Contrasting schwa with
/a/, /æ/, and /ɛ/
Pronunciation students tend to confuse the /ǝ/-sound with other vowel sounds. Among those easily-confused sounds we have, Latin “a,” diagraph, and epsilon.
Now practice the following sequences of vowel sounds:
| /ʌ/ | /ɛ/ | /æ/ | /a/ |
| /ɛ/ | /ʌ/ | /a/ | /æ/ |
| /a/ | /ɛ/ | /ʌ/ | /æ/ |
| /æ/ | /ɛ/ | /a/ | /ʌ/ |
| /ʌ/ | /a/ | /æ/ | /ɛ/ |
Now, you have to pronounce the following words containing these sounds. Remember how your mouth muscles are positioned when these vowel sounds are pronounced.
| 1. | up | /ʌp/ | up |
| 2. | love | /lʌv/ | love |
| 3. | cut | /kʌt/ | cut |
| 4. | not | /nat/ | not |
| 5. | clock | /klak/ | clock |
| 6. | mob | /mab/ | mob |
| 7. | cat | /kæt/ | cat |
| 8. | have | /hæv/ | have |
| 9. | bag | /bæg/ | bag |
| 10. | met | /mɛt/ | met |
| 11. | dead | /dɛd/ | dead |
| 12. | end | /ɛnd/ | end |
Now, decide whether the following words are pronounced with /ɛ/, /æ/, /ʌ/, or /a/.
| | | /ʌ/ | /a/ | /æ/ | /ɛ/ |
| 1. | cup | | | | |
| 2. | can | | | | |
| 3. | shot | | | | |
| 4. | pot | | | | |
| 5. | sad | | | | |
| 6. | sun | | | | |
| 7. | set | | | | |
| 8. | leg | | | | |
| 9. | gum | | | | |
| 10. | tracks | | | | |
| 11. | lunch | | | | |
| 12. | uncle | | | | |
| 13. | bug | | | | |
| 14. | tracks | | | | |
| 15. | ankle | | | | |
| 16. | bunch | | | | |
| 17. | money | | | | |
| 18. | bag | | | | |
| 19. | many | | | | |
| 20. | bench | | | | |
