In the study of language, schwa is the name of the neutral vowel sound represented by the symbol ə in this dictionary.
schwa in British English
or shwa (ʃwɑː)
noun
1.
a central vowel represented in the International Phonetic Alphabet by (ə). The sound occurs in unstressed syllables in English, as in around, mother, and sofa
2.
the symbol (ə) used to represent this sound
Word origin
C19: via German from Hebrew shewā, a diacritic indicating lack of a vowel sound
schwa in American English
(ʃwɑ; ʃvɑ)
noun
1.
the neutral mid-central vowel sound of most unstressed syllables in English: thesound represented by a in ago, e in agent, i in sanity, etc.
2.
the symbol (ə) for this sound, used in the International Phonetic Alphabet and somerespelling systems
Word origin
Ger < Heb sheva, a diacritic marking silence instead of a vowel sound