Some facts about /ə/

·        It has two versions: a closer one (in initial and medial position) and an opener one (in final position)

·        It is the weakest English vowel and it is the most important one.

·        It helps to keep that stress-timed characteristic  feature of English language.

·        It is the most widely used vowel in English.

·        It represents any vowel grapheme.

·        It “empowers” some consonants when it is elided because those consonants become syllabic and play the role of the nucleus of the syllable.

·        It is the most difficult vowel sound to produce for Spanish speakers because we have to become aware of the movement of the central part of the tongue, which we don’t use to produce any Spanish vowel sound.