Schwa

[ʃvaː]

/[ʃvaː]/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“Schwa” is uncommon German (frequency #85,820 among 107,600 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#85,820
frequency rank, German
107,600
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - zentraler, mittelhoher Kurzvokal, der in der Lautschrift mit [ə] wiedergegeben wird

Key facts for Schwa
PropertyValue
HeadwordSchwa
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ʃvaː]
Letters5
Frequency rank#85,820
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “Schwa” sits in German frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). Schwa lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Schwa is uncommon German at frequency #85,820 among 107,600 “S” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [ʃvaː]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Schwa has no tracked misspelling variants, a sign its spelling follows regular German conventions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct German form is Schwa, spelled S-C-H-W-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    zentraler, mittelhoher Kurzvokal, der in der Lautschrift mit [ə] wiedergegeben wird
  2. 2
    Vokalisierungszeichen, das Murmelvokal (Bedeutung [1]) oder Vokallosigkeit anzeigt

Synonyms

e-SchwaMurmelvokalNeutralvokalSchwa-LautZentralvokal

This word in other languages

schwa(English)schwa(Français)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Schwa"?
"Schwa" is spelled S-C-H-W-A. The IPA pronunciation is [ʃvaː].
What does "Schwa" mean?
As a noun, "Schwa" means: zentraler, mittelhoher Kurzvokal, der in der Lautschrift mit [ə] wiedergegeben wird
How do you pronounce "Schwa"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Schwa" is [ʃvaː]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Schwa" come from?
"Schwa" is a German word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “Schwa”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct German spelling is S-C-H-W-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as [ʃvaː] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words

Other uncommon German words near this rank

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list