Let’s say you are trying to communicate /k/क sound in English. You can use k, c, or, if it is guttural, even q to communicate it.

But what if you are trying to communicate the most neutral vowel sound known to the mankind the schwa sound /ə/अ?

It is impossible to pick the right Latin letter to communicate this. There are 5 vowel letters in English. And each of them can be used to communicate the schwa sound in different words!

  • The a in about
  • The e in taken
  • The i in cousin
  • The o in button
  • The u in upon

So, what if there is a foreign name that has a schwa sound in it?

In some contexts, it is impossible to communicate that in written English.

Schwa as the last vowel in a word

Consider the first name of the Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella.
The first name should be pronounced as /sətjə/सत्य/ with a schwa ending.
But if you try to write it in English, you will have to write it as Satya.
Which makes it Sətja/सत्या.
What if you remove the a from the end?
Then it becomes Saty, which makes it Sæti/सैती़.

Schwa as the first vowel in a word

A similar problem happens with schwa as the first vowel in a word. The general pronunciation rules of English demand that the first syllable be stressed. So, a name like Anu, which should be pronounced as /ənu/अनु/ will be pronounced as either

Schwa in a middle syllable of a word that requires stressing

What about Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai? The first name should be pronounced as /sʊndər/सुंदर/ with a schwa ending. But it gets pronounced as either /sʌndɑːr/सॅन्दार/ or /sʊndɑːr/सुन्दार/ in English. What if he instead wrote Sundr? Well, then it would be pronounced as /sʌndr/सॅन्द्र/ in English.

  • AA-nu /ɑːnu/आनु/ or
  • AiN-u /eɪnu/ऐनु/

This makes all Sanskrit-origin schwa-starting or schwa-ending names impossible to write in modern English.

Different cultures struggle with this and come up with their own solutions. None that can be considered perfect.

  • Indians for example use a to communicate the schwa sound in their names. Also, a is used for /ɑː/आ sound in their names. Creating ambiguity.
  • Sri Lankans, for example, use e to communicate the schwa sound in their names.
  • Japanese, for example, uses u to communicate the schwa sound in their names. Also, u is used for /uː/ऊ sound in their names. Creating ambiguity.