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  • From: <michaelabernat9001 AT sbcglobal.net>
  • To: "b-hebrew" <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [b-hebrew] Was Schewa really silent?
  • Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2007 14:47:27 -0500

Isaac,

The vowel sound you don't seem to hear is an unstressed vowel found in many
American English words that cannot be pronounced without it. Evidently, you
just don't distinguish it from the stressed form of the vowel. It is the
first vowel in ago, the o in bigot, the first and last a in banana, and the i
in horrid.



I took a course in phonetic linguistics back in prehistoric times. From what
I saw with the students in that class, you will never hear that vowel unless
you practice pronouncing it and then mispronouncing the same word by
stressing the same vowel.

Sincerely,
Michael Abernathy




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