schwa

\ʃva\

/\ʃva\/ noun

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

The verdict

“schwa” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
5
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Voyelle neutre, de son /ə/ en API, intercalée sans signification phonologique et parfois de manière facultative entre deux consonnes.

Key facts for schwa
PropertyValue
Headwordschwa
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ʃva\
Letters5
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “schwa” sits in French frequency

schwa falls outside the top-100,000 ranked French words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

schwa is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \ʃva\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for schwa, suggesting the orthography follows predictable French patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is schwa, spelled S-C-H-W-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    Voyelle neutre, de son /ə/ en API, intercalée sans signification phonologique et parfois de manière facultative entre deux consonnes.
  2. 2
    symbole de l’alphabet phonétique international ou d’autres systèmes de transcription phonétique composé d’un e culbuté et représentant cette voyelle neutre centrale.
  3. 3
    Phonème de l'hébreu qui dénote soit l’absence de voyelle, soit une voyelle, et qui est représenté par deux points souscrits sous la consonne qui le précède dans la prononciation.

Synonyms

e culbuté

This word in other languages

schwa(English)schwa(Español)Schwa(Deutsch)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). 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 \ʃva\.
What does "schwa" mean?
As a noun, "schwa" means: Voyelle neutre, de son /ə/ en API, intercalée sans signification phonologique et parfois de manière facultative entre deux consonnes.
How do you pronounce "schwa"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "schwa" is \ʃva\. 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 French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 French spelling is S-C-H-W-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \ʃva\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
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