Talk:IPA phoneme /ə/

I really must learn to speak "proper" RP. Which are the two schwa vowels in America? In my accent I can pronounce it without any, although I can bring it out in the last one. Can it be əmericə? Aməricə sounds impossible and Amerəcə is also hard to believe.--Bob Mudford 17:39, 5 May 2011 (UTC)


 * Try saying: They live in Africa (one schwa) a couple of times - and compare that with: They live in America (two schwas) and you should hear/feel/notice the diff. --Technopat 05:04, 6 May 2011 (UTC)
 * I can force the schwa in anywhere. Which two syllables have the schwa in your accent?--Bob Mudford 05:58, 6 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Interesting. Web dictionaries agree on the first and the last but not always on the middle. Webster's potentially has three  \ə-ˈmer-ə-kə, -ˈme-rə-\ the free dictionary has əˈmɛrɪkə, Oxford has /əˈmerɪkə/, Wictionary has /əˈmɛrɪkə/.--Bob Mudford 11:40, 6 May 2011 (UTC)

Translating to uniform notation: The second syllable can be /e/ or /eə/ (the merry-Mary merger), the third syllable can be /ɪ/ or /ə/ (the Lenin-Lennon merger, also called the schwi-schwa merger). Ghoti (talk) 21:22, 19 March 2014 (UTC)
 * Webster's: /əˈmeərəkə, əˈmerəkə/
 * The Free Dictionary: /əˈmerɪkə/
 * Oxford: /əˈmerɪkə/
 * Wictionary: /əˈmerɪkə/