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− | {{vowels}}
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− | {{glyph|A a ɑː}}
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− | Thanks in large part to the historical phenomenon of the [[Great English Vowel Shift]] of the late fifteenth century, English is not a language with predictable ways of writing down sounds, particularly [[vowel]] sounds. This page attempts to group some of the ways in which the letter 'A' is used.
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− | *As a simple letter (monographic), it may be:
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− | **a [[Long vowel - short vowel|short]] '-a-' ([[IPA]] [[/æ/]]), as in 'man', 'cat' and 'as' - though the actual sound varies in spoken accents, such as the so-called 'flat '-a-' in north-west England, particularly in Lancashire, where it is associated with the local pronunciation of 'flat cap', which has a vowel akin to [[IPA]] [[/a/]] of German ''Mann'', etc.
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− | **a [[Long vowel - short vowel|long]] '-a-' ([[IPA]]/ɑː/]],) as in ([[RP]]) 'father', 'dance' and 'bath'.
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− | **As a [[diphthong]]al vowel, it is usually understood as the sound of its name, and such words as 'late', 'name' and 'same': [[/eɪ/]]; but there are many other possibilities, and great subtleties in its precise pronunciation. For more on this, see [[Speech sounds represented by the letter A]].
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− | *There are at least four ways in which '-a-' can be combined to represent the [[/eɪ/]] [[phoneme]]:
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− | **before a consonant with a [[silent '-e-']] ([ ] '''a''' + [C] + '''e''' ), as in <nowiki>'</nowiki>'''a'''t'''e'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>, 'p'''a'''l'''e'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>, 'h'''a'''t'''e'''<nowiki>'</nowiki> and 'w'''a'''st'''e'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>;
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− | **with '-'''i'''<nowiki>'</nowiki> ('''ai'''), as in '''ai'''d, p'''ai'''l ( a [[homophone]] of 'pale') and m'''ai'''nt'''ai'''n (some words, such as 'ag'''ai'''n', 's'''ai'''d' and 'ag'''ai'''nst', are pronounced with an /É›/ vowel, like that in 'get', by some speakers.);
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− | **at the ends of words, the '''ai''' spelling is replaced by '''ay''' - for example in 'pl'''ay'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>, 'w'''ay'''<nowiki>'</nowiki> and 'd'''ay'''<nowiki>'</nowiki> (as in the 'said' example above, 's'''ays'''<nowiki>'</nowiki> may be realized with the [[/É›/]] phoneme (as 'sez');
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− | **in four words, the /eɪ/ sound is represented by '''ea''': 'gr'''ea'''t', 'br'''ea'''k', 'st'''ea'''k' and ([[archaic]]) 'y'''ea'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>.
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− | *With '''u''' ('''au'''), it represents the [[/É”Ë/]] [[phoneme]], as in 's'''au'''ce', <nowiki>'</nowiki>'''au'''thor' and '[[because (pronunciation)|bec'''au'''se']] (note that in North American accents, this may sound far more like the [[/É’/]] sound of 'got' and 'dog' - the same is true in the [[RP]] realization of such words as '''<nowiki>'</nowiki>Au'''strian' and '''<nowiki>'</nowiki>Au'''stralian);
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− | **the same pattern can be represented by the 'double u' of '''w''' ('''aw''') as in <nowiki>'</nowiki>'''aw'''eful', 's'''aw'''n', 'l'''aw'''<nowiki>'</nowiki> and 'dr'''aw'''l'.
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− | * '''-a-''' [[long vowel - short vowel|lengthens]] the vowel sound when it follows
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− | **'''o''' ('''oa''', [[/əʊ/]]), as in 'b'''oa'''t', 'r'''oa'''d', 's'''oa'''k', 's'''oa'''r' and 'g'''oa'''l' -
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− | ***- confusingly, this can be the different 'longer' vowel of 'c'''au'''ght' ([[/É”Ë/]]) in 'br'''oa'''d', or the [[/əʊ/]] diphthong in 'B r'''oa'''d', 'subsidiary highway'.
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− | **'''e''' ('''ea'''), as in 'b'''ea'''t', 'f'''ea'''st', 'n'''ea'''r' and 'm'''ea'''l'. (N.B. '''ea''' can represent three different sounds (this one, [[/iË/]], that in 'gr'''ea'''t', [[/eɪ/]] above, and 'br'''ea'''d', ([[/É›/]]) below. This is particularly confusing with [[Read (homograph)|read]], where both [[inflection|verb form]]s, the [[present tense]] and the [[past tense|past forms]], are spelled the same way but pronounced differently, the present with the [[Short e - long e|'long -ee']] ([[/iË/]]) and the past with the [[Short e - long e|'short -e']] [[/É›/]]
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− | ***With '''e''' ('''ea'''), it may also represent the [[long vowel - short vowel|short vowel]] [[/É›/]] in such words as 'br'''ea'''d', 'r'''ea'''dy' 'j'''ea'''lous' and 'sw'''ea'''t'.
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− | *Sometimes '''a''' combines with other vowel letters in strange spellings such as [[aisle|'''ais'''le']] ('EYE-l', {{IPA|aɪl}}), <nowiki>'</nowiki>'''au'''nt' ('AHnt', /É‘Ënt/), 'b'''eau'''ty' ('bYOU-ti', /bjuËtɪ/), 'guin'''ea'''<nowiki>'</nowiki> (GHINN-y, /gɪn ɪ/), 'l'''au'''gh' ('LARf', 'lÉ‘Ëf/) and 'q'''uay'''<nowiki>'</nowiki> ('kee', /kiË/).
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− | *In words borrowed from foreign languages, '''a''' occasionally has foreign uses:
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− | **'''aa''', always in recognizably foreign words, represents the [[Short a - long a|'long a']] [[/É‘Ë/]] in such [[Afrikaans|Afrik'''aa'''ns]] words as <nowiki>'</nowiki>'''aa'''rdv'''aa'''rk', and [[/eɪ/]] diphthong in the [[RP]] British English realization of [[Semitic]] names such as <nowiki>'</nowiki>'''Aa'''ron' and 'B'''aa'''l'.
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− | **'''ae''' usually has the value of long '-ay-' ([[/eɪ/]]), as in Dutch 'm'''ae'''lstrom', [[Celtic]] 'G'''ae'''l' (but see [[Gaelic]]) and Hebrew 'Ishm'''ae'''l' and 'Isr'''ae'''l'.
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− | **in 'bureau', 'gauche' and 'fauve', etc, the '''au''' [[digraph]] (in 'bureau' a trigraph '''eau''') has its French value of [[/o/]], or its nearest English equivalent, [[/əʊ/]] (/oÊŠ/ in North American).
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− | **In most other European languages, '''au''' has its phonetic value 'ow' ([[/aÊŠ/]]), as in German 'Fr'''au'''<nowiki>'</nowiki> and 'Str'''au'''ss, Spanish 'g'''au'''cho' and '''<nowiki>'</nowiki>au'''to-da-fe', and the Italian pronunciations of 'Cl'''au'''dia' and 'L'''au'''ra'.
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− | **Sometimes [[digraph]]s which represent [[diphthong]]s in English (that is, proper diphthongs, or vowel glides) represent two separate [[monophthong]]s in their original languages, and academic speakers should try to maintain the distinction. The French [[naive|'N'''ai'''ve']], for example (and its [[masculine]] equivalent 'n'''ai'''f') have two syllables: 'nah-EEVE', {{IPA|na ˈiËv}} ('na-EEF', {{IPA|na ˈɪf}}). This may be shown by a [[diaeresis]], as in na'''ï'''ve (na'''ï'''f).
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− | ::You may also want to see [[A (phoneme)|Speech sounds represented by the letter A]] or [[long vowel - short vowel]].
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− | ::::Much of the information on this page has been taken from [[McArthur]] and [[Bell (2004)]].
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− | [[category:phonetics]]
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− | [[category:pronunciation]]
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− | [[category:spelling patterns]]
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− | [[category:OHEL]]
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− | [[category:vowels]]
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− | [[category:Bell spelling patterns]]
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