The schwa /ə/ in two-syllable words that begin with the letter A

above, agree, access, appoint, approve, accent, annul, appease, atone etc

In one of my Substack newsletters below, I wrote about the nature of the schwa sound…

The schwa sound /ə/ in fORget, fORgive, cOrrupt, cAreer, cOrrect, cOllect, and pERhaps

Also in Introduction to the study of English stress, I wrote that…

The schwa sound /ə/ is NEVER stressed in any syllable. For example, words such as differ /'dɪf.ər/, around /əˈraʊnd/, contain /kənˈteɪn/, police /pəˈliːs/, pilot /ˈpaɪ.lət/, comfortable /ˈkʌm.fə.tə.bəl/ etc.

These are some characteristics that define the schwa sound /ə/.

In many words that begin with the letter ‘a’ such as above, agree, accept, appoint, approve, annul, appease, atone, etc, there is a high likelihood that there will be the presence of the schwa sound—although this might not always be true.

For many words like above /əˈbʌv/, agree /əˈgri:/, appoint /əˈpɔɪnt/, approve /əˈpruːv/, appease /əˈpiːz/, atone /əˈtəʊn/, annul /əˈnʌl/, accept /əkˈsɛpt/ etc, the schwa sound appears in the first syllable and the stress invariably falls on the second syllable.

The reason for the presence of the schwa sound in the first syllable is clear: In disyllabic words that are verbs, the stress always falls on the second syllable.

In disyllabic words that are nouns, such as accent /ˈaks(ə)nt,ˈaksɛnt/, access /ˈaksɛs/, and even polysyllabic words like attitude /ˈatɪtjuːd/, accident /ˈaksɪd(ə)nt/ etc, there is no schwa sound in the first syllable and the stress invariably falls on the first syllable.

Pay attention to or be conscious of the consonant /k/ in accent, access, and accident.

However, there are exceptions in disyllabic nouns such as applause /əˈplɔːz/, attack /əˈtak/, advice /əˈdvais/, appeal /əˈpiːl/, accord /əˈkɔːd/, amount /əˈmaʊnt/, account /əˈkaʊnt/ etc. Please note that these words can also be used as verbs.

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Francis