Schwa Endings: |әl|

I – IV LEARN the schwa spelling patterns le, el, al, il, ol, and ul pronounced |ŭl| or |əl| and used in simple, travel, dental, devil, carol, and mogul, respectively. The schwa is pronounced like a shortened short-vowel u, |ŭ|, as in locust. Surprisingly, any vowel (a, e, i, o, u) can produce the schwa sound. Dictionaries use the upside-down e (ә) to represent the schwa sound.

I LEARN the ie spelling pattern for the schwa, as in simple |sĭm′ • pəl|.
II LEARN the el spelling pattern for the schwa, as in travel |trăv′ • əl|.
III LEARN the al spelling pattern for the schwa, as in dental |dĕn′ • təl|.
IV LEARN the il, ol, and ul spelling patterns for the schwa, as in devil |dĕ′ • vəl|, carol |kār′ • əl|, and mogul |mōʹ • gәl|, respectively.

Review: |әl|

V & VI REVIEW the le, el, al, il, ol, and ul spelling patterns, which have a schwa sound. Continue to pay attention to the meaning of words. We have included similar words like capital and capitol in order to prompt discussion. Keep a dictionary handy.

Every Syllable Must Have at Least One Vowel

In theory, the words in this review section could be pronounced successfully if the vowel were missing from the second syllable, e.g., dentl (|dĕn • təl|). But, since every syllable in English is supposed to have at least one vowel, these schwa endings include either an a, e, i, o, or u (dental, simple, travel, devil, carol, and mogul). The vowel may be silent, but it must appear. One exception to this vowel rule, according to some dictionaries, is the ending ism (as in capitalism), which is usually separated into two syllables (is • m). The m is counted as a stand-alone syllable, even though it is a lone letter and not even a vowel.