Schwa deletion in Indo-Aryan languages

2021-07-21T11:54:19Z

2402:8100:30AD:D43B:4DB2:3A9D:5ED7:DD72: /* Marathi */

{{Use Indian English|date = May 2019}}
{{Short description|phonetic process}}
[[File:Schwa IPA symbol.svg|thumb|100px|right|The [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]] symbol for the schwa]]
{{IPA notice}}
'''Schwa deletion''', or '''schwa syncope''', is a phenomenon that sometimes occurs in [[Assamese language|Assamese]], [[Hindi language|Hindi]], [[Urdu language|Urdu]], [[Bengali language|Bengali]], [[Kashmiri language|Kashmiri]], [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]], [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]], and several other [[Indo-Aryan languages]] with [[mid-central vowel|schwas]] that are implicit in their written scripts. Languages like [[Marathi language|Marathi]] and [[Maithili language|Maithili]] with increased influence from other languages through coming into contact with them—also show a similar phenomenon. Some schwas are obligatorily deleted in pronunciation even if the script suggests otherwise.<ref name="hyman1988">{{Citation | title=Language, speech, and mind (Volume 1988, Part 2) |author1=Larry M. Hyman |author2=Victoria Fromkin |author3=Charles N. Li | date=1988 | isbn=0-415-00311-3 | publisher=Taylor & Francis | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R6IOAAAAQAAJ | quote=''...The implicit /a/ is not read when the symbol appears in word-final position or in certain other contexts where it is obligatorily deleted (via the so-called schwa-deletion rule which plays a crucial role in Hindi word phonology...''}}</ref><ref name="ref28cuzum">{{Citation | title=Indian linguistics, Volume 37 | publisher=Linguistic Society of India, 1976 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K3ljAAAAMAAJ | quote=''...the history of the schwa deletion rule in Gujarati has been examined. The historical perspective brings out the fact that schwa deletion is not an isolated phenomenon; the loss of final -a has preceded the loss of medial -a-;...''| year=1976}}</ref>

Schwa deletion is important for intelligibility and unaccented speech. It also presents a challenge to non-native speakers and [[speech synthesis]] software because the scripts, including [[Devanagari]], do not tell when schwas should be deleted.<ref name="bhatia1987">{{Citation | title=A history of the Hindi grammatical tradition: Hindi-Hindustani grammar, grammarians, history and problems | author=Tej K. Bhatia | year=1987 | isbn=90-04-07924-6 | publisher=BRILL | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jJOXzRXsSK0C | quote=''...Hindi literature fails as a reliable indicator of the actual pronunciation because it is written in the Devanagari script... the schwa syncope rule which operates in Hindi....''}}</ref>

For example, the [[Sanskrit]] word "[[Rāma]]" ({{IPA-sa|ɽaːmɐ|IPA}}, राम) is pronounced "Rām" ({{IPA-hns|raːm|IPA}}, राम्) in Hindi. The schwa ([[mid central vowel|ə]]) sound at the end of the word is deleted in Hindi.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kYz6AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA78 |title=A Linguistics Workbook: Companion to Linguistics |edition=Sixth |authors=Ann K. Farmer and Richard A. Demers |publisher=MIT Press |year=2010 |isbn=9780262514828 |page=78}}</ref> However, in both cases, the word is written राम.

The schwa is not deleted in ancient languages such as Sanskrit or [[Pali language|Pali]], or medieval forms such as [[Early Assamese]]. The schwa is also retained in all the modern registers of the Dravidian languages [[Tamil language|Tamil]], [[Telugu language|Telugu]], [[Kannada]], and [[Malayalam]].

==Overview==
[[File:Rigveda MS2097.jpg|thumb|A 19th century [[Vedas|Rigveda]] manuscript in Devanagari]]
In many Indo-Aryan languages, the schwa ('ə') implicit in each consonant of the script is "obligatorily deleted" at the end of words and in certain other contexts,<ref name="hyman1988" /> unlike in Marathi{{citation needed|date=December 2015}} or Sanskrit. This phenomenon has been termed the "[[schwa syncope rule]]" or the "schwa deletion rule" of Hindi.<ref name="hyman1988" /><ref name="bhatia1987" /> One formalisation of this rule has been summarised as {{nowrap|''ə'' → ∅ {{!}} ''VC''_''CV''}}. In other words, when a schwa-succeeded consonant is followed by a vowel-succeeded consonant, the schwa inherent in the first consonant is deleted.<ref name="bhatia1987" /><ref name="choudhury2004" /> However, this formalisation is inexact and incomplete (it sometimes deletes a schwa when it should not and, at other times, it fails to delete it when it should) and can cause errors. Schwa deletion is computationally important because it is essential to building [[Speech synthesis|text-to-speech]] software for Hindi.<ref name="choudhury2004" /><ref name="tyson2009">{{Citation | title=Prosodic rules for schwa-deletion in Hindi text-to-speech synthesis |author1=Naim R. Tyson |author2=Ila Nagar | date=2009| journal=International Journal of Speech Technology |volume=12 |pages=15–25 |doi=10.1007/s10772-009-9040-x |s2cid=8792448 | url=https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs10772-009-9040-x | quote=''... Without the appropriate deletion of schwas, any speech output would sound unnatural. Since the orthographical representation of Devanagari gives little indication of deletion sites, modern TTS systems for Hindi implemented schwa deletion rules based on the segmental context where schwa appears ...''}}</ref>

As a result of schwa syncope, the Hindi pronunciation of many words differs from that expected from a literal Sanskrit-style rendering of Devanagari. For instance, {{lang|hi|राम}} is ''rām'' (not ''rāma''), {{lang|hi|रचना}} is ''rac'nā'' (not ''racanā''), {{lang|hi|वेद}} is ''vēd'' (not ''vēda'') and {{lang|hi|नमकीन}} is ''nam'kīn'' (not ''namakīna'').<ref name="choudhury2004" /><ref name="tyson2009" /> The name of the script itself is pronounced ''dev'nāgrī'' (not ''devanāgarī'').<ref name="ref91gufod">{{Citation | title=The rāgs of North Indian music: their structure and evolution | author=Nazir Ali Jairazbhoy | year=1995 | publisher=Popular Prakashan, 1995 | isbn=978-81-7154-395-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hGLRqLscf78C | quote=''... The Devnagri (Devanagari) script is syllabic and all consonants carry the inherent vowel an unless otherwise indicated. The principal difference between modern Hindi and the classical Sanskrit forms is the omission in Hindi ...''}}</ref>

Correct schwa deletion is also critical because, in some cases, the same Devanagari letter sequence is pronounced two different ways in Hindi depending on context, and failure to delete the appropriate schwas can change the sense of the word.<ref name="choudhury2002">{{Citation | title=A Rule Based Schwa Deletion Algorithm for Hindi |author1=Monojit Choudhury |author2=Anupam Basu |date=July 2004| journal=Proceedings of the International Conference on Knowledge-Based Computer Systems | url=http://www.mla.iitkgp.ernet.in/papers/schwadeletionhindi.pdf |quote=''... Without any schwa deletion, not only the two words will sound very unnatural, but it will also be extremely difficult for the listener to distinguish between the two, the only difference being nasalisation of the e at the end of the former. However, a native speaker would pronounce the former as dha.D-kan-eM and the later as dha.Dak-ne, which are clearly distinguishable ...''}}</ref> For instance, the letter sequence '{{lang|hi|रक}}' is pronounced differently in {{lang|hi|हरकत}} (''harkat'', meaning ''movement'' or ''activity'') and {{lang|hi|सरकना}} (''saraknā'', meaning ''to slide''). Similarly, the sequence {{lang|hi|धड़कने}} in {{lang|hi|दिल धड़कने लगा}} (''the heart started beating'') and in {{lang|hi|दिल की धड़कनें}} (''beats of the heart'') is identical prior to the nasalisation in the second usage. Yet, it is pronounced ''dhaṛaknē'' in the first and ''dhaṛkanē'' in the second.<ref name="choudhury2002" /> While native speakers correctly pronounce the sequences differently in different contexts, non-native speakers and voice-synthesis software can make them ''"sound very unnatural"'', making it ''"extremely difficult for the listener"'' to grasp the intended meaning.<ref name="choudhury2002" />

==Hindi==
Although the Devanagari script is used as a standard to write [[Modern Hindi]], the schwa ('ə') implicit in each consonant of the script is "obligatorily deleted" at the end of words and in certain other contexts, unlike in Sanskrit.<ref name="hyman1988" /> That phenomenon has been termed the "''schwa syncope rule''" or the "''schwa deletion rule''" of Hindi.<ref name="hyman1988" /><ref name="bhatia1987" /> One formalisation of this rule has been summarised as ''ə → ∅ /VC_CV''. In other words, when a schwa-succeeded consonant (itself preceded by another vowel) is followed by a vowel-succeeded consonant, the schwa inherent in the first consonant is deleted.<ref name="bhatia1987" /><ref name="choudhury2004">{{Citation | title=A Diachronic Approach for Schwa Deletion in Indo Aryan Languages |author1=Monojit Choudhury, Anupam Basu |author2=Sudeshna Sarkar |name-list-style=amp |date = July 2004| journal=Proceedings of the Workshop of the ACL Special Interest Group on Computational Phonology (SIGPHON) | publisher=Association for Computations Linguistics | url=http://www.aclweb.org/anthology/W/W04/W04-0103.pdf | quote=''...schwa deletion is an important issue for grapheme-to-phoneme conversion of IAL, which in turn is required for a good Text-to-Speech synthesizer.... Sanskrit rəcəna, Hindi rəcna, Bengali rɔcona....''}}</ref> However, this rule sometimes deletes a schwa that should remain and sometimes fails to delete a schwa when it should be deleted. The rule is reported to result in correct predictions on schwa deletion 89% of the time.<ref name="choudhury2004" />

Schwa deletion is computationally important because it is essential to building [[speech synthesis|text-to-speech]] software for Hindi.<ref name="choudhury2004" /><ref name="tyson2009" />

As a result of schwa syncope, the Hindi pronunciation of many words differs from that expected from a literal Sanskrit-style reading of Devanagari. For instance, राम is pronounced ''Rām'' (not ''Rāma'', as in Sanskrit), रचना is pronounced ''Rachnā'' (not ''Rachanā''), वेद is pronounced ''Ved'' (not ''Veda'') and नमकीन is pronounced ''Namkīn'' (not ''Namakīna'').<ref name="choudhury2004" /><ref name="tyson2009" /> The name of the script itself is pronounced ''Devnāgrī'', not ''Devanāgarī''.<ref name="ref91gufod-2">{{citation | title=The rāgs of North Indian music: their structure and evolution | author=Nazir Ali Jairazbhoy | publisher=Popular Prakashan, 1995 | isbn=978-81-7154-395-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hGLRqLscf78C&q=difference&pg=PR11 |page=xi |quote=''...The Devnāgrī (Devanāgarī) script is syllabic and all consonants carry the inherent vowel a unless otherwise indicated. The principal difference between modern Hindi and the classical Sanskrit forms is the omission in Hindi of this inherent ''a'' when in final position (e.g. ''rāga'' in Sanskrit and ''rāg'' in Hindi) and frequently in medial position (e.g. ''Māravā'' in Sanskrit and ''Mārvā'' in Hindi).''| year=1995}}</ref>

Correct schwa deletion is also critical because the same letter sequence is pronounced two different ways in Hindi depending on the context. Failure to delete the appropriate schwas can then change the meaning.<ref name="choudhury2002" /> For instance, the letter sequence 'रक' is pronounced differently in हरकत (''har.kat'', meaning ''movement'' or ''activity'') and सरकना (''sarak.na'', meaning ''to slide''). Similarly, the sequence धड़कने in दिल धड़कने लगा (''the heart started beating'') and in दिल की धड़कनें (''beats of the heart'') is identical prior to the nasalisation in the second usage. However, it is pronounced ''dhaṛak.ne'' in the first and ''dhaṛ.kanẽ'' in the second.<ref name="choudhury2002" />

While native speakers pronounce the sequences differently in different contexts, non-native speakers and voice-synthesis software can make them "sound very unnatural", making it "extremely difficult for the listener" to grasp the intended meaning.<ref name="choudhury2002" />

==Other Indo-Aryan languages==
Different Indo-Aryan languages can differ in how they apply schwa deletion. For instance, medial schwas from Sanskrit-origin words are often retained in Bengali even if they are deleted in Hindi.<ref name="ref88guruf">{{Citation | title=Proceedings of the Second Symposium on Indian Morphology, Phonology & Language Engineering: Simple'05, February 5th-7th, 2005, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur |author1=Anupam Basu |author2=Udaya Narayana Singh | publisher=Central Institute of Indian Languages, 2005 | isbn=978-81-7342-137-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IRxiAAAAMAAJ | quote=''...The compound words derived from native words of Bengali show greater tendency towards {a} deletion than those derived from Sanskrit....''|date=2005-01-01}}</ref> An example of this is रचना/রচনা which is pronounced ''racanā'' (/rətʃənaː/) in Sanskrit, ''rachnā'' (/rətʃnaː/) in Hindi and ''rôchona'' (/rɔtʃona/) in Bengali. While the medial schwa is deleted in Hindi (because of the ə → ∅ / VC_CV rule), it is retained in Bengali.<ref name="choudhury2004" />

On the other hand, the final schwa in वेद /বেদ is deleted in both Hindi and Bengali (Sanskrit: /veːd̪ə/, Hindi: /veːd̪/, Bengali: /bed̪/).<ref name="choudhury2004" />

===Assamese===
The Assamese equivalent for Schwa is [[Open back rounded vowel]] or [ɒ]. Assamese deleted this vowel at the end of consonant ending words with few exception like in numerals. In clusters, it's deleted in words like কান্ধ (/kandʱ-/, shoulder), বান্ধ (/bandʱ-/, bond) while optional in the word গোন্ধ (/ɡʊnˈdʱ(ɒ)/, smell). Modern Standard Assamese developed the schwa in words like কাছ (/kaˈsɒ/, turtle), পাৰ (/paˈɹɒ/, pigeon), তই কৰ (/tɔɪ kɒɹɒ/, you do) which appear with different vowels in some other dialects, like কাছু /ˈkasu/, পাৰা /ˈpaɾa/, কৰাহ /ˈkɒɾaʱ/ in some [[Kamrupi dialects]]. Eastern (and its sub-dialect, Standard) and Central Assamese retained the schwa in medial positions, like নিজৰা (/niˈzɒɹa/, stream), বিচনি (/biˈsɔni/, handfan), বতৰা (/bɒˈtɒɹa/, news), পাহৰে (/paˈɦɒɹe/, forgets), নকৰে (/nɒˈkɒɹe/, doesn't do), which were deleted in some of the Kamrupi dialect, while some others kept them as /a/. Conjuncts in Sanskrit loanwords always have the schwa, and in consonants ending words (that are followed by schwa), the schwa is optionally present in words ending with suffixes, for example, শিক্ষিত from Sanskrit शिक्षित (śikṣita, "educated") is pronounced both as /x̩ikˈkʰitɒ/ and /xˌikˈkʰit/.

===Bengali===
The Bengali equivalent for Schwa is [[Open-mid back rounded vowel]] or [ɔ].
Bengali deleted this vowel at the end when not ending in a consonant cluster but sometimes retained this vowel at medial position. The consonant clusters at end of a word usually follows a [[Close-mid back rounded vowel]] or [o]. For example, the Sanskrit word पथ (/pɐt̪ʰɐ/, way) corresponds to the Bengali word পথ /pɔt̪ʰ/. But the Skt. word अन्त (/ɐnt̪ɐ/, end) retains the end vowel and becomes অন্ত /ɔnt̪o/ in Bengali, as it ends with a consonant cluster.

However, ''tatsama'' borrowings from Sanskrit generally retain the 'ɔˈ except in word-final positions and except in very informal speech.

That vowel in medial position are not always retained. For instance, 'কলকাতা' is pronounced as /kolkat̪a/, and not /kolɔkat̪a/. (although different pronunciations based on dialect exist, none pronounce it this way).

===Gujarati===
Gujarati has a strong schwa deletion phenomenon, affecting both medial and final schwas. From an evolutionary perspective, the final schwas appear to have been lost prior to the medial ones.<ref name="ref28cuzum"/>

===Kashmiri===
In the [[Dardic languages|Dardic subbranch]] of Indo-Aryan, [[Kashmiri language|Kashmiri]] similarly demonstrates schwa deletion. For instance, ''drākṣa'' (द्राक्ष) is the Sanskrit word for grape, but the final schwa is dropped in the Kashmiri version, which is ''dach'' (दछ् or دَچھ).

===Maithili===
Maithili's schwa deletion differs from other neighbouring languages. It actually doesn't delete schwa, but shortens it., ə → ə̆ / VC_CV applies to the language. [[Maithili language|Maithili]] with increased influence of other languages through coming into contact with them has been showing the phenomenon of schwa deletion sometimes with words that traditionally pronounce schwas. For instance, हमरो is ''həməro'' (''even ours'') with schwas but is pronounced ''həmᵊro''.<ref name="ref06pehej">{{Citation | title=The Indo-Aryan languages | author=George Cardona | publisher=Psychology Press, 2003 | isbn=978-0-7007-1130-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jPR2OlbTbdkC | quote=''...The two morphophonemic alternations that are very productive and regular in Maithili are schwa deletion and replacement of a by schwa. (a) Schwa deletion:... VCəCV → VC0CV.... Schwa deletion in Maithili occurs....''| date=2007-07-26}}</ref> That is akin to the neighbouring [[Bhojpuri language|Bhojpuri]] in which हमरा (meaning ''mine'') is pronounced ''həmrā'' rather than ''həmərā'' from the deletion of a medial schwa.<ref name="ref71cobic">{{Citation | title=Experiencer subjects in South Asian languages |author1=Manindra K. Verma |author2=Karavannur Puthanvettil Mohanan | publisher=Center for the Study of Language (CSLI), 1990 | isbn=978-0-937073-60-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XCarNNGmOMYC | quote=''...The paradigm in Bhojpuri... hamaar in isolation is genitive and has an oblique form in -aa, which according to the general principle of vowel attenuation (schwa deletion) in this language yields the form hamraa before postpositions....''|year=1990}}</ref>

===Marathi===
In Marathi, the schwa at the end of the Sanskrit stems is retained in such cases as a few [[tatsama]] words.<ref name="Rajeshwari1997">{{cite book | author=Rajeshwari Pandharipande | title=Marathi | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JntxV7MO7cIC&pg=PA571 | access-date=26 December 2012 | year=1997 | publisher=Psychology Press | isbn=978-0-415-00319-3 | page=571}}</ref>
The medial schwa is retained in most of the words. [[Marathi language|Marathi]] with increased influence of other languages through coming into contact with them has been showing the phenomenon of schwa deletion sometimes with words that traditionally pronounce schwas like रंग (ranga/colour), बंद (banda/close), गुण (guna/quality), गोड (goda/sweet), मार्ग (mārga/way or street), etc.
Most of the times, to avoid schwa deletion, there is placed an Anuswara at end of the word. For example, the word खर is often read 'khar' by most of the marathi speakers. But it do not have a meaning unless you put a schwa at the end. To avoid this schwa deletion, it is written खरं which is pronounced khara which means true.
Sometimes, schwa is added to show the plural form of the word. For example, the word फूल (Phūl as pronounced in marathi) is made plural by adding schwa in it, making it फुलं (Phula as pronounced in marathi) which means flower.

===Nepali===

Nepali orthography is comparatively more phonetic than Hindi when it comes to schwa retention. Schwas are often retained within the words unless deletion is signaled by the use of a halanta(्). सुलोचना(a name) is pronounced ''{{transl|ne|sulocnā}}'' by Hindi speakers while ''{{transl|ne|sulocanā}}'' by Nepali speakers. However, उसको (his) is not pronounced as ''*{{transl|ne|usako}}'', rather as ''{{transl|ne|usko}}''. Similarly, रामले (Ram-ergative marker) as ''{{transl|ne|rāmle}}'' as opposed to ''*{{transl|ne|rāmale}}''

The following rules can be followed to figure out whether or not Nepali words retain the final schwa in a word.

1) Schwa is retained if the final syllable is a conjunct consonant. {{Lang|ne|अन्त}} ({{Transl|Ne|anta}}, 'end'), {{Lang|ne|सम्बन्ध}} ({{Transl|ne|sambandha}}, 'relation'), {{Lang|ne|श्रेष्ठ}} ({{Transl|ne|śreṣṭha}}, 'greatest'/a last name).<br>Exceptions: conjuncts such as {{Lang|Ne|ञ्च}} {{Lang|Ne|ञ्ज}} in {{Lang|ne|मञ्च}} ({{Transl|ne|mañc}}, 'stage') {{Lang|ne|गञ्ज}} ({{Transl|ne|gañj}}, 'city') and occasionally the last name {{Lang|Ne|पन्त}} ({{Transl|ne|panta}}/{{Transl|ne|pant}}).

2) For any verb form the final schwa is always retained unless the schwa-cancelling halanta is present. {{Lang|ne|हुन्छ}} ({{Transl|Ne|huncha}}, 'it happens'), {{Lang|Ne|भएर}} ({{Transl|Ne|bhaera}}, 'in happening so; therefore'), {{Lang|Ne|गएछ}}({{Transl|Ne|gaecha}}, 'he apparently went'), but {{Lang|Ne|छन्}} ({{Transl|Ne|chan}}, 'they are'), {{Lang|Ne|गईन्}} ({{Transl|Ne|gain}}, 'she went').

Meanings may change with the wrong orthography: {{Lang|Ne|गईन}} ({{Transl|Ne|gaina}}, 'she didn't go') vs {{Lang|Ne|गईन्}} ({{Transl|Ne|gain}}, 'she went').

3) Adverbs, onomatopoeia and postpositions usually maintain the schwa and if they don't, halanta is acquired: {{Lang|Ne|अब}} ({{Transl|Ne|aba}} 'now'), {{Lang|Ne|तिर}} ({{Transl|Ne|tira}}, 'towards'), {{Lang|Ne|आज}} ({{Transl|Ne|āja}}, 'today') {{Lang|Ne|सिम्सिम}} ({{Transl|Ne|simsim}} 'drizzle') vs {{Lang|Ne|झन्}} ({{Transl|Ne|jhan}}, 'more').

4) Few exceptional nouns retain the schwa such as: {{Lang|Ne|दुख}}({{Transl|Ne|dukha}}, 'suffering'), {{Lang|Ne|सुख}} ({{Transl|Ne|sukha}}, 'pleasure').

Note: Schwas are often retained in music and poetry to facilitate singing and recitation.

===Odia===
[[Odia language|Odia]], declared the sixth classical language of India in 2014, retains the schwa in its pronunciation. Both medial and final schwas are retained like in case of medial- ଝରଣା ''jharaṇā'' (/dʒʱɔɾɔɳā/, spring) and final- ଟଗର ''ṭagara'' (/ʈɔgɔɾɔ/, spring).

===Punjabi===
[[Punjabi language|Punjabi]] has broad schwa deletion rules: several base word forms (ਕਾਗ਼ਜ਼, کاغز, ''kāghəz''/''paper'') drop schwas in the plural form (ਕਾਗ਼ਜ਼ਾਂ, کاغزاں, ''kāghzāṅ''/''papers'') as well as with instrumental (ਕਾਗ਼ਜ਼ੋਂ, کاغزوں, ''kāghzōṅ''/''from the paper'') and locative (ਕਾਗ਼ਜ਼ੇ, کاغزے, ''kāghzé''/''on the paper'') suffixes.<ref name="ref59yilom">{{Citation | title=Punjabi: a cognitive-descriptive grammar | author=Tej K. Bhatia | publisher=Psychology Press, 1993 | isbn=978-0-415-00320-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gDbiwuTBjjAC | quote=''...nazar 'glance' - nazar të - nazrë. Postposition incorporation is quite productive. The stem-final schwa undergoes deletion before the vocalic postpositional elements....''| year=1993}}</ref>

==Common transcription and diction issues==
Since Devanagari does not provide indications of where schwas should be deleted, it is common for non-native learners/speakers of Hindi, who are otherwise familiar with Devanagari and Sanskrit, to make incorrect pronunciations of words in Hindustani and other modern Indo-Aryan languages.<ref name="ref08pezuq">{{Citation | title=The writing systems of the world | author=Florian Coulmas | publisher=Wiley-Blackwell, 1991 | isbn=978-0-631-18028-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VOywmavmZ3UC | quote=''...in the Devanagari script, the schwa vowel is not indicated in consonant-initial syllables. This is a well-known problem for those learning to read Hindi....''| date=1991-01-08}}</ref> Similarly, systems that automate [[transliteration]] from Devanagari to [[Latin script]] by hardcoding implicit schwas in every consonant often indicate the written form rather than the pronunciation. That becomes evident when [[English language|English]] words are transliterated into Devanagari by Hindi-speakers and then transliterated back into English by manual or automated processes that do not account for Hindi's schwa deletion rules. For instance, the word ''English'' may be written by Hindi speakers as इंगलिश (rather than इंग्लिश्) which may be transliterated back to ''Ingalisha'' by automated systems, but schwa deletion would result in इंगलिश being correctly pronounced as ''Inglish'' by native Hindi-speakers.<ref name="ref02foril">

An example is Google's automated transliteration of {{Citation | title=Jepī Raipiḍa korasa ṭu sapokana Iṅgalisha: including Ingalisha pronouncing dikashanarī |author1=J. P. Singh Ahluwalia |author2=Mohan Singh | publisher=Jaypee Publications, 2008 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aBetPgAACAAJ | quote=''... sapokana Iṅgalisha ...''}}</ref>

Some examples are shown below:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Word in Devanagari and meaning
!Pronunciation in Hindi (with schwa syncope)
!Pronunciation without schwa syncope
!Comments
|-
|लपट (''flame'')
|''ləpəṭ''
|''ləpəṭə''
|''The final schwa is deleted'' <ref name="ref94vihor">{{Citation | title=Hindi morphology: a word-based description |author1=Rajendra Singh |author2=Rama Kant Agnihotri | publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 1997 | isbn=978-81-208-1446-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pta6m7bcQiQC | quote=''... For a pair of words eg ləpəṭ ~ ləpəṭen 'flame', one has to apply the following phonomorphological interface rules on the abstract ...''|year=1997}}</ref>
|-
|लपटें (''flames'')
|''ləpṭeṅ''
|''ləpəṭeṅ''
|''The medial schwa, ləp'''ə'''ṭ, which was retained in लपट, is deleted in लपटें'' <ref name="ref94vihor"/>
|-
|समझ (''understanding'')
|''səməjh''
|''səməjhə''
|''The final schwa is deleted'' <ref name="ref94furaf">{{Citation | title=The Indo-Aryan Languages | author=Colin P. Masica | date=9 September 1993 | publisher=Cambridge University Press, 1993 | isbn=978-0-521-29944-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J3RSHWePhXwC | quote=''... on the suffixation: H. samajhna 'to understand' > samjha 'understood'. This too produces clusters, albeit unstable ones. As noted in Chapter 6, the most recent treatment (synchronic) of this "schwa-deletion" phenomenon in Hindi ...''}}</ref>
|-
|समझा (''understood, verb masc.'')
|''səmjhā''
|''səməjhā''
|''The medial vowel also is deleted here, which it wasn't in समझ''<ref name="ref94furaf"/>
|-
|भारत (''India'')
|''bhārət''
|''bhārətə''
|''Final schwa is deleted''
|-
|भारतीय (''Indian'')
|''bhārtīy''
|''bhārətīyə''
|''Both the medial and final schwa are deleted, although the final schwa is sometimes faintly pronounced due to the 'y' glide; when pronounced without this, the word sounds close to 'bhārtī'''
|-
|देवनागरी (''Devanagari, the script'')
|''devnāgrī''
|''devənāgərī''
|''Two medial schwas (after व and after ग) are deleted''
|-
|इंगलिश (''English, the language'')
|''inglish''
|''ingəlishə''
|''Medial and final schwas (after ग and after श) are deleted''
|-
|विमला (''Vimla, a proper name'')
|''vimlā''
|''viməlā''
|''Medial schwa is deleted'' <ref name="ref77capeq">{{Citation | title=The schwa-deletion rule in Hindi: phonetic and non-phonetic determinants of rule application | author=Manjari Ohala | year=1974 | publisher=Indiana University Linguistics Club, 1974 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Uk0-AAAAIAAJ | quote=''... [sulochna] ~ [sulochəna] ... schwa is conditionally deleted ...''}}</ref>
|-
|सुलोचना (''Sulochna, a proper name'')
|''sulochnā''
|''sulochənā''
|''Medial schwa is deleted'' <ref name="ref77capeq"/>
|}

==Vowel nasalisation==
With some words that contain /n/ or /m/ consonants separated from succeeding consonants by schwas, the schwa deletion process has the effect of nasalising any preceding vowels.<ref name="narang1971lsa">{{Citation | title=Aspiration and nasalization in the generative phonology of Hindustani |author1=G.C. Narang |author2=Donald A. Becker | journal=Language |volume=47 |issue=3 |pages=646–667 |date=September 1971 | publisher=Linguistic Society of America | jstor=412381 | doi=10.2307/412381 | quote=''... nasalized vowels are derived from underlying sequences of vowel plus nasal consonant ...''}}</ref> Here are some examples in Hindustani:
* ''sən.kī'' ({{lang|hi|सनकी}}, {{lang|ur|{{nq|سنکی}}}}, ''whimsical'') in which a deleted schwa that is pronounced in the root word ''sənək'' ({{lang|hi|सनक}}, {{lang|ur|{{nq|سنک}}}}, ''whimsy'') converts the first medial schwa into a nasalised vowel.
* ''chəm.kīlā'' ({{lang|hi|चमकीला}}, {{lang|ur|{{nq|چمکیلا}}}}, ''shiny'') in which a deleted schwa that is pronounced in the root word ''chəmək'' ({{lang|hi|चमक}}, {{lang|ur|{{nq|چمک}}}}, ''shine'') converts the first medial schwa into a nasalised vowel.

==See also==
* [[Schwa]]
* [[Hindustani language]]
* [[Indo-Aryan languages]]
* [[Devanagari]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

{{Hindi topics}}
{{Urdu topics}}
{{Language phonologies}}

[[Category:Hindustani language]]
[[Category:Urdu]]
[[Category:Hindi]]
[[Category:Indo-Aryan languages]]
[[Category:Indo-Aryan phonologies]]

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Schwa deletion in Indo-Aryan languages