Meaning of weak vowel merger | Babel Free

Definitions

1. A phenomenon found in English pronunciation where the phonemes /ə/ (schwa) and /ɪ/ (the near-close near-front unrounded vowel) are not distinguished from eachother when unstressed, with the resulting ambiguous phoneme represented in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɨ/ (a close central rounded vowel).
   uncountable
2. An instance of this merger in a specific usage or pronunciation of a word or phrase.
   countable

Examples

“Because many terms in various dialects of English undergo weak vowel mergers, words ending with /ə/ and /ɪ/ which usually do not rhyme could be considered to with eachother.”

CEFR level