schwi /ʃwiː/ noun1 •An indeterminate near-close central unrounded vowel sound, such as the "e" in "roses" or the "y" in "very", depending on the accent; sometimes represented as [[[ɨ]]] in IPA or [[[ᵻ]]] in para-IPA.Accent Hint No. 1 -- if the first syllable contains a one-syllable prefix, the vowel in that syllable is unaccented and thus is probably a schwa /ə/ or schwi /i/. — 1972 formsschwis