The Dastardly Dotted Schwa or the Samir Patel Appeal

Revealed at last: the mystery behind the appeal that Texan Samir Patel's parents filed after he was eliminated by the word "clevis" in the fifth of sixth rounds Thursday.
It was all about a sound in the English language called the "dotted schwa," said Dr. Jacques Bailly, the pronouncer at this year's bee and the 1980 champ.
The plain old schwa is shown as an upside-down "e" in pronuniciation guides. The dotted schwa has -- yes, that's right -- a dot over it.
It's not "simply one sound" in English, Bailly, an associate professor of classics at the University of Vermont, said.
The dotted schwa could be, for instance, akin to the "i" in "it," or it could be more like the "u" in "uh."
This tricky little sound also varies from person to person. Some people say it more like "it," others more like "uh." It lurks at the end part of clevis in the "i."
And the controversy was over that dotted schwa sound, said Bailly, who spends hours and hours studying the spelling bee's word list.
Since the caboose of clevis has an i, Bailly leaned more toward that "i" sound in pronouncing it.
"In the end, I think I did it right," Bailly said. "I try to push them toward clarity."
He commended Patel for his sportsmanship and had nothing but good things to say about the 13-year-old from Colleyville, Texas.
"I really wanted him to get it right," he said.
Bailly certainly held no grudge because of the appeal.
An appeal is not unusual in bees and is the way to get questions answered, Bailly said.