable see if it works Madhava change the word completely doesn't make sense ma de 5 the endings endings with the letter y bi say yes and happy are always secondary stresses okay so you can always remember that when you have an ending with a Y you have a few options there it's always going to be a secondary stress you cannot reduce it so it's a hint that maybe you can reduce something right before right English likes that when there is like stress unstressed primary stress reduced okay so there is like this chain that added added added Atta okay so modify modify let's take the word I'll say it with my Israeli accent computer computer so let's say it together I'll say it once an English computer what's the primary stress computer let's not together compute pew-pew is the primary stress so it's going to be longer and higher in pitch pyew but do we really need the o sound is it computer or can we say pewter computer yes we can there is no oh there is no II at the end it's got computer computer schwa the beginning try the end so here's the thing remember this non-native speakers tend to associate the vowel letter you know weak stress position with a pure vowel sound so because we don't have SWA in our language maybe you do maybe you don't use it the way English does but because we don't have it we take this category of this weird sound and we fill it in with something so where do we go to find that something to the spelling so we see in the spelling the letter I and because we don't hear an I we associate it with the pure vowel sound so it's going to be he holiday II holiday instead of holiday if we see a no we may say oh computer connect instead of connect computer compose okay II may be an a management instead of management to choise at the end because we don't really need the vowel there management okay so what happens is we add all these extra sounds that don't really exist and not only it affects our pronunciation and it makes it harder to pronounce longer words okay it also changes our rhythm completely it makes things the little less effective okay so what are the things that you need to do in order to improve so first of all understand that there is this down called the schwa this really neutral sound that exists in any other word or definitely in words that have three syllables and more and usually in everywhere that has two syllables present Zent present Prez the primary stress isn't is the schwa compare pair is the primary stress come come okay usually there's it's balanced so there is a primary source and then a schwa if it's three syllables a primary stress the secondary source and a schwa probably in the middle or something okay again there are no rules so don't don't follow exactly what I'm saying I'm just giving you the patterns so once you know that this is how it works that you have a primary source and some of the words are reduced we don't pronounce every single sound then all of a sudden you start hearing it and of course when you start hearing it and preceding it then you can start making it to make the schwa is really simple just to create this really neutral sound basically you don't need to do anything about here it's a beginning around a head sorry I was just looking at the time arise Ella elevator and lush watts not elevator elevator bonus not bonus bonus nests there is no vowel there it's a schwa so start hearing those things okay start listening look for the schwa when you listen to other people speak if you're trying to say words where you're trying to understand how to say certain words go by like Judy and the analytical process that we did here find out what the primary stress is establish - the primary stress make sure that you go higher in pitch and you prolong the primary stress and then reduce the sounds that are not essential see what you cannot drop okay that would be probably the prime the secondary stress secondary stress is another word for a regular vowel okay not to stressed but not reduce and eliminate those sounds right there in between okay all the small sounds okay let's do this so I'm gonna say a few words mmm and you're going to and you're gonna try to detect the schwa sound so you can write it in the comments below or you can do it with yourself officer mm-hmm you can't hear me because something happened to my voice okay okay one two one two is it back yes officer officer four sir good it's not it's sure that it's not oh so we're not pronouncing old but the all turns into our that's the primary stress officer sir that's as well recognize recognize promote right down so I can look at it after promote good rec cook cook you're right it's not recognized recognized good it's not promote its promote memory mmm memory syllable mmm what's wrong with my voice syllable mem ma ma very good guys memory M okay Akash Yadav M is not a vowel mm-hmm it doesn't mean anything to me and plus there are two M's here so it doesn't I can't tell what you mean memory syllable it cannot be the sick cuz that's the primary stress it's not syllable right say syllable I nod my head then it's the primary stress sig love love ball currently anti suggesting the word currently currently where is this wha here current run rent it's not currently currently logical logical laws the primary stress okay I'll give you time to answer it I'm going back to some of your answers here yeah currently the rent is a secondary stress the curd you write that there is no vowel here but it's called the stir sound okay and the stir sound is always stressed it's it's the primary stress so this is why it's not gonna be it's not gonna be reduced so what about what was the word I said logical guys how can the lot okay so you some of you said Lodge okay you're right cuz you're hearing that it's not an old so you're saying to yourself it's probably schwa but look at my mouth lah it's I'm really stressing it if I need to open my mouth for it it's definitely not a schwa law right see how open it is that's the eyes and father like holiday la chuckle just call the two other syllables are choise ja-cheol okay it's not logical lajjo schwa Kol swamp someone wrote bicycle by primary stress by sir schwa call another swap the suffix Kol is always pronounced with this with a schwa sound bicycle I have a video about how to pronounce bicycle and you see me riding my bicycle with my daughter's as I teach you how to pronounce it so go check it out it's fun okay someone asks how what is the schwa okay so I just go back and watch the video from the beginning because I explained what the schwa is the schwa is a very reduced vowel sound that appears in almost every word in English and it's a reduction of a sound that non-native speakers usually make when actually there is no sound okay because people perceive English as or not perceive but they think English is a phonetic language or they don't have enough information to know how to pronounce something so they renounce that as it's written okay and since English is not a phonetic language and then Oh is not always an oak or ooh okay sometimes it's ah sometimes it's a schwa uh sometimes it's a long Oh sometimes it's a cup sound as in son okay so don't read English phonetically listen to what you're hearing and understand that there is this concept called the schwa and try to use it hear it and then use it so when you hear a word and saying hey there's a schwa try saying it record yourself listen to your recording see if you're actually making a schwa there or you maybe you're inserting a new vowel okay so let's wrap it up the schwa is pronounced just like this but we find it in words like about around a head or recognize it can appear in any in the place of any vowel letter aou ie or any combination of the three shin for example company shin here is a Schwalm io n so and and to recognize where the schwa is we need to understand where the primary stress is and then to see what what are the the other syllables see what you can reduce and what you cannot reduce okay if you cannot reduce a certain balance a secondary stress it's a pure vowel if you can reduce it it's a schwa okay now that's a thumb rule that's a general rule of course there are exceptions of course sometimes it's going to sound okay to say something with a schwa I'm trying to think of an example comprehend for example the hand is the primary stress comprehend so someone might say comprehend comprehend and it may still sound okay but in this case the beginning is aa comprehend so this is where my rule doesn't always stick okay but 95% of the time it works find the primary stress see what you can reduce what vowels are essential to make sense but so the word still makes sense and reduce whatever is not essential because it's probably a schwa or just go to the dictionary and you'll see this upside down symbol upside down II and know that this symbol represents this really new tool Sam and just apply it okay apply it in those positions where you see the upside down e or when I talk about it in the videos okay I just treat it as if I just like crossed out the vowel I treat it as if there is no vowel whatsoever now the schwa is also essential for intonation when it comes to phrases and sentences and for that I actually did a live video a few weeks back about American intonation and wisely I deleted it it was very successful I had like a few thousands of views in just a couple of days and then I don't know what I was thinking it was really early in the morning and it showed up twice than my Abbot I was like what is this thing and I deleted it and I had I got emails from people why why did I delete it it's my first video my first full video about American intonation this is why I actually made a regular video not a live session about American intonation and I'm gonna release it next week also just so you know I'm planning a fluency challenge a five-day fluency challenge and it's supposed to be really it's really powerful a lot of fun and very very effective so stay tuned and follow my follow my channel so if you're not subscribed subscribe and click on the bell to get notification or make sure that your bell is clicked so you find out when I'm launching the challenge so you can join and practice your speaking skills and your fluency and definitely your pronunciation and intonation and we'll find ways to communicate with other speakers button so you can communicate with each other as well so that's the challenge the intonation videos coming up okay so a few things that you can look look for in the next few that was a wonderful way to end the session with a car horn okay guys I'm going to I have to go so I can't really look at your questions right now because I have another lesson where is the Schwinn bicycle it's a cool - schwoz bicycle and I'm trying to can you explain about what do you say that the you age in butter Oh when unstressed becomes a swamp okay just one quick question the word butter has a cup sound butter which is also called a stress schwa know that there is a pure vowel that is always in a stress position that sounds sort of like the schwa but the mo mouth is a bit more open and it's stressed like butter husband country so on and so forth okay guys I hope this was helpful if it was please share it with your friends I subscribe and you can come on over to my website to check it out because there's tons of great content over there and those are the most mispronounced words in English it's like an interactive list so you can click on it and there's also a crash course that you can take a free crash course what else I don't know come check it out thank you for joining me today I hope gosh why is it a little more clear now if not please keep on your conversation and your questions in the comments below the video have a wonderful wonderful day and lovely weekend it's coming soon and I'll speak to you soon bye [Music]

Channel: Accent's Way English with Hadar

Views: 85,204

Keywords: the secret of american pronunciation, schwa sound american, schwa american pronunciation, how to say the schwa, schwa pronunciation, how to poronounce schwa, schwa pronounciation, accents way, schwa sound, schwa, schwa sound in english pronunciation, schwa in english, schwa sound in english, american english, hadar shemesh, schwa sound pronunciation, schwa sound video, schwa sound practice, schwa sound rules

Id: 8sn_JTz54p8

Length: 30min 27sec (1827 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 29 2018