The schwa in Albanian Introduction: In Albanian, the schwa as a phoneme is restricted to the Tosk variety (south of the Shkumbin river, generally considered as basis for the standard), whereas it is described as a back, rounded vowel in the Gheg variety (north of the Shkumbin river). Method: Recordings of spontaneous speech of 7 male speakers have been analyzed. The first two formants were calculated. In total, 570 schwa-vowels have been analyzed, 5 articulation zones have been defined. Results: With respect to the realization of the schwa in stressed position, a significant difference could be observed with regard to "within" and "outside" the borders of the Republic of Albania. Within the borders of Albania, however, no differences could be observed. Speakers from all regions display a huge amount of variability, ranging from front to back articulation. In unstressed position, a tendency towards centralization can be observed.