SOSSONIA is a somewhat unfamiliar word to most people. It is actually the name of a genus of trees found in Africa. The word is spelled səʊˈsəʊniə, with the first syllable having a sound similar to "so" but with a slightly drawn-out "o" and the last syllable pronounced with the "a" sound like in "cat". In phonetic transcription, the symbol "ə" represents the schwa sound, which is a neutral vowel sound often employed in unstressed syllables.