Ə: The Most Common Vowel in English

[@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

[@zumtud]

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

[@angelvalentynn]

LMAOOO

[@saltations_]

Brə

[@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 👌🏻😎.

[@yellobanana6456]

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

[@breawen]

your pfp lmao

[@perodactyl490]

"əəə..."

[@amogusimposter4571]

Ə

[@amogusimposter4571]

Əə

[@AnimateTronix]

I mean yeha

[@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

[@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.

[@BlueLunarWater]

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.

[@lsswappedcessna]

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

[@Twohomst]

XXXXDDDDDD

[@servantofaeie1569]

that was /a/ though

[@danielantony1882]

​@@servantofaeie1569 nay

[@NurSalihahAbdullah-b6h]

Hello friend look boom ə

[@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

[@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"

[@RatelHBadger]

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

[@Qwazor]

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.

[@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? 😄

[@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

[@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

[@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

[@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.

[@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.

[@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.

[@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

[@ArsenicApplejuice]

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

[@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

[@jackdog06]

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

[@technology4y328]

Sar

[@oilylondon]

lmao

[@AliKhan-mg3mj]

burh

[@fernandogunthorando1379]

Brəh

[@YellowToad]

æ

[@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.

[@rosheafan]

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/?

[@Robin-Dabank696]

​@@jan_MasewinI think it might /wεnzdej/, but I'm not sure

[@Bitmaker64]

I pronounce it as 'wenusday', the u being said like a schwa.

[@triggethridge9326]

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

[@prestonang8216]

Trigg Ethridge Eminem

[@angelvalentynn]

I YELLED

[@nathanaelvalera2241]

emenegv?rede stc:

[@Berilia]

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

[@angelvalentynn]

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

[@dolorsitametblue]

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

[@jakobvanklinken]

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

[@Hakabas01]

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.

[@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.

[@arcanexd]

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

[@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?

[@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.

[@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

[@Invalid-user13k]

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

[@Invalid-user13k]

@@meganofsherwood3665 me too

[@kylienielsen6975]

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

[@Invalid-user13k]

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

[@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

[@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

[@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]

@@z167-v8u 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

[@noel8147]

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

[@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."

[@fabiofdez]

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

[@Wubbazt]

FDSKJUOFISDKJF

[@Infinite_Archive]

Amnagudthstor

[@hykilp]

If every word shouldn't be spelled how it sounds, Həw əbəət məkəng əll vəwəls 'ə's

[@wordart_guian]

welcome to circassian

[@WolfXGamerful]

I believe this is how Patrick Star speaks

[@LUMINIZEDOG]

THIS IS EXACTLY HOW CANADIANS IN SOUTH PARK SOUND HAHAHA

[@butterowlet6774]

@@WolfXGamerful This makes a lotta sense since he's the laziest character I've ever seen

[@omen4s976]

Wait a minute, kilpikonna means turtle in finnish. Are you finnish?

[@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!

[@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 😂😂😂😂

[@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

[@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

[@Krauser8882]

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

[@qq13563817153]

Chungə rivals James & James for best TTT teams

[@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.

[@Obviary]

I say "go to the" as "gəəəddə"

[@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 😅

[@sylv512]

@Micheal Rows no stop

[@razvanrusan9319]

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

[@jackdog06]

3:12 The most unbelievable part of this video is that Tom would use the word “store” in this context

[@seraphina985]

Funny enough of the American phrasings I adapted to while living in the US for around 6 months that is one that somehow never seemed to fully go away and still slips in sometimes. I guess because it doesn't really feel all that out of place unlike Americanism's like garbage, at most just sounds maybe slightly formal like you are going to work there or something as that tends to be what the companies themselves call their locations so it's all over media anyway.

[@Chris_Cross]

What, is "store" American?

[@ubertoaster99]

@@Chris_Cross Yes. In the UK a store is for storing in, a shop is for shopping in.

[@SirHiggalot]

@@ubertoaster99 Interesting. When I (an American) hear the word "shop" I primarily think of a place where things are made.

[@Minihood31770]

@@SirHiggalot I might call that a workshop or the shop floor, but never "shop" on it's own.

[@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).

[@IronBahamut]

"Reduced to schwa" now sounds like some sort of vulgar expletive

[@ebgbees]

Shut up before I reduce you to schwa

[@claw3335]

"No! I'm right! Every word should be spelled how it sounds!" I say as I slowly get reduced to ə

[@ProfRonconi]

Hahahaha! Indeed: we could use "you miserable little schwa", or "your mother was a bloody schwa, you know?"

[@cloud_and_proud]

For insulting my family, I will reduce you to schwa!

[@nitehawk86]

It is kind of ironic you used the word "vulgar" there. Or, was that a subtle pun?

[@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

[@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

[@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.

[@evan]

Loved this!!

[@Tezunegari]

Or you could go full spartan: "Store." The exact meaning would be explained by the situational context. Putting on a jacket or coat? It means "I am going to the store." Just entered the room with bags? "I returned from the store." Wearing a mask and grabbing a gun while leaving? "I am going to rob the store."

[@wave1090]

I'm actually considering trying this

[@ThePikaPlayer]

Hacking the mainframe of your local supermarket's website to allow you to get hundreds of items for free? "I am hacking the store website."

[@ax14pz107]

Well nowadays wearing a mask to the store is common.

[@MartinOmander]

Wearing a mask, briefly considering bringing a gun but then putting it back. "I'm going to the store during a global pandemic".

[@9nikola]

Pushing a box into someone's hands and gesturing towards the basement stairs? "Store this in my basement."

[@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 🐒?

[@rosepinkskyblue]

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

[@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"

[@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.

[@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]

.

[@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!

[@imveryangryitsnotbutter]

3:22 - Tom sounds very tired and emotional here.

[@WlatPziupp]

Slanderous!

[@PatrickMcAsey]

Exactly. He's from the UK, and Brits don't go to the store; they go to the shop.

[@artstsym]

@@WlatPziupp Libelous!

[@saulo4302]

Uhgudugutudustorh

[@safe-keeper1042]

Uh oh. Lawsuit incoming.

[@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.

[@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?

[@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?"

[@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.

[@kirbyaggg2157]

Hey, I'm an English teacher from Chile, mind if I use this video? also mind if I add Spanish translations (it's not available right now)

[@TheMegaxPlus]

Try contacting him directly, but else it's usually fine to use content for educational purposes

[@plutonimus]

Actually, just checked his website myself. It says if you’re just using the video in the classroom and playing from KZbin/embedding the video, go ahead, no need to ask.

[@cingkole7893]

Yes

[@illbeyourmonster3591]

As a teacher that has some understanding of the English language. Can you explain why so many American English teachers use rules like, "Spell it like it sounds, unless it's spelled differently." Is it stupidity or sheer lack self/situational awareness on their part? 😳

[@oracleoftroy]

@@illbeyourmonster3591 That sounds like a joke. Are you sure that was serious advice?

[@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

[@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.

[@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"

[@AnikaRoseCommunication]

I want to be like a schwa, because it’s always unstressed!

[@leaczinkota1979]

Great one.

[@frank_calvert]

always unstressed in english*

[@demolisher2223]

@@frank_calvert way to ruin the joke

[@frank_calvert]

@@demolisher2223 i feel like this is a perfect time to rename my account to "pedantic peripatetic philosophy"

[@kjj26k]

@@frank_calvert *And so it was.*

[@The8BitPianist]

English being my second language, I can distinctly remember the moment I realized that "going to" and "gonna" mean the same. Still waiting for the moment spelling makes sense. Thanks to this, I know that moment will never come, thanks

[@Liggliluff]

English being my second language, realising that the definiteness of nouns are marked with a separate leading word "the" was quite weird, considering my language is inflecting the noun instead.

[@lordman5497]

In my native language "gonna" means skirt and I was very confused for a few months until I found out what it actually means in English

[@lohphat]

Keep drinking. It helps.

[@ZipplyZane]

Spelling can make some sense, as long as you allow for exceptions. Many of us were taught to read using "phonics"--i.e. rules on how letters (and patterns of letters) sound in words. It allows us to at least attempt to pronounce a new English word correctly. It fails horribly, however, when encountering non-English words. I think having to remember all the patterns in English might be why English speakers seem to be worse at figuring out the pronunciation of foreign words.

[@bagochips1208]

going to going tə goin ə goinə gonə gonnə gonna that's how I think about it

[@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

[@samhutch7679]

"hey where did all the unique vowel sounds go?" Gone. Reduced to schwa.

[@enavoid]

rƏdƏcƏd tƏ schwƏ yƏ mƏn

[@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].

[@johncooley7050]

I remember hearing that there are "stress-timed" and "syllable-timed" languages. English is stress-timed: when speaking stressed syllables occur at approximately equal time intervals. In syllable timed languages, all syllables occur at approximately equal intervals (shorter than stress-timed intervals). I suspect the schwa vowel is primarily an artifact of stress-timed languages and would not find much if any use in a syllable timed language.

[@pfysche2283]

Yup. Turkish is a syllable-timed language and schwas literally never happen. To the point where when someone says "uhhhh..." they either say [a:] or [ɯ:] In general, things get reduced a lot less. Things like /japadʒa.ɯz/ to /japɯdʒaz/ to /japtʃaz/ still occur in casual speech, but nothing to the level of "uhmuhnaguhtuhthestore".

[@materialknight]

But French is considered syllable-timed, yet it makes extensive use of schwa.

[@zozzy4630]

@@materialknight True, but it's the stressed vowel in a lot of words. I'm not sure how often other vowels get reduced to a schwa the same way as in English.

[@zozzy4630]

There are also mora-timed languages, perhaps most famously Japanese - even though "Tokyo" only has 2 syllables, they each have a long vowel (which is why you might occasionally see it written Tōkyō), and syllables with long vowels generally comprise two morae, so the 4-mora "Tokyo" is pronounced for about twice as long as the 2-mora word "kana" (the native Japanese syllabaries, as opposed to Kanji, the system using modified Chinese characters). There are other rules governing how many morae a syllable has in Japanese, and different rules in other languages as well, but mora-timing does seem to be rarer than stress- or syllable-timing.

[@flutterwind7686]

@@materialknight French is somewhat stress timed. That's why it sounds a bit different from Spanish or Italian

[@rjvitt]

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!

[@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

[@SionTJobbins]

Welsh seems to be one of the few European language which recognises the schwa sound and has a letter for it - we use 'y'. It also happens that 'y' is also the definate article in Welsh, ('yr' if it's followed by a vowel) so it's a really important letter! Welsh people can 'hear' the schwa in a way speakers of many other languages, as you suggest Tom, don't. Because we have a letter for it, we hear it as a different sound and it's a vowel for us - that's some of the confusion when English people say 'Welsh has no vowels' and see words like Ystradgynlais and thing there are no vowels - when in fact there are five! Children in Welsh medium schools are also taught to read and write Welsh before reading and writing English. Because of that, sometimes you'll find kids using Welsh orthography to spell English words. So it's not uncommon to see kids (initially until taught otherwise, for course) spell 'the' as 'ddy' as this is a phonetic rendering in Welsh orthography of the (dd is the way we spell the unvoiced 'th' in Welsh). Welsh speakers will also use Welsh orthography to spell English words and phrases as a kind of playful nod to the fact that we use a lot of English words when we speak Welsh and spelling them in English is a way of saying "yes this is English but we're now borrowing them". So, you'll see things like 'lyfio ti' (love you - f = v in Welsh orthograhy). Yes, of course, Welsh has a words for love, it's 'caru' and of course, 'caru ti' is the normal way to say it, but 'lyfio ti' which is a 'lazy' way of speaking Welsh is also a slightly ironic, schmaltzy way of saying it. But y is the shwa in Welsh (though it's sometimes also a soft 'i'). It's such a handy letter and by having it Welsh recognises a sound most languages have but are totally unaware of it.

[@Jokervision744]

Seems like your "y" is our "a", but I wouldn't say that your "t" is our "j". "Love you ~ Lav ja / Lov ja" It's crazy...

[@OwainCynanRoberts]

As a welsh person, i approve of all this.

[@wren_.]

THATS WHY WELSH HAS SO MANY Y’s OH MY GOSH

[@danielantony1882]

Armenian has it too. It's Ը ը

[@SionTJobbins]

@@danielantony1882 oh wow! Well done Armenian .... cool looking alphabet too!

[@capitalex5422]

3:14 That IPA was probably the funniest thing I've seen today

[@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!

[@Lystr0saur]

The fact that "Infinite" and "finite" are pronounced differently is even more annoying to be than "Kansas" and "Arkansas"

[@laurinnn]

wait they are pronounced differently?!?

[@Gwapo]

en-fe-nit fhy-naht

[@perodactyl490]

I always say finite the way I say infinite.

[@PercabethYessss]

WAIT KANSAS AND ARKANSAS ARE DIFFERENT?! *o*

[@jetstream9406]

@@PercabethYessss yea Kansas is pronounced the way its spelled but Arkansas is pronounced Arken-saw

[@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/

[@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

[@Sumitra___si]

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)!

[@MozartJunior22]

Fun fact: the name "schwa" comes from the Hebrew "shva" which is the name of the vowel marker that symbolizes the empty vowel (most of the time)

[@oranwax5848]

מחזק +1

[@kurojima]

thats because Yiddish is actually a germanic language

[@liagoldenberg9377]

יאפ :)

[@Culmaerija]

@@kurojima I'mma assume you're responding to a now-deleted comment ?? but in case not, the name "shva" comes from Hebrew, which is a Semitic language. Yiddish is a wholly different language, it is indeed Germanic, and uses a _version_ of the Hebrew alphabet. but shva and other vowel points are not usually part of the Yiddish alphabet

[@CasualLinked]

בחיים לא הייתי מזהה שהוא התכוון לשווא בלי התגובה הזו

[@solidus4prez]

One of my favorites is "amamawe" for "I'm on my way"

[@JoseCastro-nj5bs]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@ynntari2775]

"amamawe" written like this looks exactly like a polynesian word

[@5roundsrapid263]

“Amamawe...amamawe...The lion sleeps tonight...”

[@yinchenxu5249]

əməməwe

[@aurorarose6678]

i LOVE the way you emphasize that changing the pronunciation of words isn’t “lazy” or “wrong”, it’s just a natural code switch because of the way language works. i love it!!!!!

[@katiebirdie7868]

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

[@ByteMe619]

I remember asking my parents how you spell the “uh” at the end of computer

[@magicianwizard4294]

australian or british?

[@acedragon1456]

Interesting, do you have a non-rhotic accent by any chance?

[@saulo4302]

Compiutr

[@ratamacue0320]

Errrr...

[@EebstertheGreat]

@Maiahi In North America, instead of reducing the [t] to a [ʔ] (glottal stop), we reduce it to an [ɾ] (the same way a single R is pronounced in Spanish). So in the U.K. you may hear "water" pronounced [ˈwɔːtə] or even [woːʔɐ] (with both a vowel _and_ a consonant that don't usually exist here), but in North America, you will likely hear it pronounced [ˈwɔɾɚ] or [ˈwɑɾɚ]. Some Spanish words are actually easier for Americans to pronounce correctly if you replace single Rs with Ts or Ds, but for some reason when we listen to Spanish, we never make that mistake.

[@-Graham]

This is probably the single most informative explanation of how words work I have ever witnessed. I'm sure there's a better way to say that too! Why oh why weren't we taught this in school?!? Thankyou Tom! This is why the internet can be such a wonderful place! You are a literal scholar and I would bet my right arm you're a gentleman too 👍

[@-Untitled-]

Something nice.

[@ari-s-video]

0:43 Mark Cooper-Jones: How do you pronounce this word? Jay Foreman: Bith

[@moshahriz1346]

From map men?

[@AvrahamYairStern]

Map men map men map map map men men..... men

[@kiradotee]

@@AvrahamYairStern men

[@nathanielhellman6952]

Thank you.

[@redfailhawk]

Bahth

[@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".

[@bottombunk7685]

Someone should caption Toms video using only schwa vowels now.

[@MrMineHeads.]

Əəəəəəəəəəəəəəəəəəəəəəəəəəəəəəəəə

[@ladofthedamned7796]

‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎

[@nullvoid3545]

@@ladofthedamned7796 how did you leave an empty comment?

[@mskiptr]

@@nullvoid3545 it's probably some zero-length character there. Not on PC so can't check for sure.

[@NetheriteMiner]

Alt+255 probably

[@x3ICEx]

"Schwa" is the most common vowel in English. Every English speaker uses it, all the time, but most people have never heard of it.

[@teiull9388]

nope not at all, it's the most common vowel in the whole world.

[@حُسَينقَطليش]

This vowel doesn't exist in my language.

[@حُسَينقَطليش]

@@teiull9388 Do you speak all the languages on earth to say that?

[@teiull9388]

@@حُسَينقَطليش no, but according to the study mentioned in the video, it is the most common

[@personhuman2239]

Wow you just copypasted the description how amazing

[@thetrashmaster1352]

0:39 "it Sounds really posh to make this work, bath." Me as an Australian; "Who's the convict now Tom?"

[@Liggliluff]

Plus doesn't his British friends say /bɑːθ/ anyway?

[@youngwt1]

@@Liggliluff I am by no means posh, I'm from South West England and I would still say ba(r)th and most people from my town would

[@tigrafale4610]

my natural accent pronounces "bath" and "barf" the same way. if that's posh then i don't know what isn't.

[@erkziltonz]

@@tigrafale4610 you pronounce 'th' as 'f'? Do you say fanks?

[@alecwilliams1556]

erkziltonz read it again, they were referring to the ‘a’ sound in each word.

[@Eric-yd9dm]

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

[@g0ldenretrievers]

"I'm going to go to the store" or, alternatively "gowin shop"

[@dansaunders1655]

Off down shops

[@ilexdiapason]

am goin't shop

[@lawrencian]

Haha I say this Gowin tuh shop, wohn anyfin

[@seraphina985]

That sounds like a betting shop or at least a betting shop when you are the owner and thus go win wouldn't be a misnomer :p

[@ladofthedamned7796]

That's just Americanized

[@Y337n3ss]

Formal: “I am going to go to the store” Casual: “imgunnagotode stoh”

[@junebugrobotics]

ə ə

[@checkYVELLUAP]

əmənəgv?rədə stc:

[@TheSecondVersion]

"Schwa" sounds like how you'd expect a French person to read "choir"

[@romainhedouin]

It actually sounds like "choix" (meaning "choice")

[@quantumsoul3495]

@@romainhedouin or like "choire" meaning "to fall"

[@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