Medial schwa is more complex, since it has any of the full realisations of [a e i o u] according to phonological environment. The medial schwa subset therefore has to be broken down into 5 further divisions to allow for these subtypes (see table 1 below).
Follow the links for the statistical material pertaining to each subtype.
| Environment | ‘a-schwa’ | ‘e-schwa’ | ‘i-schwa’ | ‘o-schwa’ | ‘u-schwa’ |
| J – after /j/ | serious | requires | – | canyon | – |
| L – before /l/ | normal | novel | privilege | ecological | people |
| N – before /n/ | balance | stolen | tension | second | unfortunate |
| M – before /m/ | tantrum | cinema | – | freedom | – |
| P – before labials (including /w/, excluding /m/) | supposed | celebratory | responsible | bishop | – |
| F – before /f/ and /v/ | paraffin | benefit | beautifully | renovation | – |
| H – before /h/ in following syllable | – | – | – | alcohol | – |
| R – before /r/ in following syllable | primary | funeral | inspiration | memory | – |
| K – before velars | stomach | subjects (n) | certificate | allocated | – |
| G – ‘other’ (before [θ ð t d s z ʃ ʒ tʃ dʒ], i.e. before coronals, excluding [n l r], plus alveopalatals) | brothers | biggest | stupid | carrots | – |
| I – after /i:/ in preceding syllable | – | – | even | – | – |
Table 1. Example tokens of 5 types of medial schwa by structural environment.