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ə

mid central (schwa)a in about, French e in le.

midcentralunroundedreduced

How each language writes it

LanguageSpellingsExampleNote
Englishany unstressed vowelabout əˈbaʊt
about
The commonest English vowel. banana = /bəˈnɑːnə/.
Frenche (open syllable)petit pəti
small
Often dropped in fast speech: p'tit.

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