A (letter)
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):
So why unstable? It is the question of á versus à. The other long sound à is heard in both British and American English before r: pàrt, fàrm, yàrd, vàrnish, tàrt, gàrden, màrk (though not before double r: árrow, nárrow). The r is silent in BrE (*pàat, *gàaden). And à is also found in both AmE and BrE before silent l followed by m in càlm, bàlm, and quàlm (*kàam, *bàam, *kwàam). (But only in BrE is à found before silent l followed by v or f in hàlve, hàlf, càlf: AmE *háav, *háaf, *cáaf). Further, à is also heard in both AmE and BrE in Chicàgo, Coloràdo and AmE pajàmas BrE pyjàmas, and, curiously, in fàther - but not in ràther or làther, both á in AmE - and of course à is heard in words which retain their foreign pronunciation (especially names) like adàgio, ària, Accrà, Zimbàbwè, Guatemàla and Màhler. But in the great majority of words standard British English à is á in American English and some varieties of British and Commonwealth English (and long in American): BrE hàlve, hàlf, càlf, ràther, làther, Iràn, càst, làst, pàst, gràss, càn’t, grànt, pàss, àfter, làugh, gràph, àunt, càstle, dànce, àsk, tàsk, blàst, nàsty, cràft. AmE: hálve, hálf, cálf, ráther, láther, Irán, cást, lást, pást, gráss, cán’t, gránt, páss, áfter, láugh, gráph, áunt, cástle, dánce, ásk, tásk, blást, násty, cráft. So in BrE Páris, Frànce; in AmE Páris, Fránce.
In fact, à is showing an increasing tendency to give way to á in British English: it has long had the á sound in Scotland and the north of England. à versus á can be merely a matter of idiolect, that is, one of personal habit, especially with geographical names. But conversely, in some place names where BrE has á, à is preferred to á by many Americans: one hears Milàn, Vietnàm, Ugànda and Ànkara.
Finally, an anomaly: BrE banàl does not rhyme with canál, and neither does AmE bânal.
å is found in ål(l) åw and åu: tåll, småll, såw, bråwn, dåughter, hålt, scåld, båll, åwful, nåughty, Shåun = Seån, ålter, sålt, dåwn, jåunty, dråw, fålter, målt, Nepål, låw, Måud, clåw, håul, sålt, fåult, côbålt, mínotåur, céntåur, dînosåur. And in wåter. This sound is also spelt ŏ: ŏr, fŏur. Many foreign learners confuse å (a long vowel) with the diphthong ô and so pronounce låw legal as if it were lôw down, whereas in fact låw rhymes with påw, jåw, clåw.
ã is a gliding sound before r. The r follows immediately or there is an i first (-ãir): stãir step = stãre look, Blãir name = blãre out. The sound begins with the sound of é in thén and then glides into a schwa - exactly as in thére. Examples are bãre naked = béãr tolerate, animal, pãrent, rãre, vãry, vãrious, Mãry, fãir satisfactory = fãre bus, cãring, péãr fruit = pãir two = pãre cut, flãir able = flãre fire, lãir (some old-fashioned BrE speakers pronounce the normally two-syllabled lâyer like lãir). ã is exactly like é in the suffix -ãrily as in necessãrily and militãrily.
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.