1. The Schwa Hieronymus Bosch: The Garden of Earthly Delights

2. Why aren’t words always spelled as they are pronounced?

3. Origin of Words in the English Language

4. Before foreign words were borrowed… Ða wæs on burgumBeowulf Scyldinga, leof leodcyning,longe þrage folcum gefræge(fæder ellor hwearf, aldor of earde),oþþæt him eft onwoc heah Healfdene; heold þenden lifde, gamol ond guðreouw,glæde Scyldingas. Now Beowulf bode in the burg of the Scyldings, leader beloved, and long he ruled in fame with all folk, since his father had gone away from the world, till awoke an heir, haughty Healfdene, who held through life, sage and sturdy, the Scyldings glad. Old EnglishTranslation Excerpt taken from Beowulf, lines 53-58

5. /trænˈskrɪpʃən/ Where is the “schwa”?

6. What is the IPA? International Phonetic Alphabet Spell words as pronounced For every language… even English!

7. IPA - Consonants Most consonants stay the same. Voiceless are paired with voiced A few extra symbols are used. BilabialLabio- dental DentalAlveolarPost- alveolar PalatalVelarLabio- velar Glottal Nasalmnŋ Plosivep, bt, dk, g Affr.tʃ, dʒ Fric.f, vθ, ðs, zʃ, ʒh Flap Appr.ɹjw Laterall

8. IPA - Vowels Each vowel sound has its own symbol Unrelated to English alphabet i ɪ u eəo ɛɔ æ a

9. The schwa ə Examples: About Supply Under Cover Compatible Examples taken from http://www.dictionary.com/ /əˈbaʊt/ /səˈplaɪ/ /ˈʌndər/ /ˈkʌvər/ /kəmˈpætəbəl/

10. Is the dictionary wrong?

11. The Spelling List. 1. Hos - pi - tal 3. Ac - cep - ta - ble 5. A - ban - don Transcriptions taken from http://www.merriam-webster.com/ \ˈhäs-(ˌ)pi-t ə l\ \ik-ˈsep-tə-bəl\ \ə-ˈban-dən\

12. The Brothers Grimm Jacob (1785-1863) Wilhelm (1786-1859) Were German linguists Collected fairytales Invented the schwa

13. Famous Grimm Fairytales Rumpelstiltskin Snow White Hansel and Gretel Rapunzel Cinderella The Frog Prince Sleeping Beauty

14. Online Dictionaries Dictionary.com (IPA) Merriam Webster Dictionary (IPA) Oxford English Dictionary (not IPA, no audio)

15. Inconsistencies Rectangle /ˈrɛkˌtæŋgəl/Dictionary.com /ˈrek-ˌtaŋ-gəl/Merriam-Webster /ˈrekˌtaNGgəl/OED

16. Inconsistencies Metropolitan /ˌmɛtrəˈpɒlɪtn/Dictionary.com /ˌme-trə-ˈpä-lə-tən/Merriam-Webster /ˌmetrəˈpälitn/OED

17. Inconsistencies Suburban /ɛnˈdɛvər/Dictionary.com /in-ˈde-vər/Merriam-Webster /enˈdevər/OED

18. Why are the transcriptions different?