Ə: The Most Common Vowel in English

"Schwa" is the most common vowel in English. Every English speaker uses it, all the time, but most people have never heard of it. •
Written with Molly Ruhl and Gretchen McCulloch. Gretchen's podcast Lingthusiasm is at lingthusiasm.com/
Gretchen's book BECAUSE INTERNET, all about the evolution of internet language, is available:
🇺🇸 US: amzn.to/30tLpjT
🇨🇦 CA: amzn.to/2JsTYWH
🇬🇧 UK: amzn.to/31K8eRD
(Those are affiliate links that give a commission to me or Gretchen, depending on country!)
Graphics by William Marler: wmad.co.uk
Audio mix by Graham Haerther: haerther.net
REFERENCES:
Trask, R. (1997). A student's dictionary of language and linguistics. London : New York: Arnold ; Distributed by St. Martin's Press.
Lacabex, E., & Gallardo-del-Puerto, F. (2018). Explicit phonetic instruction vs. implicit attention to native exposure: phonological awareness of English schwa in CLIL, International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching (published online ahead of print).
🟥 MORE FROM TOM: www.tomscott.com/
(you can find contact details and social links there too)
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[@TomScottGo]

I had to reshoot this entire video because I set the lighting up wrongly. When I made the /ɑ/ noise, the back of my throat was illuminated as brightly as my face. It was uncomfortable to watch.

[@sabertooth3497]

hi Tom Scott

[@OdgeBodge]

thanks for the video tom

[@peugeoting]

hello tom scott

[@twoone4574]

Hi

[@thefish6771]

Rip

[@BadlyOrganisedGenius]

Imagine getting jumped by a gang of linguists and the leader says "Reduce him to Schwa"

[@FunnyParadox]

@@geomochi4904 Because what did you want to reply to this ? XD

[@richardhead1848]

I love this. Giggling like the sleep deprived lunatic that I am.

[@bennyk384]

This is a beautifully crafted joke

[@angelvee5093]

LMAOOO

[@saltations_]

Brə

[@TheGreatCalsby]

English language: what happened to the pronunciation? Thanos: gone, reduced to schwa.

[@cerulean22b69]

ləl vərə fənə

[@slimeykadenza9293]

@@cerulean22b69 underrated reply tbh

[@Zaire82]

At least schwa still exists. Can't say the same for the second "o" in pronounciation though....

[@MineRoyale.]

@@Zaire82 just wanted to let you know that he's got it right: there's no second o.

[@Zaire82]

@@MineRoyale. Apparently both are reasonable. "Pronunciation" is the standard spelling, but due to the sensible logic behind "Pronounciation", with it being derived from "pronOUnce", it isn't considered wrong. I believe my spelling is better though, so I'm going to continue using it even though it's not the standard spelling. It makes more sense. Just means my earlier correction is nulled.

[@yellobanana6456]

"Hey, what's a schwa?" "Uhh..." "Oh. Thanks!"

[@breawen]

your pfp lmao

[@perodactyl490]

"əəə..."

[@amogusimposter4571]

Ə

[@amogusimposter4571]

Əə

[@AnimateTronix]

I mean yeha

[@lsswappedcessna]

mother: "does it feel good?" baby, covered in peanut butter: *"ə"*

[@Twohomst]

XXXXDDDDDD

[@servantofaeie1569]

that was /a/ though

[@danielantony1882]

​@@servantofaeie1569 nay

[@user-df5tl3xp8o]

Hello friend look boom ə

[@trolleyexpress4824]

Teacher: What’s the most common vowel? Me: uhh Teacher: correct

[@wildgoosespeeder]

Even more uhh for confusion.

[@eksskellybur]

Me: Wait wha..?

[@MarcelinoDeseo]

Everyone else: uh?

[@sdm000]

comment of the week

[@kevinclass2010]

Most English teachers are barely teach phonology. Most classes are concentrated on learning vocabulary and phrases.

[@uncouthkoala]

"Where are the vowels?!" "Gone, reduced to Schwa."

[@fribigy47]

Ha Ha Ha/gen

[@Daniel-yz5qj]

I used the vowels to destroy the vowels

[@DaFrogKnight]

1000th like les go

[@Xneom27]

ə əm ənəvətəble

[@daedelusstormbow3489]

@@Xneom27 that translation is perfect

[@arcanexd]

Me: Wait, it's all schwa? Tom: **Pulls out gun** Always has been

[@PsychoSavager289]

It's kind of ironic that Tom pronounces 'tongue' as 'tong', whereas the more common pronunciation is "tung", with a schwa sound.

[@martamatavka]

He's a Midlander (Brummie, I'm guessing, like Ozzy Osbourne). They all talk like that. Mispronounce the word "bath" (which should have a silent r in it, phonetically).

[@arthurjohnson9982]

@@martamatavka He's from Mansfield in Nottinghamshire

[@kraio-sfu]

@@martamatavka “Should have”? What are you some sort of prescriptivist?

[@kyrakia5507]

He pronounces it like they do in the midlands and I think the North, but in the South it is pronounced with a strut. Nowhere in his country is it pronounced with a shwa

[@Tzizenorec]

@@martamatavka How do you have a silent r phonetically? Silent things aren't phonetic.

[@besio4881]

teacher: "what are you thinking about?" me: *ƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏ*

[@naufalap]

can i get some əəəəəəəəəəəəəə

[@schplorgus8140]

@@naufalap bərgər king foot lettəce

[@Laittth]

@@schplorgus8140 There's no schwa in burger

[@fireball9670]

əəəəəəəəəəəəəə, əʊˈkeɪ

[@sertacg8433]

@@Laittth there is now

[@jackdog06]

Me: “I’ve never seen this vowel in my life” Tom: “brə”

[@technology4y328]

Sar

[@maxobakso123]

lmao

[@AliKhan-mg3mj]

burh

[@fernandogunthorando1379]

Brəh

[@YellowToad]

æ

[@saltyralts]

This is why your kindergarten teacher telling you to "sound it out" is the worst possible advice. WENZDAY

[@qwaabza]

Or, the other way around, pronouncing it WETNESSDAY

[@jan_Masewin]

/wenzdej/?

[@ArsenicApplejuice]

Schwa really makes the existence of writing systems that have generic vowel symbols or omit them entirely seem more reasonable to me

[@eiebsrebla]

I feel like ‘reduced to schwa’ has massive insult potential

[@AbbeyB77]

The dirty 'shwa is used as an insulting moniker for a particular city near Toronto (and its blue collar autoworkers population), potential achieved

[@Ice_Karma]

@@AbbeyB77 (Oshawa, for the non-Canadians in the room. =3 )

[@HaloInverse]

I could imagine linguists using "schwa" as an inside-joke synonym for "basic".

[@datboi1026]

Yessir

[@firstname405]

@@HaloInverse "Ugh, look at him. He's so schwa"

[@janAkaliKilo]

- Where're my vowels? - Gone, reduced to schwa.

[@jakobvanklinken]

I was about to comment the same thing! "reduced to schwa" should be an expression!

[@iakahdrake2801]

schwa or shwa? 🧐

[@guillermojrboy3292]

I used a vowel to destroy the vowels.

[@anipodat394]

- Whur's muh vuhls? - Gun, ruhdussed tuh schwuh.

[@Brindlebrother]

Want to get some shawarma? Let's get some shawarma.

[@caseyglick5957]

The schwa is the vowel that's eating the entire English vowel range. More and more has been pulled in since the 1400s. The schwa is also the key to the "English/American accent" in speaking other languages, I think. I listened to recordings of myself in Spanish and Japanese, and *every* vowel was colored by a schwa rather than going far enough. (it was really embarrassing)

[@robinrehlinghaus1944]

Can you give examples of words that fell victim to it?

[@lnb93]

@@robinrehlinghaus1944 the wa in wa tashi (I in Japanese) is very commonly 'schwarified'

[@Default78334]

And lots of English speakers would put a stress on the "ta" which is also off.

[@Ratigan2]

People in 1400s: I am going to the store. People today: i'm gonna go tda store People 600 years from now: *əəə əəəəə ə əə əəə*

[@PraniGopu]

​@@Ratigan2So they're going to speak like Sans? 😄

[@beargreen1]

Yes I remember Schwa it's one of the oldest symbols that even existed before IPA and even used in old English Dictionaries. At one time, people thought about adding it as a letter.

[@meganofsherwood3665]

I kinda wish they had, tbh

[@beargreen1]

@@meganofsherwood3665 me too

[@kylienielsen6975]

Its kinda annoying to so it would need to be modified slightly

[@beargreen1]

@@kylienielsen6975 it's not that hard to write in cursive unlike other letters people suggest

[@LuxinNocte]

English lessons: "I don't know" Real life: "ə ə ə"

[@OB.x]

that actually works. hehe i mean həhəhə

[@cingkole7893]

LMAO

[@lordman5497]

[ʔə˦ə˨ʔə˥]

[@valeriobertoncello1809]

"aonə"

[@tempest6647]

Ə

[@RatelHBadger]

"I'll have a vowel please Rachel..." "Schwa" (Entire countdown audience dies of shock)

[@Alienguy500]

Brə moment

[@Falkano]

I can see jon getting overly exited about it 😂

[@kathybramley5609]

Rachel and a good of the audience probably know the difference between orthography and phonology.

[@gabor6259]

Does 'Rachel' actually have a schwa sound or the 'l' comes right after the 'ch'?

[@SirRebrl]

@@gabor6259 I think there's a schwa there. It feels like that schwa doesn't disappear comfortably unless a vowel is added after the "l". Though that could just be me.

[@fpl_cricket]

As a native New Englander, one of the more fascinating phenomena from another American accent is how severely reduced "You know what I mean?" can be in certain dialects, getting shrunken down as far as, "Ya(w)-duh-mean?"

[@gurrrn1102]

Depending on your accent, the word “and” sounds like /æɨənd/. One of the rare triphthongs in the English læɨənguage.

[@perodactyl490]

Like Eye-nd?

[@gurrrn1102]

@@perodactyl490 similar, but not exactly.

[@perodactyl490]

@@gurrrn1102 ok

[@nujabebop]

ayeeee

[@antoniozavaldski]

@@perodactyl490 more like somewhere between "ay-nd" and "air-nd" (if your accent doesn't have r at the end of syllables).

[@LanaFeyah]

The schwa is so chill. It's never stressed.

[@obadakhalid713]

this needs more likes

[@ishmamahmed9306]

To be fair, in many languages, and even the New Zealand dialect of English, schwas can be stressed.

[@TheAlondane]

@@ishmamahmed9306 Please enunciate

[@ishmamahmed9306]

@@TheAlondane , as Tom Scott said about most English dialects, schwas are pronounced where a vowel falls into an unstressed syllable. However, there are languages where the schwa is used as a vowel in stressed syllables.

[@jeffgoldblunt]

It sounds like something a stoner would say about the universe

[@RifrafYT]

"This is interesting, and I don't know why." I feel like that's what I say to most of Tom's videos.

[@henrypearce5478]

Yes that exactly what I think😂😂

[@zulkiflijamil4033]

@Rifraf Me too.

[@silic8873]

yep

[@PC_Simo]

Yep 👌🏻😎.

[@katiebirdie7868]

us: what does the schwa sound like? Tom: uhhhhh

[@thedemonslayer51]

Here that most casual "I'm gonna go to the store" was a trip. It hardly sounded like Scott, but also sounded more like him than any video I've heard.

[@triggethridge9326]

tom from previous video: "you need anything from the store?" tom in this video: "uhmuhnuhguhtuhthuhstuh"

[@prestonang8216]

Trigg Ethridge Eminem

[@angelvee5093]

I YELLED

[@nathanaelvalera2241]

emenegv?rede stc:

[@Berilia]

@@angelvee5093 Why though? I feel like you probably didn't and only commented this to get nonexistent internet points, and that didn't really work.

[@angelvee5093]

@@Berilia I did lmao I always squeal/scream/shriek before laughing (ik, annoying, but i have friends so i guess not THAT annoying)

[@blouiaie]

as a spelling bee kid, the schwa is the most common killer. the amount of times i’ve missed words because i didn’t know if i had to use an “a” or an “e” is countless.

[@mrosskne]

there are seriously people who learned spelling by sound?

[@Serena-or7sl]

@@mrosskne Everyone that has English as their mother tongue

[@lionberryofskyclan]

ent vs ant at the ends of words. absolute nightmare.

[@SorowFame]

@@mrosskne you kind of have to when you’re too young to read.

[@JonaxII]

As someone with a much more phonetic spelling in my mother language, I was really confused by the concept of spelling bees. You really need some mess like the english spelling system to make that stuff competitive.

[@lilyfox313]

For some reason this is my favourite video on this channel. I love schwa, obviously never thought about it before but now it's something that really fascinates me. It's also cool that people with different accents have a different schwa, Tom's schwa as someone more north is an "uh" sound, whereas me as a southerner my schwa is more of an "ur" sound. I just find it really interesting!

[@Krauser8882]

As a big fan of Chungə I greatly appreciate this lesson on ə.

[@qq13563817153]

Chungə rivals James & James for best TTT teams

[@AnonymousNow]

It's strange how fluent users of a language can use sounds in everyday conversation and not even realise it.

[@stevepittman3770]

The same is true of grammatical rules as well. Tom I think did a video on adjective word-order which made me realize that it's totally a thing: big brown bear sounds way more correct than brown big bear, but I had no idea it was a formal rule.

[@varana]

@Furret Furret Many people also have problems telling the difference between speaking a sound and writing a letter because they never thought about it.

[@nyarthecat8195]

there are two th sounds

[@imjody]

I'm not so sure it's so much not realizing it, but rather, not caring.

[@109Rage]

Near as I can tell, conscious awareness of phonemes in humans is completely artificial, in the same way we don't normally notice the exact muscle movements we make to move our legs when walking. For a fluent speaker language works completely on intuition, and so we come up with rules that we don't even notice are there until they're pointed out by someone else. Only occasionally do you notice the way your mouthy bits move to make a certain sound. I believe this is why the majority of writing systems evolved a syllabic system, where the consonant and vowels were a single, indivisible unit-the majority of writing cultures conceived of languages as being made up of syllables, rather then consonants and vowels. Alphabets are a complete accident, resulting from the fact that Semitic languages generally don't care about vowels, and so Egyptian heiroglyphs wrote phonetic words using symbols that represented consonants, instead of syllables. So, when the Greeks ended up picking up the Phoenician writing system, they added symbols their language needed, resulting in our modern idea of an "alphabet". Of course, the Greeks weren't some genius for coming up with this system; it was a coincidence of history, and before using the Greek Alphabet, the langauge was written in Linear B, a syllabary.

[@xalahuj]

Fun bit of trivia: The feeling of pleasure native English speakers feel when watching non-natives struggling with this sound is called schwadenfreude.

[@ashleybyrd2015]

@PolySaken Chaotic Neutral

[@tankicat]

Which for added fun is of course... German

[@kaaskopen1460]

It's schadenfreude and has nothing to do with the schwa

[@MrPbhuh]

You know that all languages have schwa? English isnt unique and its closest cousins all have it as well. Only issue there is is that nobody explains the existance of the vowel and then its hard to explain what people mean.

[@stevevernon1978]

@@kaaskopen1460 : the sound of this joke going "whoooosh" as it flies over your head is best spelled with a schwa.

[@noel8147]

i love all of tom’s linguistics videos. inspired me to major in linguistics!! this one in particular is so fun

[@IndianLinguistics]

We literally have a letter in nearly every indian language to represent this sound it's અ in gujrati and अ in hindi (those are the two I know)!

[@costelc4077]

'I'm honna go to the store' Me: wait, it's all schwa? Tom Scott: Always has been

[@technology4y328]

Help me please

[@technology4y328]

Sar sure thanks ...

[@costelc4077]

Ali babu what

[@technology4y328]

Sar you help me that's I ask you sar thank you

[@inanjarif1388]

@Benjamin McCann it's not funny unless it's over the top and has dramatic music accompanying Tom holding up the gun

[@dewdperson767]

English lesson reading: "I am *GOing* to *GO* to the *STORE.* " To a friend: "uhuguhdduhgoduh *STORE.* "

[@somekek6734]

Hahaha xD

[@loganh2735]

Omenagotethuh store.

[@0Smile0]

it's "uhuguhdduhgoduh STO"

[@Madhattersinjeans]

@J God Or threatening depending on how slowly you say it.

[@MachineMetropolis]

@J God We could all have been killed - or worse, expelled. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to go to the store.

[@that-guy-pearce]

I'm an ESL tutor for South Korean students, and whenever they want to talk about pronunciation, I reference this video. I'll keep sending people its way til I keel over, keep up the good work!

[@conlon4332]

I think the people who want English written how it's spoken want it written how it "should" be pronounced. Although, as you said, there's not even one way for that with dialects. I think what people really want, though, is to at least have the level of consistency that a lot of other languages have. I want to write a book that uses the IPA so I can specify how my characters are speaking all the time. I think it could really add to realism and character building, as there's a lot of information and feeling you can pick up from hearing someone and speaking to them that you just can't from writing. For example, how much effort they put in can tell you how they're feeling and their relationship to who their talking to.

[@bonesofeao3968]

"Imma" is a seriously amazing linguistic feat. The original phrase is reduced to something that just sounds like a drunken groan, yet we all still understand it perfectly.

[@offichannelnurnberg5894]

you won't ever listen to hotel room service like you did before.

[@lohphat]

Try learning Dutch.

[@Sparrow420]

"lemme" add another. ;)

[@Brindlebrother]

imma finna tryna get people to stop using this word

[@cameron7374]

@@Sparrow420 Lemme is just "let me" though. Imma is "I am going to". That's way longer.

[@pualamnusantara7903]

"Where are my vowels?!" **"Gone. Reduced to ə."**

[@GautamMenon]

Ah, a classic Thənos quote

[@sid98geek]

"When I am done, half of the words will still have non-ə vowels."

[@drsuqi]

"I used the vowels to destroy the vowels."

[@drsuqi]

"Perfectly Mid Central. As all vowels should be."

[@melitopiia4730]

"Did you do it? "Yes." "What did it cost?" "Knowing which letter to use."

[@rosepinkskyblue]

I wish he’d make more language related videos I love them all so much 🥺

[@RyanVitt]

I know I'm very late, but thanks for the video Tom! This was a joy to watch and I learned something that I had no idea about previously!

[@PlebCentre]

"Your Dialect may be different" *Australians stuffing as many swear words into one sentence as humanly possible*

[@gaijininja]

No, only the Bogans and Upper Middle Class do that. The semi cultured ones like I just umm a lot. Like, a real lot. L

[@AlisonBryen]

Absofuckinglutely

[@ericforsyth]

And acting like every statement is a question?

[@benjamincoram7036]

@@ericforsyth well that's just because we're never sure of ourselves?

[@ShirinRose]

@@user-pi1du7vu9e It's an Australian term, and a little tricky to define or give a synonym for. I recommend looking it up on Urban Dictionary; some of the definitions are hilarious

[@weebified]

“English is really hard to learn” Me who learnt English by watching minecraft videos: yes

[@slaughterround643]

y e s

[@thehammurabichode7994]

Did you seriou- _What?_

[@kjj26k]

H O W

[@kjj26k]

You must have no fuckin' clue what an ocean actually is then.

[@hiimnick2358]

does that really work? did you use any other outlets to learn english? and how long did it take you to understand what was going on? people saying stuff like this has always fascinated me

[@zorm_]

I love how the [t] from "to" became a [ɾ]. Both are alveolar but [t] is a plosive while [ɾ] is a flap, which is more efficient to do in a fast sentence

[@kellybanek7799]

Thank you! A clear explanation for this popular sound!

[@pazfauxster]

I study linguistics and laughed so hard at the depiction of the phonetics class.

[@FlyingMozzarella]

I'm 16 & I'm really interested in linguistics, so can u tell me more about it - wt do u learn, how many types of degrees are thr and which one r u studying. PS: I don't wanna take it up as a career, just interested in learning languages!

[@jaojao1768]

Alas, since I only entered university last year it has all been to Zoom and I have missed this

[@ayellowpapercrown6750]

@@FlyingMozzarella not OP, but I might as well answer since I also major in linguistics! There’s different aspects to linguistics, and depending on the program you attend, what you learn might change. There is morphology, synthax, semantics, pragmatics, phonetics/phonology (there’s a slight distinction there) and I guess, sociolinguistics. Some programs are also more scientific and go into language aquisition and neurolinguistics! I’d say it does help with learning languages, especially if you learn the linguistics of whatever language you’re learning.

[@jacquelinevanderkooij4301]

@@ayellowpapercrown6750 Ok...she's not interested anymore.

[@reeeeeee551]

english is a joke but it is a good writen language

[@nlabonte]

1:27 "Someone usually tries to poke around to feel where their tongue is and, uh... nearly makes themselves throw up. Anyway..." *Hard cut to Tom in a linguistics class gagging in front of everyone.*

[@LowBudgetJustinY]

I swear this could have really happened to him lmao

[@dawsonew9518]

You just earned a subscriber! Love your vids.

[@lukeblaylock8815]

When I was going to live in the czech republic i got a book out the library with a pronunciation guide in the front, it was quite old and had a description "A is A as in Bus" and I assumed it was a very very posh way of saying bus right at the back of the velar section of the mouth...later I learned the czech 'a' is indeed schwa a and 'a as in bus' is a posh way of saying it as a schwa just not quite so queens english as I had thought and now all these years later I have the words to describe it, stay blessed!

[@gradh3123]

"That's not lazy, that's not wrong, that's just how language works"- more people need to understand this!

[@WMDistraction]

Well, *I* would never even THINK of reducing the sentence that way. Clearly he’s the reason English has been in consistent decline for decades! Damn linguistic relativists!

[@Shaun.Stephens]

I'm getting there....

[@galfisk]

They would find out if they weren't lazy and wrong.

[@AllUpOns]

@@WMDistraction In what world is English in decline?

[@TheDropdeadZed]

It can be lazy and correct though.

[@afjer]

Linguistics and phonetics are very cool. I've seen "definite" misspelled as "definit" instead of definate because local accents widen the i sound like "defin-it" instead of "defin-uht".

[@Lellywelly1]

As a fluent English speaker, I can confirm the description is correct and I have never heard of this in my life.

[@sum9586]

My friends: Bruh Me, an intellectual: Brə

[@vylinful3198]

some reason I instictively read this as bree as in the cheese

[@drcgaming4195]

@@vylinful3198 what

[@Karv3r]

Brschwa moment

[@mareksicinski3726]

that is a 'capital schwa' which is not used by anyone

[@Prentisstowner]

/bɹəʰ/

[@deff8487]

"Awww, look at the little baby!" ':D' "And now look it the big baby!" 'Schwa.'

[@Sean-of9rs]

I love asdfmovie!

[@badmoonvikingjr9660]

I love this

[@eclecticsoffy]

Ah, asdfmovies...

[@yourfriendlyneighborhoodwh752]

Speaking of which, Tom Scott himself was a guest voice actor in an asdfmovie skit.

[@eclecticsoffy]

@@yourfriendlyneighborhoodwh752 which one

[@batodo794]

I can't tell why I like these videos that much

[@SnubOnYouTube]

this is such a fascinating video this is something i never got taught in school

[@AtomicKitty31]

When I was younger, a teacher once told me "To sound more like a native english speaker, find the accent(s) in your sentences, pronounce these vowels normally, and replace all other vowel by ə". Works wonders ! (non native english speaker here, obviously)

[@Thytos]

Accent in a sentence? 🤔

[@guy1524]

@@Thytos aka the stressed syllable

[@goosebump801]

Yes, this is a good rule - for English and also for Russian! - American who has taken college courses in linguistics in English, French, and Russian

[@meliilosona5272]

i'm Russian and i'm impressed with this advice. I wish someone told me that earlier.

[@PiggyPigFace]

@@meliilosona5272 when i was learning russian i was also taught this about russian. stressed is pronounced properly but most other vowels are schwa

[@DPadGamer]

Its all schwa to me.

[@forgedinfaithfarmboys8092]

Hello there

[@legendarytat8278]

It's all schwa? Always has been.

[@AmyTheMeower]

I'm here before someone says 'dIdN't ExPeCt To SeE yOu HeRe'

[@kolpkii]

schwa

[@trifalgarh]

​@@forgedinfaithfarmboys8092 General Kenobi?

[@M3NTALMAGIC]

Fascinating

[@WatermelonLord_]

I love this video a lot for some odd reason, I swear I've watched it at least three times already. Not just now either, they were at different times.

[@WatermelonLord_]

Wow, one year already

[@andywolan]

To quote Monty Python's Quest for the Holy Grail: "Uuhhhhhhh." "Uhh?" "No. Uhhhhhhhh."

[@mr.cauliflower3536]

@Cubeasauros Ni Ni Ni Ni Ni

[@slushu_6865]

Ni

[@arcaneminded]

ǝkki ǝkki ǝkii ǝkki bǝtang zoom boing za;sdoifjjgla;

[@carlosbarragan3]

NUUU!

[@throatychunk]

"Are you yelling 'Ni' at that old women"

[@calebkirschbaum8158]

This is the english that should be taught in HS, not just repeating middle school stuff.

[@davidwise1302]

A famous quote in one of my German textbooks said that you don't know your own language until you've learned a foreign one. Two years of high school German taught me far more about English than 12 years of English classes ever did.

[@notdaveschannel9843]

@@davidwise1302 I asked my German teacher at school how come English manages to function without all this subject / object stuff. We weren't taught grammar much beyond noun = "a thing";, verb = "a 'doing word'".

[@Tufhhuyy]

@@davidwise1302 especially one that's related. I learned Latin in highschool, and it really helps to actually show what different parts of the language are and why they are distinct and important.

[@peepeetrain8755]

@@davidwise1302 similar. i learnt more about English grammar and how why stuff is the way it is by taking French at school. In English speaking countries, the most we will get taught are homophones and homonyms.

[@jonathanodude6660]

@@notdaveschannel9843 i assume because English is fairly freeform language where things can be said in multiple orders and mean the same thing, so the only "rules" we have are that a sentence needs a noun/verb and verb/adjective

[@edo7131]

English learner here, I stress every word, i've been told a sound like a robot, the word Go can turn into a schwa when unstressed? how cool! great video!

[@garetr]

1:55: I actually pronounce the last i in "definite" like the i in "sit" (ɪ in IPA). I'm a native Canadian English speaker. Similarly for the last syllables of darkness, citrus, and separate.

[@Moojingles_]

If I ever text someone to tell them I'm going to the store, I'm just gonna message them Uhmmnuhguhtuhthestoor.

[@ladofthedamned7796]

no that's just the irish accent but written in text

[@lorddissy]

I just make an "ehhh" sound and leave. I guess that makes me a horrible person.

[@realcartoongirl]

ok

[@fixit9844]

lorddissy dad is that you?

[@marwahmaher8574]

It'll take 2 hours to write it 😂😂😂😂

[@DSMWannabeLinguist]

I’ve always had a soft spot for this one.

[@ladofthedamned7796]

‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎

[@Anklejbiter]

@@ladofthedamned7796 I completely agree.

[@danielgarai-ebner1334]

@@ladofthedamned7796 100% agree

[@danielius2815]

Ə

[@Rycluse]

A shwaft spot

[@wolfiemuse]

You could argue that the schwa sound is actually incredibly important in languages other than English, because that “Uh..” sound is a seemingly universal thing that all people do when they are pausing to recollect something before saying it, make sure they are expressing themselves correctly, etc. You can hear this sound in people speaking loads of languages if not all.

[@somemagellanic]

my L1 doesnt have the vowel, at all! it doesnt seem to actually be that common across languages. instead of "uhhh" we make a sound closer to [ø]

[@Eric-yd9dm]

As a non native, I'd so easily but an entire course on english pronunciation in this format and quality of explanation

[@friedchickenUSA]

the word "schwa" does not contain a schwa and that had to have been intentional

[@kala_asi]

If I recall correctly, the word is from Hebrew, and it originally had a schwa between the "sh" and "w", which then got lost. Doubly ironic

[@oledakaajel]

Is the last vowel not an ə?

[@DiMadHatter]

Brə.

[@thalanoth]

@@DiMadHatter ləl

[@TIBYCOLLINS]

@@DiMadHatter yes

[@christinahamilton7676]

I'm gonna: Please, English, don't turn me into an oversimplified phrase! *aɪm ˈgɒnə* *əm ˈgənə* *əmənə* *əəə* *_ə_*

[@saitama1010]

Ə is a letter in azerbaijani fo example : əl ( İt means hand )

[@nebuchadnezzar6894]

I'm gonna is already simplified, it used to be I'm going to.

[@12what34the]

English always be syncopating like that. Do you know what I mean? >D'ya know whatta mean? >Know whatta mean? >Nah mean?

[@victorian_chandelier]

@@nebuchadnezzar6894 and even "I'm going to" is already a simplified version of "I am going to"

[@AJ0706T]

.

[@nonfields8323]

I swear this guy is teaching me english better than any of my english tecahers, as it's my second language, school teachers never go in deep like this, I didn't even know a "schwa" existed lmao

[@matthewneiman]

This is the video that finally made me stop misspelling 'definitely'

[@KarolaTea]

"I want to be a schwa. It's never stressed." (source: many places on the internet, no clue which linguist originally came up with it.)

[@hhh0511]

Idk, in my native language (Bulgarian) it isn't that rare for the schwa to be stressed

[@KarolaTea]

welp, learned something new today :D

[@fogofwaroneverest240]

Never? I wouldnt say that. It is stressed in the words: deter, detergent, deterrent, occur

[@KarolaTea]

Could be wrong here, but I'd say that's a ɜ: like in 'bird' in all of the words you mention, not a ə.

[@fogofwaroneverest240]

@@KarolaTea i mean, depends on the accent

[@lauragarnham77]

my sister: "schwa is the most common sound in English" me *confusedly trying to think of words that contain something that sounds like 'schwa'*

[@andrew7taylor]

Any word that ends in -er

[@lauragarnham77]

@@andrew7taylor doesn't sound like 'schwa' though.

[@atheniansoldier811]

@@lauragarnham77 well confusedly and contain have it

[@lauragarnham77]

@@atheniansoldier811 you missed my point. Unless I should be pronouncing them conschwafusedly or schwantain, no, no they don't. ;)

[@atheniansoldier811]

@@lauragarnham77 who says I don't?

[@joshyoung1440]

**vocal major gland begins tingling** ah, it's been a while since I thought about you, old friend. It was kinda cool to actually recognize a chart from a Tom Scott video and have an exact paper copy in a binder somewhere. I DEFINITELY don't say definite with a schwa though, and no, I did not mean for that to happen, and didn't realize what I was doing until I'd already typed it in caps for legitimate emphasis lmfao

[@anonymoususer2756]

0:42 *Bravo* for not being able to think of a different word where A makes a /ɑ/ sound!

[@aolson5795]

Tom: "Schwa is the o in potato" Samwise: "POE-TAY-TOES"

[@WTFBOOMDOOM]

Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew!

[@TheReaverOfDarkness]

Poh-tay-tiiz?

[@SprocketWatchclock]

I'm gonna be honest here, I pronounce it the same way as Samwise.

[@omarabdelkadereldarir7458]

What's taters, precious?

[@bl4ckthund3r43]

pə-tə-təs

[@fabiofdez]

3:04 In writing: I'm going to go to the store Pronounced: *_keyboard smash_*

[@Wubbazt]

FDSKJUOFISDKJF

[@TCM464]

Amnagudthstor

[@sl1pz369]

My brain: "I went and talked to Keighan the other day." My mouth tryinɡ to talk fast: *"/əˌwɛnə̃tɑʔᵏtəˈkiɣn̩ð̠ɨʌð̠ɜɹɾeɪ/"*

[@penguinlim]

I had a stroke trying to read that even though I know IPA

[@francescosacca6674]

Coming from Italy, it's funny how this very common sound in English has caused a huge ruckus in my country.

[@quelebm125]

What's the story behind that?

[@francescosacca6674]

@@quelebm125 of course those who still believe in it will keep using it, it's their freedom. At least those who don't have to be told they're bad people.

[@quelebm125]

@@francescosacca6674 I meant how has the mid-central vowel caused a ruckus in Italy? How do people "believe in it" and keep "using it"?

[@bryanfongo327]

Ao spiegati

[@francescosacca6674]

@@bryanfongo327 sto parlando della controversia che si è scatenata quando la linguista Vera Gheno ha proposto di usare lo ə per i non-binari. Sio ci ha fatto un video. Un altro linguista, Arcangeli, ha scritto una petizione per fermarla, quella che ha firmato anche Barbero. Ci sono stati parecchi scontri su questa questione, di quello sto parlando.

[@davidrich27]

“Reduce to Schwa” sounds like a good geeky mathcore band name.

[@cand0]

The Schwa Reduction

[@satakrionkryptomortis]

@@cand0 can i get a beat and some lyrics? i'm interested.

[@dumpsterbonfire.]

"The english language is hard, but it can be understood through tough thorough thought though." -someone apparently a lot smarter than me

[@arnorbenjaminsson3394]

Fun fact: The words "tough, though and through", don't share a single phonetic, including consonants.

[@dynamicworlds1]

(Also, we don't talk about buffalo)

[@annapejskova1976]

Without the "but". The "though" at the and has the meaning of the "but".

[@tonystroemsnaes554]

@@arnorbenjaminsson3394 Don't though and through share th?

[@lonestarr1490]

@@tonystroemsnaes554 Nope. though: /ðəʊ/ resp. /ðoʊ/, through: /θɹuː/, [θɾ̪̊ɵʉ], resp. /θɹu/, [θɾ̪̊ʊu].

[@ivanbustelo79]

I'm a spanish speaker and can't believe that vowels don't sound just like their names. To say a, I, o, and u you have to use two vowels

[@RED40HOURS]

read sounds the same as lead, but read doesn't sound the same as lead

[@clumbus894]

English is full of diphthongs, saying pure vowels feels really weird to most of us. Unless you're Scottish or Irish, in which case they monophthonganize a lot of them.

[@moutace]

Good job, mate!

[@overtone15]

New word idea: Schwave is the increasing use of schwa in sentences, so when someone says “I’m going to go to the store” we can say it was a real schwave sentence

[@ummjoe]

I really like this idea

[@kennarajora6532]

sounds like someone saying suave incorrectly.

[@nintendocaprimoon63]

Is it Schwayv or schwuv?

[@kennarajora6532]

@@nintendocaprimoon63 I think it's sh-oo-aah-vuh.

[@ender5312]

@@kennarajora6532is that 🐵 or 🐒?

[@WooShell]

"How was school?" - "I threw up in the classroom. We learned so much from that."

[@perodactyl490]

I threw əp in thə classroom. We lərnd so məch frəm that. lərnd has a letter that I naturally remove for no reasən.

[@MissCapasso]

Great lessons!

[@elijahbickerstaff7564]

This was the most interesting video i have ever seen.

[@josephjohannes3240]

McDonald's employee: "Welcome to McDonald's, can I take your order?" Me: "Can I get the ƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏ?"

[@ladofthedamned7796]

‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎

[@Schenkel101]

*BONELESS BURGER*

[@Neo-wc4zg]

LMAO

[@froidesprit]

i just made that comment and then I found yours

[@OriginalPiMan]

Employee: "Would you like fries with that?"

[@noahzuniga]

it's funny to me that "schwa" doesn't have the schwa vowel sound in it

[@asparagus_syndrome]

In my New Zealand accent it does

[@firebrain2991]

Ye I've had the joke since HS when I learned about it: "If you schwa'd a schwa, it would be a schwə"

[@ceruchi2084]

I pronounce it that way, just because in my world all letter-names should be like Pokémon.

[@rabidL3M0NS]

But it does.. Maybe it's just my accent?

[@ericcao4829]

reducing "schwa" to "schw-uhhh"

[@evi6629]

In dutch, the shwa is usually spelled with either an "e" or an "u". (Although there are notable exceptions, it's not nearly as chaotic as english) And when spelled with an e we call it "de stomme e" which translates to "dumb e"

[@Hats-On-Tv]

I absolutely love stuff like reducing "I'm Going To" to "Ammuna"

[@1stUniqueName]

Romanian language has a dedicated character for schwa: ă

[@quantumsoul3495]

I like the phoneticness of romanian writing. My favorite romanian letter is the archaic d with comma. Like ț ș ,d . It was replaced by z

[@Ida-xe8pg]

In my language there is a sound which is very close to the Romanian  but its only used at the end of the words

[@MadeInMinecraft]

Looks like a Nordic å with the circle chopped off 😅

[@sylv256]

@Micheal Rows no stop

[@razvanrusan9319]

Came here exactly to comment this. Crazy how easy we have it in our language.

[@briarwentling5435]

I love the thought of someone saying "umugunugotuthustore" and english speakers completely understanding it, but if you ask someone who learned english as a second language what they heard, they would just heard nonsense

[@arnor398]

As someone who learned english as a second language - no, it's still understandable. The only problem i had was how fast Tom was speaking. If it was longer then i might have problem with processing it fast enought. If you pay attention, you will notice that the most important parts of the sentence are pronounced more clearly ("go", "store") so you will still understand it even if "am gonna" and "to the" are kinda merged together and less clear.

[@UniQueZuZa]

I’d still get it.. maybe not the whole sentence, but definitely the main idea. What’s really funny though is pronouncing things such as mirror like “mee rr” and have native speakers confused 😅 Later edit: I am referring to British native speakers 🇬🇧

[@joseinenglish9309]

I can say that I would have an idea of what they said, but not understanding the whole sentence.

[@BierBart12]

It's cases like these where you just kinda start to *understand* or FEEL the meaning instead of consciously translating it in your head

[@Falcon-nf5yz]

I would still understand it

[@daftlad526]

The rest of Britain: "I'm going to go to the store" People from Hull: "Am off up town"

[@jonnybuijze1770]

3:05 that's actually not taking weak forms into account! At least for me at uni, I had to learn the weak forms too, which are quite easy to make because it's nearly always a schwa. But weak forms are a real phonetic thing, so the "proper" way would still include a bunch more schwas

[@gingeh1]

Tom: I won't be making any more language files. Also Tom:

[@beskamir5977]

All it took was Tom not being allowed to leave his house.

[@kscdisappointment2404]

@@beskamir5977 I think I have a bit of a plan involving a cage and my basement

[@erich_ika]

I'm learning English, now I understand why everyone says 'bout and p'tato

[@millomweb]

Better call the p'lice ! Lazy linguistical buggers !

[@Viviantoga]

"Where are you heading?" *[walks into woods with rifle]* "Goin' hun'in' in th' mowh'ins"

[@glitchy_weasel]

me too!

[@aweirdounderyourbed8741]

@@Viviantoga ever drank wood'ah?

[@greensteve9307]

@@aweirdounderyourbed8741, no, I drink war-tar.

[@swirrllfolfsky9803]

Linguistics is fascinating

[@wolf9673]

Ə=Schwa thank you so much that is really interesting to know