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I asked my English teacher about pronunciation of words like table, available, apple or people. He told me they end with a short A. But when I listen to native English speakers, I hear "pee-pole", which seems like a short O to me.

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    Its more like the 'u' in *pull* or *bull* – Jim Dec 27 '13 at 05:45
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    Any dictionary will tell you that *people* is pronounced `[ˈpʰiːpəl]`, sometimes written `[ˈpʰiːpl̩]`. – tchrist Dec 27 '13 at 05:50
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    Listen: *people* Audio (US); Audio (UK) http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/people & try: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyl-TE8JJ8U (I've *not* checked the youtube link.) – Kris Dec 27 '13 at 07:14
  • @Jim Pronunciations vary. – Kris Dec 27 '13 at 07:14
  • From what I've observed, the schwa sound (ə) in this word (*people*) will sound closer to *pull* in AmE accents, and closer to *pole* in BrE. Being a non-native speaker, I know that the schwa can trouble us somewhat. I wrote an answer about this schwa sound specifically. I hope that you will find it useful: http://ell.stackexchange.com/a/14568/3281. – Damkerng T. Dec 28 '13 at 10:07
  • @DamkerngT. John Wells analyzes the (phonetic) syllabic [l̩] as a realization of the (phonemic) underlying string /əl/. In other words, you may see /əl/ in a dictionary when no schwa sound is actually pronounced. In this case, as an American English speaker, I don't pronounce a schwa, although other speakers may. –  Dec 28 '13 at 16:15
  • @snailboat (Oh, I forgot that! Thank you.) Instead of trying to add more information and might complicate things unnecessary, I will say that I completely agree with you. However, for the OP, you can use my observation above as additional information, especially if your first language is a syllable-timed one. – Damkerng T. Dec 28 '13 at 16:28

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The phonemic pronunciation of people is /ˈpi pəl/. So the first syllable is stressed, and the second is weaker (PEO-ple).

The upside-down "e" in the second syllable is called a schwa, and it represents a "neutral" vowel. The Random House definition of "schwa" gives as examples:

the sound of a in alone and sofa, e in system, i in easily, o in gallop, u in circus.

The Cambridge Dictionaries online write this as /ˈpiː.pl̩/, indicating a much shorter vowel in the second syllable.

aeismail
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  • That is not an accurate IPA pronunciation. It’s closer to being a phonemic rendition, in which case you should use /slashes/ rather than [brackets]. – Janus Bahs Jacquet Dec 27 '13 at 12:13
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American and English pronunciations of the word people:

You can find pronunciations for the words table, available and apple at these links:

godel9
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