Æ sound

Question

Can anybody tell me the difference in the pronunciation of æ and a please.

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

AnonymousCan anybody tell me the difference in the pronunciation of æ and a please.

Click on the audio icons at this link http://www.merriam-webster.com/

after looking up each of the following words.

For æ: pat, tan, sack, nap
For a: car, father, top, clock

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

Thank you but sounds almost the same to me, i can not tell the difference.

Anonymous · Answer

AnonymousThank you but sounds almost the same to me, i can not tell the difference.

For æ: just pull your lips back.
For a: just open your mouth

Anonymous · Answer

CalifJim AnonymousCan anybody tell me the difference in the pronunciation of æ and a please.Click on the audio icons at this link http://www.merriam-webster.com / after looking up each of the following words.For æ: pat, tan, sack, napFor a: car, father, top, clockCJ

That is American pronunciation.

CalifJim · Answer

AnonymousThat is American pronunciation.

I didn't know it was forbidden to illustrate the difference between æ and a with examples from an American dictionary.

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

CalifJim AnonymousThat is American pronunciation.I didn't know it was forbidden to illustrate the difference between æ and a with examples from an American dictionary.CJ

It would benefit people learning English as a foreign language if you make it clear which pronunciation you were discussing. It might be obvious to native speakers but, it is not always so to non native speakers.

CalifJim · Answer

Anonymous CalifJim AnonymousThat is American pronunciation.I didn't know it was forbidden to illustrate the difference between æ and a with examples from an American dictionary.CJIt would benefit people learning English as a foreign language if you make it clear which pronunciation you were discussing. It might be obvious to native speakers but, it is not always so to non native speakers.

I don't think you appreciated the meaning of the puzzle-icon I placed on my previous post.

[æ] and [a] are sounds in the International Phonetic Alphabet. They are fixed sounds. It's quite possible that an illustration in Arabic or French or some other language would do just as well to present these sounds to the original poster (provided the language contains those sounds, of course). Therefore, you can use audio clips from whatever source you want. You can even post your own clips featuring only those sounds, with no words at all. There's nothing in the OP's question that asks for anything but the difference between those sounds, which has nothing to do with how certain words might be pronounced differently in BrE and AmE.

CJ

Æ sound

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions