The Pronunciation of the Schwa An Acoustic Analysis of Gender Inclusivity in Spoken Italian
In Italian, the schwa has spread to encode gender beyond the binary, yet /ə/ is not part of the standard phonemic inventory. This study addresses the recurring unpronounceability argument by focusing on acoustic vowel distance. Drawing on 10 interpreters’ production of words containing the mid-central vowel (/ə/; n=205...