I had to reshoot this entire video because I set the lighting up wrongly. When I made the /ɑ/ noise, the back of my throat was illuminated as brightly as my face. It was uncomfortable to watch.

@sabertooth3497

4 жыл бұрын

hi Tom Scott

@OdgeBodge

4 жыл бұрын

thanks for the video tom

@peugeoting

4 жыл бұрын

hello tom scott

@twoone4574

4 жыл бұрын

Hi

@thefish6771

4 жыл бұрын

Rip

Imagine getting jumped by a gang of linguists and the leader says "Reduce him to Schwa"

@FunnyParadox

3 жыл бұрын

@@geomochi4904 Because what did you want to reply to this ? XD

@richardhead1848

3 жыл бұрын

I love this. Giggling like the sleep deprived lunatic that I am.

@bennyk384

3 жыл бұрын

This is a beautifully crafted joke

@angelvee5093

3 жыл бұрын

LMAOOO

@saltations_

3 жыл бұрын

Brə

English language: what happened to the pronunciation? Thanos: gone, reduced to schwa.

@cerulean22b69

3 жыл бұрын

ləl vərə fənə

@slimeykadenza9293

3 жыл бұрын

@@cerulean22b69 underrated reply tbh

@Zaire82

3 жыл бұрын

At least schwa still exists. Can't say the same for the second "o" in pronounciation though....

@MineRoyale.

3 жыл бұрын

@@Zaire82 just wanted to let you know that he's got it right: there's no second o.

@Zaire82

3 жыл бұрын

@@MineRoyale. Apparently both are reasonable. "Pronunciation" is the standard spelling, but due to the sensible logic behind "Pronounciation", with it being derived from "pronOUnce", it isn't considered wrong. I believe my spelling is better though, so I'm going to continue using it even though it's not the standard spelling. It makes more sense. Just means my earlier correction is nulled.

"Hey, what's a schwa?" "Uhh..." "Oh. Thanks!"

@breawen

2 жыл бұрын

your pfp lmao

@perodactyl490

2 жыл бұрын

"əəə..."

@amogusimposter4571

2 жыл бұрын

Ə

@amogusimposter4571

2 жыл бұрын

Əə

@AnimateTronix

2 жыл бұрын

I mean yeha

mother: "does it feel good?" baby, covered in peanut butter: *"ə"*

@Twohomst

2 жыл бұрын

XXXXDDDDDD

@servantofaeie1569

2 жыл бұрын

that was /a/ though

@danielantony1882

Жыл бұрын

​@@servantofaeie1569 nay

@user-df5tl3xp8o

Ай бұрын

Hello friend look boom ə

teacher: "what are you thinking about?" me: *ƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏ*

@naufalap

4 жыл бұрын

can i get some əəəəəəəəəəəəəə

@schplorgus8140

4 жыл бұрын

@@naufalap bərgər king foot lettəce

@Laittth

4 жыл бұрын

@@schplorgus8140 There's no schwa in burger

@fireball9670

4 жыл бұрын

əəəəəəəəəəəəəə, əʊˈkeɪ

@sertacg8433

4 жыл бұрын

@@Laittth there is now

"Where are the vowels?!" "Gone, reduced to Schwa."

@fribigy47

2 жыл бұрын

Ha Ha Ha/gen

@Daniel-yz5qj

2 жыл бұрын

I used the vowels to destroy the vowels

@DaFrogKnight

2 жыл бұрын

1000th like les go

@Xneom27

2 жыл бұрын

ə əm ənəvətəble

@daedelusstormbow3489

2 жыл бұрын

@@Xneom27 that translation is perfect

Me: Wait, it's all schwa? Tom: **Pulls out gun** Always has been

It's kind of ironic that Tom pronounces 'tongue' as 'tong', whereas the more common pronunciation is "tung", with a schwa sound.

@martamatavka

Жыл бұрын

He's a Midlander (Brummie, I'm guessing, like Ozzy Osbourne). They all talk like that. Mispronounce the word "bath" (which should have a silent r in it, phonetically).

@arthurjohnson9982

Жыл бұрын

@@martamatavka He's from Mansfield in Nottinghamshire

@kraio-sfu

Жыл бұрын

@@martamatavka “Should have”? What are you some sort of prescriptivist?

@kyrakia5507

Жыл бұрын

He pronounces it like they do in the midlands and I think the North, but in the South it is pronounced with a strut. Nowhere in his country is it pronounced with a shwa

@Tzizenorec

Жыл бұрын

@@martamatavka How do you have a silent r phonetically? Silent things aren't phonetic.

Me: “I’ve never seen this vowel in my life” Tom: “brə”

@technology4y328

3 жыл бұрын

Sar

@maxobakso123

3 жыл бұрын

lmao

@AliKhan-mg3mj

3 жыл бұрын

burh

@fernandogunthorando1379

3 жыл бұрын

Brəh

@YellowToad

3 жыл бұрын

æ

Teacher: What’s the most common vowel? Me: uhh Teacher: correct

@wildgoosespeeder

4 жыл бұрын

Even more uhh for confusion.

@eksskellybur

4 жыл бұрын

Me: Wait wha..?

@MarcelinoDeseo

4 жыл бұрын

Everyone else: uh?

@sdm000

4 жыл бұрын

comment of the week

@kevinclass2010

4 жыл бұрын

Most English teachers are barely teach phonology. Most classes are concentrated on learning vocabulary and phrases.

This is why your kindergarten teacher telling you to "sound it out" is the worst possible advice. WENZDAY

@qwaabza

15 күн бұрын

Or, the other way around, pronouncing it WETNESSDAY

@jan_Masewin

15 күн бұрын

/wenzdej/?

The schwa is the vowel that's eating the entire English vowel range. More and more has been pulled in since the 1400s. The schwa is also the key to the "English/American accent" in speaking other languages, I think. I listened to recordings of myself in Spanish and Japanese, and *every* vowel was colored by a schwa rather than going far enough. (it was really embarrassing)

@robinrehlinghaus1944

2 жыл бұрын

Can you give examples of words that fell victim to it?

@lnb93

Жыл бұрын

@@robinrehlinghaus1944 the wa in wa tashi (I in Japanese) is very commonly 'schwarified'

@Default78334

Жыл бұрын

And lots of English speakers would put a stress on the "ta" which is also off.

@Ratigan2

Жыл бұрын

People in 1400s: I am going to the store. People today: i'm gonna go tda store People 600 years from now: *əəə əəəəə ə əə əəə*

@PraniGopu

10 ай бұрын

​@@Ratigan2So they're going to speak like Sans? 😄

"I'll have a vowel please Rachel..." "Schwa" (Entire countdown audience dies of shock)

@Alienguy500

4 жыл бұрын

Brə moment

@Falkano

4 жыл бұрын

I can see jon getting overly exited about it 😂

@kathybramley5609

4 жыл бұрын

Rachel and a good of the audience probably know the difference between orthography and phonology.

@gabor6259

4 жыл бұрын

Does 'Rachel' actually have a schwa sound or the 'l' comes right after the 'ch'?

@SirRebrl

4 жыл бұрын

@@gabor6259 I think there's a schwa there. It feels like that schwa doesn't disappear comfortably unless a vowel is added after the "l". Though that could just be me.

- Where're my vowels? - Gone, reduced to schwa.

@jakobvanklinken

4 жыл бұрын

I was about to comment the same thing! "reduced to schwa" should be an expression!

@iakahdrake2801

4 жыл бұрын

schwa or shwa? 🧐

@guillermojrboy3292

4 жыл бұрын

I used a vowel to destroy the vowels.

@anipodat394

4 жыл бұрын

- Whur's muh vuhls? - Gun, ruhdussed tuh schwuh.

@Brindlebrother

4 жыл бұрын

Want to get some shawarma? Let's get some shawarma.

Schwa really makes the existence of writing systems that have generic vowel symbols or omit them entirely seem more reasonable to me

Yes I remember Schwa it's one of the oldest symbols that even existed before IPA and even used in old English Dictionaries. At one time, people thought about adding it as a letter.

@meganofsherwood3665

6 ай бұрын

I kinda wish they had, tbh

@beargreen1

6 ай бұрын

@@meganofsherwood3665 me too

tom from previous video: "you need anything from the store?" tom in this video: "uhmuhnuhguhtuhthuhstuh"

@prestonang8216

3 жыл бұрын

Trigg Ethridge Eminem

@angelvee5093

3 жыл бұрын

I YELLED

@nathanaelvalera2241

3 жыл бұрын

emenegv?rede stc:

@Berilia

3 жыл бұрын

@@angelvee5093 Why though? I feel like you probably didn't and only commented this to get nonexistent internet points, and that didn't really work.

@angelvee5093

3 жыл бұрын

@@Berilia I did lmao I always squeal/scream/shriek before laughing (ik, annoying, but i have friends so i guess not THAT annoying)

"This is interesting, and I don't know why." I feel like that's what I say to most of Tom's videos.

@henrypearce5478

3 жыл бұрын

Yes that exactly what I think😂😂

@zulkiflijamil4033

3 жыл бұрын

@Rifraf Me too.

@silic8873

3 жыл бұрын

yep

@PC_Simo

3 жыл бұрын

Yep 👌🏻😎.

Depending on your accent, the word “and” sounds like /æɨənd/. One of the rare triphthongs in the English læɨənguage.

@perodactyl490

2 жыл бұрын

Like Eye-nd?

@gurrrn1102

2 жыл бұрын

@@perodactyl490 similar, but not exactly.

@perodactyl490

2 жыл бұрын

@@gurrrn1102 ok

@nujabebop

2 жыл бұрын

ayeeee

@antoniozavaldski

2 жыл бұрын

@@perodactyl490 more like somewhere between "ay-nd" and "air-nd" (if your accent doesn't have r at the end of syllables).

us: what does the schwa sound like? Tom: uhhhhh

I feel like ‘reduced to schwa’ has massive insult potential

@AbbeyB77

4 жыл бұрын

The dirty 'shwa is used as an insulting moniker for a particular city near Toronto (and its blue collar autoworkers population), potential achieved

@Ice_Karma

4 жыл бұрын

@@AbbeyB77 (Oshawa, for the non-Canadians in the room. =3 )

@HaloInverse

4 жыл бұрын

I could imagine linguists using "schwa" as an inside-joke synonym for "basic".

@datboi1026

4 жыл бұрын

Yessir

@firstname405

4 жыл бұрын

@@HaloInverse "Ugh, look at him. He's so schwa"

It's strange how fluent users of a language can use sounds in everyday conversation and not even realise it.

@stevepittman3770

4 жыл бұрын

The same is true of grammatical rules as well. Tom I think did a video on adjective word-order which made me realize that it's totally a thing: big brown bear sounds way more correct than brown big bear, but I had no idea it was a formal rule.

@varana

4 жыл бұрын

@Furret Furret Many people also have problems telling the difference between speaking a sound and writing a letter because they never thought about it.

@nyarthecat8195

4 жыл бұрын

there are two th sounds

@imjody

4 жыл бұрын

I'm not so sure it's so much not realizing it, but rather, not caring.

@109Rage

4 жыл бұрын

Near as I can tell, conscious awareness of phonemes in humans is completely artificial, in the same way we don't normally notice the exact muscle movements we make to move our legs when walking. For a fluent speaker language works completely on intuition, and so we come up with rules that we don't even notice are there until they're pointed out by someone else. Only occasionally do you notice the way your mouthy bits move to make a certain sound. I believe this is why the majority of writing systems evolved a syllabic system, where the consonant and vowels were a single, indivisible unit-the majority of writing cultures conceived of languages as being made up of syllables, rather then consonants and vowels. Alphabets are a complete accident, resulting from the fact that Semitic languages generally don't care about vowels, and so Egyptian heiroglyphs wrote phonetic words using symbols that represented consonants, instead of syllables. So, when the Greeks ended up picking up the Phoenician writing system, they added symbols their language needed, resulting in our modern idea of an "alphabet". Of course, the Greeks weren't some genius for coming up with this system; it was a coincidence of history, and before using the Greek Alphabet, the langauge was written in Linear B, a syllabary.

As a native New Englander, one of the more fascinating phenomena from another American accent is how severely reduced "You know what I mean?" can be in certain dialects, getting shrunken down as far as, "Ya(w)-duh-mean?"

For some reason this is my favourite video on this channel. I love schwa, obviously never thought about it before but now it's something that really fascinates me. It's also cool that people with different accents have a different schwa, Tom's schwa as someone more north is an "uh" sound, whereas me as a southerner my schwa is more of an "ur" sound. I just find it really interesting!

The schwa is so chill. It's never stressed.

@obadakhalid713

3 жыл бұрын

this needs more likes

@ishmamahmed9306

3 жыл бұрын

To be fair, in many languages, and even the New Zealand dialect of English, schwas can be stressed.

@TheAlondane

3 жыл бұрын

@@ishmamahmed9306 Please enunciate

@ishmamahmed9306

3 жыл бұрын

@@TheAlondane , as Tom Scott said about most English dialects, schwas are pronounced where a vowel falls into an unstressed syllable. However, there are languages where the schwa is used as a vowel in stressed syllables.

@jeffgoldblunt

2 жыл бұрын

It sounds like something a stoner would say about the universe

'I'm honna go to the store' Me: wait, it's all schwa? Tom Scott: Always has been

@technology4y328

3 жыл бұрын

Help me please

@technology4y328

3 жыл бұрын

Sar sure thanks ...

@costelc4077

3 жыл бұрын

Ali babu what

@technology4y328

3 жыл бұрын

Sar you help me that's I ask you sar thank you

@inanjarif1388

3 жыл бұрын

@Benjamin McCann it's not funny unless it's over the top and has dramatic music accompanying Tom holding up the gun

As a big fan of Chungə I greatly appreciate this lesson on ə.

@qq13563817153

2 жыл бұрын

Chungə rivals James & James for best TTT teams

Here that most casual "I'm gonna go to the store" was a trip. It hardly sounded like Scott, but also sounded more like him than any video I've heard.

as a spelling bee kid, the schwa is the most common killer. the amount of times i’ve missed words because i didn’t know if i had to use an “a” or an “e” is countless.

@mrosskne

3 жыл бұрын

there are seriously people who learned spelling by sound?

@Serena-or7sl

3 жыл бұрын

@@mrosskne Everyone that has English as their mother tongue

@lionberryofskyclan

3 жыл бұрын

ent vs ant at the ends of words. absolute nightmare.

@SorowFame

3 жыл бұрын

@@mrosskne you kind of have to when you’re too young to read.

@JonaxII

3 жыл бұрын

As someone with a much more phonetic spelling in my mother language, I was really confused by the concept of spelling bees. You really need some mess like the english spelling system to make that stuff competitive.

"Imma" is a seriously amazing linguistic feat. The original phrase is reduced to something that just sounds like a drunken groan, yet we all still understand it perfectly.

@offichannelnurnberg5894

4 жыл бұрын

you won't ever listen to hotel room service like you did before.

@lohphat

4 жыл бұрын

Try learning Dutch.

@Sparrow420

4 жыл бұрын

"lemme" add another. ;)

@Brindlebrother

4 жыл бұрын

imma finna tryna get people to stop using this word

@cameron7374

4 жыл бұрын

@@Sparrow420 Lemme is just "let me" though. Imma is "I am going to". That's way longer.

i love all of tom’s linguistics videos. inspired me to major in linguistics!! this one in particular is so fun

We literally have a letter in nearly every indian language to represent this sound it's અ in gujrati and अ in hindi (those are the two I know)!

English lessons: "I don't know" Real life: "ə ə ə"

@OB.x

4 жыл бұрын

that actually works. hehe i mean həhəhə

@cingkole7893

4 жыл бұрын

LMAO

@lordman5497

4 жыл бұрын

[ʔə˦ə˨ʔə˥]

@valeriobertoncello1809

4 жыл бұрын

"aonə"

@tempest6647

4 жыл бұрын

Ə

Fun bit of trivia: The feeling of pleasure native English speakers feel when watching non-natives struggling with this sound is called schwadenfreude.

@ashleybyrd2015

4 жыл бұрын

@PolySaken Chaotic Neutral

@tankicat

4 жыл бұрын

Which for added fun is of course... German

@kaaskopen1460

4 жыл бұрын

It's schadenfreude and has nothing to do with the schwa

@MrPbhuh

4 жыл бұрын

You know that all languages have schwa? English isnt unique and its closest cousins all have it as well. Only issue there is is that nobody explains the existance of the vowel and then its hard to explain what people mean.

@stevevernon1978

4 жыл бұрын

@@kaaskopen1460 : the sound of this joke going "whoooosh" as it flies over your head is best spelled with a schwa.

I'm an ESL tutor for South Korean students, and whenever they want to talk about pronunciation, I reference this video. I'll keep sending people its way til I keel over, keep up the good work!

I think the people who want English written how it's spoken want it written how it "should" be pronounced. Although, as you said, there's not even one way for that with dialects. I think what people really want, though, is to at least have the level of consistency that a lot of other languages have. I want to write a book that uses the IPA so I can specify how my characters are speaking all the time. I think it could really add to realism and character building, as there's a lot of information and feeling you can pick up from hearing someone and speaking to them that you just can't from writing. For example, how much effort they put in can tell you how they're feeling and their relationship to who their talking to.

English lesson reading: "I am *GOing* to *GO* to the *STORE.* " To a friend: "uhuguhdduhgoduh *STORE.* "

@somekek6734

4 жыл бұрын

Hahaha xD

@loganh2735

4 жыл бұрын

Omenagotethuh store.

@0Smile0

4 жыл бұрын

it's "uhuguhdduhgoduh STO"

@Madhattersinjeans

4 жыл бұрын

@J God Or threatening depending on how slowly you say it.

@MachineMetropolis

4 жыл бұрын

@J God We could all have been killed - or worse, expelled. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to go to the store.

"Where are my vowels?!" **"Gone. Reduced to ə."**

@GautamMenon

4 жыл бұрын

Ah, a classic Thənos quote

@sid98geek

4 жыл бұрын

"When I am done, half of the words will still have non-ə vowels."

@drsuqi

4 жыл бұрын

"I used the vowels to destroy the vowels."

@drsuqi

4 жыл бұрын

"Perfectly Mid Central. As all vowels should be."

@melitopiia4730

4 жыл бұрын

"Did you do it? "Yes." "What did it cost?" "Knowing which letter to use."

I know I'm very late, but thanks for the video Tom! This was a joy to watch and I learned something that I had no idea about previously!

I wish he’d make more language related videos I love them all so much 🥺

"Your Dialect may be different" *Australians stuffing as many swear words into one sentence as humanly possible*

@gaijininja

4 жыл бұрын

No, only the Bogans and Upper Middle Class do that. The semi cultured ones like I just umm a lot. Like, a real lot. L

@AlisonBryen

4 жыл бұрын

Absofuckinglutely

@ericforsyth

4 жыл бұрын

And acting like every statement is a question?

@benjamincoram7036

4 жыл бұрын

@@ericforsyth well that's just because we're never sure of ourselves?

@ShirinRose

3 жыл бұрын

@@user-pi1du7vu9e It's an Australian term, and a little tricky to define or give a synonym for. I recommend looking it up on Urban Dictionary; some of the definitions are hilarious

My friends: Bruh Me, an intellectual: Brə

@vylinful3198

4 жыл бұрын

some reason I instictively read this as bree as in the cheese

@drcgaming4195

4 жыл бұрын

@@vylinful3198 what

@Karv3r

4 жыл бұрын

Brschwa moment

@mareksicinski3726

4 жыл бұрын

that is a 'capital schwa' which is not used by anyone

@Prentisstowner

4 жыл бұрын

/bɹəʰ/

I love how the [t] from "to" became a [ɾ]. Both are alveolar but [t] is a plosive while [ɾ] is a flap, which is more efficient to do in a fast sentence

You just earned a subscriber! Love your vids.

When I was younger, a teacher once told me "To sound more like a native english speaker, find the accent(s) in your sentences, pronounce these vowels normally, and replace all other vowel by ə". Works wonders ! (non native english speaker here, obviously)

@Thytos

4 жыл бұрын

Accent in a sentence? 🤔

@guy1524

4 жыл бұрын

@@Thytos aka the stressed syllable

@goosebump801

4 жыл бұрын

Yes, this is a good rule - for English and also for Russian! - American who has taken college courses in linguistics in English, French, and Russian

@meliilosona5272

4 жыл бұрын

i'm Russian and i'm impressed with this advice. I wish someone told me that earlier.

@PiggyPigFace

4 жыл бұрын

@@meliilosona5272 when i was learning russian i was also taught this about russian. stressed is pronounced properly but most other vowels are schwa

"That's not lazy, that's not wrong, that's just how language works"- more people need to understand this!

@WMDistraction

4 жыл бұрын

Well, *I* would never even THINK of reducing the sentence that way. Clearly he’s the reason English has been in consistent decline for decades! Damn linguistic relativists!

@Shaun.Stephens

4 жыл бұрын

I'm getting there....

@galfisk

4 жыл бұрын

They would find out if they weren't lazy and wrong.

@AllUpOns

3 жыл бұрын

@@WMDistraction In what world is English in decline?

@TheDropdeadZed

3 жыл бұрын

It can be lazy and correct though.

Thank you! A clear explanation for this popular sound!

When I was going to live in the czech republic i got a book out the library with a pronunciation guide in the front, it was quite old and had a description "A is A as in Bus" and I assumed it was a very very posh way of saying bus right at the back of the velar section of the mouth...later I learned the czech 'a' is indeed schwa a and 'a as in bus' is a posh way of saying it as a schwa just not quite so queens english as I had thought and now all these years later I have the words to describe it, stay blessed!

"Awww, look at the little baby!" ':D' "And now look it the big baby!" 'Schwa.'

@Sean-of9rs

3 жыл бұрын

I love asdfmovie!

@badmoonvikingjr9660

2 жыл бұрын

I love this

@eclecticsoffy

2 жыл бұрын

Ah, asdfmovies...

@yourfriendlyneighborhoodwh752

2 жыл бұрын

Speaking of which, Tom Scott himself was a guest voice actor in an asdfmovie skit.

@eclecticsoffy

2 жыл бұрын

@@yourfriendlyneighborhoodwh752 which one

1:27 "Someone usually tries to poke around to feel where their tongue is and, uh... nearly makes themselves throw up. Anyway..." *Hard cut to Tom in a linguistics class gagging in front of everyone.*

@LowBudgetJustinY

4 жыл бұрын

I swear this could have really happened to him lmao

Linguistics and phonetics are very cool. I've seen "definite" misspelled as "definit" instead of definate because local accents widen the i sound like "defin-it" instead of "defin-uht".

You could argue that the schwa sound is actually incredibly important in languages other than English, because that “Uh..” sound is a seemingly universal thing that all people do when they are pausing to recollect something before saying it, make sure they are expressing themselves correctly, etc. You can hear this sound in people speaking loads of languages if not all.

@somemagellanic

5 ай бұрын

my L1 doesnt have the vowel, at all! it doesnt seem to actually be that common across languages. instead of "uhhh" we make a sound closer to [ø]

“English is really hard to learn” Me who learnt English by watching minecraft videos: yes

@slaughterround643

3 жыл бұрын

y e s

@thehammurabichode7994

3 жыл бұрын

Did you seriou- _What?_

@kjj26k

3 жыл бұрын

H O W

@kjj26k

3 жыл бұрын

You must have no fuckin' clue what an ocean actually is then.

@hiimnick2358

3 жыл бұрын

does that really work? did you use any other outlets to learn english? and how long did it take you to understand what was going on? people saying stuff like this has always fascinated me

I study linguistics and laughed so hard at the depiction of the phonetics class.

@FlyingMozzarella

3 жыл бұрын

I'm 16 & I'm really interested in linguistics, so can u tell me more about it - wt do u learn, how many types of degrees are thr and which one r u studying. PS: I don't wanna take it up as a career, just interested in learning languages!

@jaojao1768

3 жыл бұрын

Alas, since I only entered university last year it has all been to Zoom and I have missed this

@ayellowpapercrown6750

3 жыл бұрын

@@FlyingMozzarella not OP, but I might as well answer since I also major in linguistics! There’s different aspects to linguistics, and depending on the program you attend, what you learn might change. There is morphology, synthax, semantics, pragmatics, phonetics/phonology (there’s a slight distinction there) and I guess, sociolinguistics. Some programs are also more scientific and go into language aquisition and neurolinguistics! I’d say it does help with learning languages, especially if you learn the linguistics of whatever language you’re learning.

@jacquelinevanderkooij4301

3 жыл бұрын

@@ayellowpapercrown6750 Ok...she's not interested anymore.

@reeeeeee551

3 жыл бұрын

english is a joke but it is a good writen language

As a non native, I'd so easily but an entire course on english pronunciation in this format and quality of explanation

this is such a fascinating video this is something i never got taught in school

To quote Monty Python's Quest for the Holy Grail: "Uuhhhhhhh." "Uhh?" "No. Uhhhhhhhh."

@mr.cauliflower3536

4 жыл бұрын

@Cubeasauros Ni Ni Ni Ni Ni

@slushu_6865

4 жыл бұрын

Ni

@arcaneminded

4 жыл бұрын

ǝkki ǝkki ǝkii ǝkki bǝtang zoom boing za;sdoifjjgla;

@carlosbarragan3

4 жыл бұрын

NUUU!

@throatychunk

4 жыл бұрын

"Are you yelling 'Ni' at that old women"

I can't tell why I like these videos that much

I love this video a lot for some odd reason, I swear I've watched it at least three times already. Not just now either, they were at different times.

@WatermelonLord_

Жыл бұрын

Wow, one year already

If I ever text someone to tell them I'm going to the store, I'm just gonna message them Uhmmnuhguhtuhthestoor.

@ladofthedamned7796

4 жыл бұрын

no that's just the irish accent but written in text

@lorddissy

4 жыл бұрын

I just make an "ehhh" sound and leave. I guess that makes me a horrible person.

@realcartoongirl

4 жыл бұрын

ok

@fixit9844

4 жыл бұрын

lorddissy dad is that you?

@marwahmaher8574

4 жыл бұрын

It'll take 2 hours to write it 😂😂😂😂

the word "schwa" does not contain a schwa and that had to have been intentional

@kala_asi

4 жыл бұрын

If I recall correctly, the word is from Hebrew, and it originally had a schwa between the "sh" and "w", which then got lost. Doubly ironic

@oledakaajel

4 жыл бұрын

Is the last vowel not an ə?

@DiMadHatter

4 жыл бұрын

Brə.

@thalanoth

4 жыл бұрын

@@DiMadHatter ləl

@TIBYCOLLINS

4 жыл бұрын

@@DiMadHatter yes

Coming from Italy, it's funny how this very common sound in English has caused a huge ruckus in my country.

@quelebm125

Жыл бұрын

What's the story behind that?

@francescosacca6674

Жыл бұрын

@@quelebm125 of course those who still believe in it will keep using it, it's their freedom. At least those who don't have to be told they're bad people.

@quelebm125

Жыл бұрын

@@francescosacca6674 I meant how has the mid-central vowel caused a ruckus in Italy? How do people "believe in it" and keep "using it"?

@bryanfongo327

Жыл бұрын

Ao spiegati

@francescosacca6674

Жыл бұрын

@@bryanfongo327 sto parlando della controversia che si è scatenata quando la linguista Vera Gheno ha proposto di usare lo ə per i non-binari. Sio ci ha fatto un video. Un altro linguista, Arcangeli, ha scritto una petizione per fermarla, quella che ha firmato anche Barbero. Ci sono stati parecchi scontri su questa questione, di quello sto parlando.

I swear this guy is teaching me english better than any of my english tecahers, as it's my second language, school teachers never go in deep like this, I didn't even know a "schwa" existed lmao

my sister: "schwa is the most common sound in English" me *confusedly trying to think of words that contain something that sounds like 'schwa'*

@andrew7taylor

2 жыл бұрын

Any word that ends in -er

@lauragarnham77

2 жыл бұрын

@@andrew7taylor doesn't sound like 'schwa' though.

@atheniansoldier811

2 жыл бұрын

@@lauragarnham77 well confusedly and contain have it

@lauragarnham77

2 жыл бұрын

@@atheniansoldier811 you missed my point. Unless I should be pronouncing them conschwafusedly or schwantain, no, no they don't. ;)

@atheniansoldier811

2 жыл бұрын

@@lauragarnham77 who says I don't?

Tom: "Schwa is the o in potato" Samwise: "POE-TAY-TOES"

@WTFBOOMDOOM

4 жыл бұрын

Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew!

@TheReaverOfDarkness

4 жыл бұрын

Poh-tay-tiiz?

@SprocketWatchclock

4 жыл бұрын

I'm gonna be honest here, I pronounce it the same way as Samwise.

@omarabdelkadereldarir7458

3 жыл бұрын

What's taters, precious?

@bl4ckthund3r43

3 жыл бұрын

pə-tə-təs

I'm a spanish speaker and can't believe that vowels don't sound just like their names. To say a, I, o, and u you have to use two vowels

@RED40HOURS

2 жыл бұрын

read sounds the same as lead, but read doesn't sound the same as lead

@clumbus894

2 жыл бұрын

English is full of diphthongs, saying pure vowels feels really weird to most of us. Unless you're Scottish or Irish, in which case they monophthonganize a lot of them.

In dutch, the shwa is usually spelled with either an "e" or an "u". (Although there are notable exceptions, it's not nearly as chaotic as english) And when spelled with an e we call it "de stomme e" which translates to "dumb e"

McDonald's employee: "Welcome to McDonald's, can I take your order?" Me: "Can I get the ƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏƏ?"

@ladofthedamned7796

4 жыл бұрын

‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎

@Schenkel101

4 жыл бұрын

*BONELESS BURGER*

@Neo-wc4zg

4 жыл бұрын

LMAO

@froidesprit

4 жыл бұрын

i just made that comment and then I found yours

@OriginalPiMan

4 жыл бұрын

Employee: "Would you like fries with that?"

3:04 In writing: I'm going to go to the store Pronounced: *_keyboard smash_*

@Wubbazt

3 жыл бұрын

FDSKJUOFISDKJF

@TCM464

3 жыл бұрын

Amnagudthstor

I absolutely love stuff like reducing "I'm Going To" to "Ammuna"

English learner here, I stress every word, i've been told a sound like a robot, the word Go can turn into a schwa when unstressed? how cool! great video!

This is the english that should be taught in HS, not just repeating middle school stuff.

@davidwise1302

4 жыл бұрын

A famous quote in one of my German textbooks said that you don't know your own language until you've learned a foreign one. Two years of high school German taught me far more about English than 12 years of English classes ever did.

@notdaveschannel9843

4 жыл бұрын

@@davidwise1302 I asked my German teacher at school how come English manages to function without all this subject / object stuff. We weren't taught grammar much beyond noun = "a thing";, verb = "a 'doing word'".

@Tufhhuyy

4 жыл бұрын

@@davidwise1302 especially one that's related. I learned Latin in highschool, and it really helps to actually show what different parts of the language are and why they are distinct and important.

@peepeetrain8755

4 жыл бұрын

@@davidwise1302 similar. i learnt more about English grammar and how why stuff is the way it is by taking French at school. In English speaking countries, the most we will get taught are homophones and homonyms.

@jonathanodude6660

4 жыл бұрын

@@notdaveschannel9843 i assume because English is fairly freeform language where things can be said in multiple orders and mean the same thing, so the only "rules" we have are that a sentence needs a noun/verb and verb/adjective

The fact that "Infinite" and "finite" are pronounced differently is even more annoying to be than "Kansas" and "Arkansas"

@laurinnn

3 жыл бұрын

wait they are pronounced differently?!?

@Gwapo

2 жыл бұрын

en-fe-nit fhy-naht

@perodactyl490

2 жыл бұрын

I always say finite the way I say infinite.

@GachaWolf81900

2 жыл бұрын

WAIT KANSAS AND ARKANSAS ARE DIFFERENT?! *o*

@jetstream9406

2 жыл бұрын

@@GachaWolf81900 yea Kansas is pronounced the way its spelled but Arkansas is pronounced Arken-saw

The rest of Britain: "I'm going to go to the store" People from Hull: "Am off up town"

As a fluent English speaker, I can confirm the description is correct and I have never heard of this in my life.

I love the thought of someone saying "umugunugotuthustore" and english speakers completely understanding it, but if you ask someone who learned english as a second language what they heard, they would just heard nonsense

@arnor398

3 жыл бұрын

As someone who learned english as a second language - no, it's still understandable. The only problem i had was how fast Tom was speaking. If it was longer then i might have problem with processing it fast enought. If you pay attention, you will notice that the most important parts of the sentence are pronounced more clearly ("go", "store") so you will still understand it even if "am gonna" and "to the" are kinda merged together and less clear.

@UniQueZuZa

3 жыл бұрын

I’d still get it.. maybe not the whole sentence, but definitely the main idea. What’s really funny though is pronouncing things such as mirror like “mee rr” and have native speakers confused 😅 Later edit: I am referring to British native speakers 🇬🇧

@joseinenglish9309

2 жыл бұрын

I can say that I would have an idea of what they said, but not understanding the whole sentence.

@BierBart12

2 жыл бұрын

It's cases like these where you just kinda start to *understand* or FEEL the meaning instead of consciously translating it in your head

@Falcon-nf5yz

2 жыл бұрын

I would still understand it

Its all schwa to me.

@forgedinfaithfarmboys8092

3 жыл бұрын

Hello there

@legendarytat8278

3 жыл бұрын

It's all schwa? Always has been.

@AmyTheMeower

3 жыл бұрын

I'm here before someone says 'dIdN't ExPeCt To SeE yOu HeRe'

@kolpkii

3 жыл бұрын

schwa

@trifalgarh

3 жыл бұрын

​@@forgedinfaithfarmboys8092 General Kenobi?

This is the video that finally made me stop misspelling 'definitely'

0:42 *Bravo* for not being able to think of a different word where A makes a /ɑ/ sound!

I’ve always had a soft spot for this one.

@ladofthedamned7796

4 жыл бұрын

‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎

@Anklejbiter

4 жыл бұрын

@@ladofthedamned7796 I completely agree.

@danielgarai-ebner1334

4 жыл бұрын

@@ladofthedamned7796 100% agree

@danielius2815

4 жыл бұрын

Ə

@Rycluse

4 жыл бұрын

A shwaft spot

"I want to be a schwa. It's never stressed." (source: many places on the internet, no clue which linguist originally came up with it.)

@hhh0511

3 жыл бұрын

Idk, in my native language (Bulgarian) it isn't that rare for the schwa to be stressed

@KarolaTea

3 жыл бұрын

welp, learned something new today :D

@fogofwaroneverest240

3 жыл бұрын

Never? I wouldnt say that. It is stressed in the words: deter, detergent, deterrent, occur

@KarolaTea

3 жыл бұрын

Could be wrong here, but I'd say that's a ɜ: like in 'bird' in all of the words you mention, not a ə.

@fogofwaroneverest240

3 жыл бұрын

@@KarolaTea i mean, depends on the accent

1:55: I actually pronounce the last i in "definite" like the i in "sit" (ɪ in IPA). I'm a native Canadian English speaker. Similarly for the last syllables of darkness, citrus, and separate.

Great lessons!

"Reduced to schwa" now sounds like some sort of vulgar expletive

@EBjeebies1081

4 жыл бұрын

Shut up before I reduce you to schwa

@claw3335

4 жыл бұрын

"No! I'm right! Every word should be spelled how it sounds!" I say as I slowly get reduced to ə

@ProfRonconi

4 жыл бұрын

Hahahaha! Indeed: we could use "you miserable little schwa", or "your mother was a bloody schwa, you know?"

@cloud_and_proud

4 жыл бұрын

For insulting my family, I will reduce you to schwa!

@nitehawk86

4 жыл бұрын

It is kind of ironic you used the word "vulgar" there. Or, was that a subtle pun?

“Reduce to Schwa” sounds like a good geeky mathcore band name.

@cand0

4 жыл бұрын

The Schwa Reduction

@satakrionkryptomortis

4 жыл бұрын

@@cand0 can i get a beat and some lyrics? i'm interested.

**vocal major gland begins tingling** ah, it's been a while since I thought about you, old friend. It was kinda cool to actually recognize a chart from a Tom Scott video and have an exact paper copy in a binder somewhere. I DEFINITELY don't say definite with a schwa though, and no, I did not mean for that to happen, and didn't realize what I was doing until I'd already typed it in caps for legitimate emphasis lmfao

3:05 that's actually not taking weak forms into account! At least for me at uni, I had to learn the weak forms too, which are quite easy to make because it's nearly always a schwa. But weak forms are a real phonetic thing, so the "proper" way would still include a bunch more schwas

Tom: I won't be making any more language files. Also Tom:

@beskamir5977

4 жыл бұрын

All it took was Tom not being allowed to leave his house.

@kscdisappointment2404

4 жыл бұрын

@@beskamir5977 I think I have a bit of a plan involving a cage and my basement

"How was school?" - "I threw up in the classroom. We learned so much from that."

@perodactyl490

2 жыл бұрын

I threw əp in thə classroom. We lərnd so məch frəm that. lərnd has a letter that I naturally remove for no reasən.

This was the most interesting video i have ever seen.

My brain: "I went and talked to Keighan the other day." My mouth tryinɡ to talk fast: *"/əˌwɛnə̃tɑʔᵏtəˈkiɣn̩ð̠ɨʌð̠ɜɹɾeɪ/"*

@penguinlim

2 жыл бұрын

I had a stroke trying to read that even though I know IPA

Romanian language has a dedicated character for schwa: ă

@quantumsoul3495

4 жыл бұрын

I like the phoneticness of romanian writing. My favorite romanian letter is the archaic d with comma. Like ț ș ,d . It was replaced by z

@Ida-xe8pg

4 жыл бұрын

In my language there is a sound which is very close to the Romanian  but its only used at the end of the words

@MadeInMinecraft

4 жыл бұрын

Looks like a Nordic å with the circle chopped off 😅

@sylv256

4 жыл бұрын

@Micheal Rows no stop

@razvanrusan9319

4 жыл бұрын

Came here exactly to comment this. Crazy how easy we have it in our language.

"But actually, you make it like two sounds, la-e-tar." Yorkshire: *laughs*

@fribigy47

2 жыл бұрын

*laughs*

@voidzminer1017

2 жыл бұрын

Daily dose of Internet: Letter

@FixTheWi-Fi

2 жыл бұрын

lae'er

@perodactyl490

2 жыл бұрын

laətər

@mikeoxmall69420

2 жыл бұрын

Laeda

In the cyrillic alphabet we have ъ which is the same thing but as a letter of its own

Fascinating

"hey where did all the unique vowel sounds go?" Gone. Reduced to schwa.

@enavoid6285

4 жыл бұрын

rƏdƏcƏd tƏ schwƏ yƏ mƏn

"The english language is hard, but it can be understood through tough thorough thought though." -someone apparently a lot smarter than me

@arnorbenjaminsson3394

4 жыл бұрын

Fun fact: The words "tough, though and through", don't share a single phonetic, including consonants.

@dynamicworlds1

4 жыл бұрын

(Also, we don't talk about buffalo)

@annapejskova1976

4 жыл бұрын

Without the "but". The "though" at the and has the meaning of the "but".

@tonystroemsnaes554

4 жыл бұрын

@@arnorbenjaminsson3394 Don't though and through share th?

@lonestarr1490

4 жыл бұрын

@@tonystroemsnaes554 Nope. though: /ðəʊ/ resp. /ðoʊ/, through: /θɹuː/, [θɾ̪̊ɵʉ], resp. /θɹu/, [θɾ̪̊ʊu].

Good job, mate!

For me, I think it's less that the -nite of finite is stressed, it's more that it follows a stressed syllable - FInite, which is why the fi in definite isn't reduced to fə, but fɪ, at least for me.