schwa sound definition
noun. Schwa is a vowel sound in an unstressed syllable, or the phonetic symbol É which is the International Phonetic Alphabet symbol for schwa. An unstressed syllable in a word, such as the a syllable in ago, is an example of schwa.oun. 1  A mid-central neutral vowel, typically occurring in unstressed syllables, as the final vowel of English sofa. 2  The symbol (&schwa;) used to represent an unstressed neutral vowel and, in some systems of phonetic transcription, a stressed mid-central vowel, as in but.