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schwa 7*w9, *v98
n.
5Ger < Heb sheva, a diacritic marking silence instead of a vowel sound6
1 the neutral mid-central vowel sound of most unstressed syllables in English: the sound represented by a in ago, e in agent, i in sanity, etc.
2 the symbol (!) for this sound, as in the International Phonetic Alphabet and this dictionary
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Carpal Tunnel
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Thanks for the dictionary definition, Dr. Bill. Those who needed to LIU won't need to now if they read your post. Schwas are convenient and correct to describe certain English vowel sounds in unstressed syllables. But I also wonder, along with tsuwm, wassup with using a schwa in one-syllable word?
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Thanks for the forte link, faldage. Interesting that the original pronunciation is now so uncommon that it sounds incorrect...and why is the original suddenly being used again? However, I know I've seen it spelled with that pesky é in respectable publications and some dictionaries over the years. Could it be because the now-preferred pronunciation sounds French?
employee/employe We have an editor of a weekly here on the Jersey Cape who demands his writers spell employee with one "e". This gentleman is well into his seventies so this is not some young upstart, and his explanation is simply that employe is correct and the extra "e' is a wasted letter, or something to that effect. According to the dictionaries the one-e spelling is acceptable, but we can never get used to writing or seeing it. I've never seen it spelled this way before or since. Has anyone else ever encountered employe? Please note it is still pronounced the same, so I guess this is embarking on a different variation...is there a word for this linguistic twist, tsuwm?
aunt An obvious example missed. The awnt, ant pronunciations for aunt I generally take to be a Brit/USN thing, although sometimes it just seems to be a matter of preference (or the haughtiness of class when used by the Blue Book society set here in the US).
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Carpal Tunnel
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Most Zildians pronounce it "ahnt", an exact homophone of "aren't"
As do New Englanders.
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veteran
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veteran
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Wll, thn, lt's jst drp vwls ltgthr! Isn't there precedent, as in ancient Hebrew?
I just got a call from Colin Vowel, Geoff. He says casualization is one thing. He strips down to his stripes for bed-time duty and has a son to prove it. But, disem-vowelment is something else entirely. And he will have none of it. That is, he is in favor of more vowels rather than none at all. I thanked him for his call, Geoff. I never argue with anyone above my pay-grade.
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stranger
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stranger
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I just got a call from Colin Vowel, Geoff.
Vowels in retreat: uoiea
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old hand
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old hand
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May I inquire as to the military/political implications of frequent Vowell movements?
Do you, General Vowell, perchange live in Flushing? Being of high rank, you are an Upper Vowell, thus above the need to live in Flushing, but what of those in your family who comprise the lower Vowells?
And isn't your given name spelled Colon? And isn't your illegitimate son named SemiColon?
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Joined: Nov 2001
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stranger
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stranger
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Vowel movements?
A very good use of vowels. And also very clever! [kudos]
Vowels in FULL retreat: yuoiea
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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
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The full regiment in retreat: wyuoiea
And doesn't Wyuoiea sound like an Irish name? How would we pronounce it, Teddy Bear Gallant?
Dub
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