I've noticed that in some words the schwa sounds more like an 'e' and not 'ə', for exmaple: environment(.mənt), is with a schwa, but sounds like 'e'. Also in a word like 'substance'(.stəns) doesn't sound like it has a schwa but it has.
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1This is highly variable by speaker and region. One note about those two words in particular is that they can be analyzed as having a syllabic /n/.– Luke SawczakJul 25, 2017 at 15:34
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@LukeSawczak so is it wrong to pronounce it like I do?– artdeJul 25, 2017 at 22:45
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This probably violates some rule or other, but here are the OED's recordings of the US pronunciation it renders as /ˈsəbstəns/ and the British pronunciation /ˈsʌbst(ə)ns/.– Luke SawczakJul 25, 2017 at 23:26
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Similar Linguistics SE question: When should I use /ə/ or /ɪ/ and why does it seem like they're not used correctly?– sumelicFeb 6, 2019 at 21:59
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1 Answer
Many unstressed vowels are quite flexible in their pronunciation. If the word is spoken slowly and carefully, the unstressed vowels are formed carefully, and often are close to their written vowel. If "Environment" is spoken slowly, the last part may be said as /ment/ if spoken at normal speed, the unstressed vowel is reduced to a schwa or even lost completely, resulting in a syllabic /n/.
Dictionaries usually show only the normal pronunciation.
