- One-syllable words have no stress
- Because the schwa is unstressed, it causes spelling difficulties.
- The word "schwa" was borrowed directly from the German and earlier from the Hebrew. It has the sound of "uh".
- There are no rules to follow, but the origin of a word will often show why the schwa is a particular vowel and not another.
- The sound of the schwa varies little from word to word, but the vowel representing the sound does. The reason can often be found in the origin of the word.
Latin bene facere (to do well) --> benefit
Old French bullette from bulle (a document) --> bulletin
Italian ballotta (little ball) --> ballet
Latin kalendarium from kalendae, the first days of the month on which accounts were due --> calendar
Latin salarium (sal = salt) --> salary (At one time during the days of the Roman Empire), soldiers drew allowances for the purchase of salt as part of their pay.
Latin from candidatus, clothed in white, from candidus, white --> candidate
Latin comparare, to pair or match --> comparative
Latin definire, to determine --> definite
Latin legitimus, legal or important --> legitimate
Latin dominans, present participle of dominari, lord and master --> dominant
Latin eliminare, to put outside the threshold --> eliminate
Latin sacrificare, to make holy --> sacrifice
Latin privilegium, law affecting an individual --> privilege
Latin dormire, to sleep --> dormitory
- Familiar and peculiar also have an unstressed vowel and a graphic similar. The third syllable contains the schwa; the graphic similarity is liar.
- Look at and then pronounce sentence. Both the first and the last have the vowel 'e'. But they don't have the same vowel sound because the last syllable has an unstressed vowel.
- Other examples: criticism, optimism, humorous, controversy, separate, fundamental, freshman
- The pronounciation of separate changes according to its grammatical function, but the spelling remains the same. As a verb, it is separate (note the long a sound in the last syllable). As an adjective or noun, it can be pronounced in either 2 or 3 syllables, but the last syllable has the short sound of i (as in bit): sep a rit or sep rit. Regardless of the different pronounciations, the word is always spelled separate.
- The word maintenance is one of the most frequently misspelled words because it is not pronounced correctly. The verb is maintain, but the noun is not "main tain ance" but "main te nance". So, the schwa appears in the second syllable. Maintenance comes from the Old French maintenir (meaning "to maintain") and was later adapted into English.[1]