A Case Study of English Schwa Realization by Muna Language Speaker

Abstract

English schwa, a short vowel with mid-central quality, is absent in phonological system of Muna language. When a sound does not exist in one language, the speaker of the language tends to replace the sound with another similar sound, or eliminate the sound, or add a sound to make it possible to realize. Hence, in Muna language, there are only five vowels without varying long and short vowels, while there are 20 phonetic vowel symbols in Received Pronunciation and 16 in General American. Thus, this study attempts to investigate the realization of English schwa, a vowel which does not exist in Muna Language, by Muna Language speaker and the environment causing it. The speaker of Muna Language reading some words in sentences containing schwa is recorded. The data procured are analyzed by Praat, a freeware program for the analysis and reconstruction of acoustic speech signals. The findings are expected to be shown to some extend that firstly, some words containing English schwa are interpreted to certain vowel in Muna Language which is considered as a close counterpart of this short mid-central vowel (schwa) by the speaker. Secondly, the speaker tends to eliminate the sound to avoid mispronounce schwa that does not exist in Muna Language. All the findings could be taken into consideration when teaching English the speakers of language which does not have mid-central vowel or schwa in their language phonetic system. It highlights the importance of associating in teaching English phonemes, especially vowels, which might enhance the learners’ realization of English schwa sound as it appears in actual words.