Weak Vowels
– Listen to the four words with weak endings spelt ‘en’. Which word does not contain a schwa sound?
women written pollen bitten
‘Women’ is pronounced with a weak /ɪ/ sound. All the other words are pronounced with a schwa sound.How do I pronounce weak vowels in English?
- The most common weak vowel sounds in English are /ə/ and /ɪ/.
- These weak sounds are spelt using ‘a’, ‘e’, ‘i’, ‘o’, & ‘u’ in written English.
- Weak vowels can appear at the beginning, middle and end of words.
- Some words can be pronounced with either an /ə/ or /ɪ/.
For example: ‘kitchen’ /ˈkɪtʃɪn/ or /ˈkɪtʃən/DRILL
Repeat the following:
/ə/ beaten, lentil, parade, mother, council, spoken
/ɪ/ surface, kitchen, women, orange, believeEXERCISE
Listen to the recording and decide whether the weak vowel is /ə/ or /ɪ/.
A. village
B. wanted
C. taken
D. carpet
E. cushion
F. finish
G. bicycle
H. meeting
I. Thailand
J. salad
A. /ɪ/ B. /ɪ/ C. /ə/ D. /ɪ/ E. /ə/ F. /ɪ/ G. /ə/ H. /ɪ/ I. /ə/ J. /ə/