ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Schwa deletion in Indo-Aryan languages

In some languages, like Indo-Aryan ones, there's a special sound called "schwa" that's a really short and quiet "uh" sound, almost like you're just breathing out. But sometimes when we speak these languages, we don't really need to hear that schwa sound. So instead of saying the whole word, we might leave out the schwa sound and just say the other parts of the word that are more important. This is called "schwa deletion," because we're deleting, or getting rid of, that little "uh" sound. So, it's kind of like choosing to say a shorter version of the word because the "uh" sound isn't really that important.