Re: USAGE: Schwa and syllabification

Trebor Jung wrote:

>Merhaba!
>
>My spelling textbook claims that the second syllable of 'little' has a schwa
>in it; my immediate reaction was "What? Isn't it [lItl=]?". So now I'm
>wondering, how do you tell the difference between schwa and syllabification?
>(So for example is 'mechanic' [m@k&nIk] or [mk=&nIk]??)
>
>
Schwa is a vowel.  So, the vibration of the vocal chords begins before
the consonant is produced.  Syllabification, on the other hand, means
that you do not start vibrating your vocal chords until you are
producing the consonant.  I pronounce 'little' [lIt@l], but many
pronounce it, as you say, [lItl=].