Schwa/shwa

混元音

The usual name for the neutral vowel [ə],heard in English at the beginning of such words as ago, amaze, or in the middle of afterwards; sometimes called the indefinite vowel. It is a particularly frequent vowel in English, as it is the one most commonly heard when a stressed vowel becomes unstressed. It is also the usual pronunciation of the vowel in such words as the, a, an, and.

通常指中性元音[ə]，见于英语ago“以前”、amaze“使惊奇”这类词的开头，或afterwards“后来”这类词的中间。混元音是英语中特别常用的元音，因为它是重读元音变为非重读时最常听到的元音。混元音也是元音在the（定冠词）、a / an（不定冠词）、and“和”这类词中的通常发音。