A (letter): Difference between revisions
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Examples (the accents show stress and pronunciation: see [[English phonemes]]): | Examples (the accents show stress and pronunciation: see [[English phonemes]]): | ||
àù sounds like òw and òu and is found in àùtobàhn, sàùerkràùt, Sàùdi Arâbia and Guínea Bíssàù. | |||
Double a is rare: àardvark, bàa, bazàar, Ãaron. | |||
Final a after a consonant is schwa: Joánna, mánna, dilémma, nôva, Cánada, África, América, Austrâlia, Venezuèla and also in rhêa (two syllables, cf. sêa, one syllable). | |||
Although it can be otherwise in cínemà/cínema and it is always à in Pánamà. | |||
The initial combinations -ẁa- or ẁha- and qùa are in most words pronounced quó- and wó-: ẁas, ẁhat, ẁant, ẁasp, Ẁarwick, ẁaddle, ẁaft, Ẁally, ẁash, qùarry, qùantum, qùantity, qùarrel, qùad, qùash. | |||
Similarly: ẁrath. But: wág, wháck, quáck, and quàlm (-àm), and au is ó in because (*bicóz). | |||
a or ai are pronounced é in some common words: any, many, again, against, though the latter two are for some speakers agâin and agâinst. | |||
A list of irregular a’s: | A list of irregular a’s: | ||
Revision as of 10:31, 6 March 2008
A is the first letter of the English alphabet. Its name is pronounced like the strong form of the indefinite article a. Eh? has the same sound.
Use in English
Examples (the accents show stress and pronunciation: see English phonemes): àù sounds like òw and òu and is found in àùtobàhn, sàùerkràùt, Sàùdi Arâbia and Guínea Bíssàù.
Double a is rare: àardvark, bàa, bazàar, Ãaron.
Final a after a consonant is schwa: Joánna, mánna, dilémma, nôva, Cánada, África, América, Austrâlia, Venezuèla and also in rhêa (two syllables, cf. sêa, one syllable). Although it can be otherwise in cínemà/cínema and it is always à in Pánamà.
The initial combinations -ẁa- or ẁha- and qùa are in most words pronounced quó- and wó-: ẁas, ẁhat, ẁant, ẁasp, Ẁarwick, ẁaddle, ẁaft, Ẁally, ẁash, qùarry, qùantum, qùantity, qùarrel, qùad, qùash. Similarly: ẁrath. But: wág, wháck, quáck, and quàlm (-àm), and au is ó in because (*bicóz).
a or ai are pronounced é in some common words: any, many, again, against, though the latter two are for some speakers agâin and agâinst.
A list of irregular a’s:
| spelling | pronunciation |
|---|---|
| again | *əgén |
| against | *əgénst |
| any | *énny |
| au pãir | *ô-pãir |
| Austrâlia | *Ostrâlia |
| Austria | *Óstria |
| bûreau | *byûrô |
| bureaucracy | *byurócrəcy |
| because | *bicóz |
| blancmange | *bləmónzh |
| faux-pàs | *fô-pà |
| gauche | *gôsh |
| laureate | *lóriət |
| laurel | *lórrəl |
| Laurie name | lórry vehicle |
| Lawrence or Laurence | *Lórrənce |
| many | *ménny |
| Maurice (BrE) 'given name | Mórris surname |
| mauve | *môav (move is pronounced *moôve) |
| pláteau | *plátô |
| said | *séd |
| says | *séz |
| tábleau | *táblô |
| Thames | *Témz |
| Vauxhåll | *Vóxåll |
| yacht | *yót |
In -able, a is schwa: êatable (cf. édible), pálatable, breâkable, repêatable, thínkable, dispénsable, màrketable, remàrkable, nôtable, unrelîable, pálpable, vîable. A final silent -e is retained before -able if it aids pronunciation: mánageable (*mánajable, not *mánagable), sâleable (*sâlable, not *sállable).
Compare -ible, i also normally pronounced schwa: respónsible (*responsable is French), sénsible, póssible, édible, convërtible, suscéptible.
-(ic)al, and -(ic)le are identically pronounced. -le is for nouns and -al for adjectives.
Adjectives: mûsical, clássical, nåutical, quízzical, pênal, feûdal, rûral, nátural, mâniácal.
Nouns: pàrticle, fóllicle, îcicle, pébble, míddle, púddle, múddle (which is also a verb).
Of course there are exceptions: pédal bicycle = péddle sell, líttle (adjective or noun), befúddle (verb), óbstacle, bàrnacle which many speakers pronounce -ícle.
-ant is a common suffix which has the schwa sound. In some words it is French for -ing and has this meaning, and it is rather less common than -ent: relúctant, redúndant, pétulant, mŏrdant, triúmphant (î), péndant, érrant, mílitant, élephant, élegant, árrogant, ascéndant, depéndant noun (cf. depéndent adjective), árrant, érrant, and cúrrant has the a when it means the fruit, and not, as one might expect, ‘at this time’: cúrrant eat = cúrrent now.
-ance/-ancy or -ence: as with -ant, and -ent: pétulance, redúndancy, élegance, mŏrdancy; éssence, depéndence, correspóndence, ínsolence, rédolence.
The suffix is -ment, not -mant; but of course -ant can be added to -m: clâimant, dŏrmant.
The suffix -age is pronounced -íj by most speakers: ímage, víllage, píllage, spíllage, wattage, cóttage. Exceptions are: míràge (*míràzh), gáràge (BrE *gáràj; AmE *gəràzh). Similarly with the a in térrace (*térris), ménace (*ménnis, cf. ténnis), and Hórace (*Hórris, cf. Nórris, Dóris, Bóris) – though these can all be schwa.
The suffix -ate is pronounced -âte in verbs: éstimâte, séparâte, prédicâte, delíberâte, artículâte, célebrâte, dénigrâte, eláborâte, precípitâte, régulâte. (This ending is spelt differently in wâit, bâit and gâit - that is to say, only in some monosyllables.) But schwa in nouns and adjectives: laureate (ló-), célibate, éstimate, séparate, prédicate, delíberate, artículate, eláborate, precípitate - all, when not verbs, -ət.
a is redundant in ëarly, ëarth, dëarth, rehëarse, hëard, lëarn, yëarn, pëarl (cf. heàrt, heàrth, rehëarse) and in Latin and Greek aê: nébulaê, nôvaê, fŏrmulaê, currículum vìtaê, Aêschylus (*êeskiləss).
Unstressed in aesthétics BrE aê can sound like í in ít, while in AmE the spelling can be esthétics, and both e’s are pronounced with the é sound.
As âe this combination is rare: Gâelic Ireland (Gáelic Scotland), Ísrâel (cf. Mîchael, where it is unstressed: *Mŷcle), mâelstrom, phâeton (*fâytən), Râe surname (= Rây Raymond, rây light), while Grâeme is pronounced exactly like its more common variant Grâham (*Grâyəm).
a is redundant in some Scottish names: Líndsay, Múrray surname = Mòray Firth cf. Welsh Ánglesey, Manx Rámsey.
And it is redundant in BrE, for most speakers, in words where the suffix -ary is preceded by an unstressed syllable: díctionary, suppleméntary, sécondary, nécessary compliméntary praise = compleméntary together.
In names beginning with Mc- and Mac-, the a, visible or not, is pronounced schwa, except in a few cases, like McEnroe, where, though invisible, it is the main stressed vowel.