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I wonder schwa sound [ə] such as but, cut, sub in weak form etc. is voiced or unvoiced sound. Thank you!

nkm
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    In the mainstream dialects of English, but, cut and sub do not use the schwa sound. The schwa is some kind of vowel sound, so of course it is voiced. Please search the site for existing questions about schwa. – Kaz Jan 30 '14 at 03:07
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    Possible duplicate: http://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/14563/how-to-pronounce-the-schwa-sound – Kaz Jan 30 '14 at 03:08
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    The schwa is a vowel. Not a particularly distinct vowel, but a vowel nonetheless. Unless you're whispering, it is physically impossible to have an unvoiced vowel. – Martha Jan 30 '14 at 04:20
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    Some languages do use unvoiced vowels, so it's reasonable to ask. And although /ə/ and /ʌ/ are considered different phonemes, phonetically there may be overlap. See What's the difference between Schwa (/ə/) and Wedge (/ʌ/)? for some discussion. –  Jan 30 '14 at 07:35
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    The linked question doesn't address the question asked here, so I voted to leave this question open. –  Jan 30 '14 at 07:36
  • @Kaz I forgot that English vowels are voiced but I watched Youtube and heard that schwa is relax sound so it made me think that it is unvoiced. – nkm Jan 30 '14 at 10:03
  • @snailplane Thank you for your understanding in other languages vowels. – nkm Jan 30 '14 at 10:03
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    A google search "unvoiced schwa" turns up examples for both English and other languages. I'm too tired.. someone else can look it up and answer with references; mostly it is voiced but there are a few exceptions where it is unvoiced :) – CoolHandLouis Jan 30 '14 at 14:09
  • @CoolHandLouis Thanks a lot! Your information is really useful! – nkm Jan 31 '14 at 08:11
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    Imho, it's best to treat these occurrences of unvoiced schwa (and other vowels) as something unintentionally happened, even though they happen often enough. The speakers usually have no intention to pronounce it unvoiced; it just came out that way. I dare say that this is universal to any spoken language. – Damkerng T. Feb 25 '14 at 14:46
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    The only unvoiced 'vowel' in English is /h/, which functions as a consonant. – anzara Feb 25 '14 at 14:09
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    @anzara: This is true; but it should be pointed out that 'vowel' is a phonological term, not a phonetic one. Vowel phonemes are occasionally realized without phonetic voicing - see Nico's answer. – StoneyB on hiatus Feb 25 '14 at 17:22

2 Answers2

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I had never come across the concept of an unvoiced vowel, never mind an unvoiced schwa, but it turns out that it is possible to record such a phenomenon with a spectrogram.

Norman Lass in Contemporary Issues in Experimental Phonetics gives the word commercial as an example: "The /k/ sound appears to be unusually long because of the unvoiced quality of /ə/". Figure 6.18 in this reference is particularly illustrative.

EDIT

@StoneyB explains in the comments that the unvoiced schwa does not happen with stressed syllables and thus it doesn't happen in but, cut or sub.

Nico
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    The unvoiced /ə/ occurs only in reduced contexts, not in cut, sub, but where the vowel bears primary word stress. This is another reason why phonologists tend to distinguish English /ə/ from /ʌ/ and to reserve the term schwa for the former. – StoneyB on hiatus Feb 25 '14 at 17:27
  • @StoneyB, the OP especifies cut, but and sub in their weak form, would that make the unvoiced schwa possible? – Nico Feb 25 '14 at 17:57
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    'Unstressed' and 'reduced' aren't quite the same thing - ordinarily a full noun like sub or verb like cut won't be reduced. Sub-, maybe, as in , but, just possibly. – StoneyB on hiatus Feb 25 '14 at 18:17
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A google search for "unvoiced schwa" turns up examples for both English and other languages. Mostly it is voiced but there are a few exceptions where it is unvoiced :)

CoolHandLouis
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