THE ENGLISH SOUND STUDIO
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/ə/
Schwa
as in about
01 / SIDE VIEWHold the position
02 / LIP VIEWNeutral
VoicedVocal folds vibrate
1Hard palate2Tongue3Lower jaw4Vocal folds
TongueAirflowContact / narrowing
0.0s0.0s
Wikimedia Commons phonetic referenceIllustrative motion · not MRI
Relax everything. Keep your tongue in the center and use almost no muscular effort.
TONGUECentral
LIPSNeutral
AIRContinuous
The most common unstressed vowel in English: short, neutral, and relaxed.
YOUR TURN
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