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Anonymous Posted 10 years ago
Speech & Pronunciation

Words that start with letter 'A'

Some words that begin with letter 'A' like apple and animal are pronounced with [æ] and some words like away and awake are pronounced with schwa [?] Are ther any rules please?
  

Top answer

Anonymous Are ther any rules please? Not really. There is often no logic when it comes to pronunciation, in English and (I suspect) in many other languages.

— Xerxes

  • Anonymous Are ther any rules please?
  • Not really.
  • There is often no logic when it comes to pronunciation, in English and (I suspect) in many other languages.
  • My suggestion would be to listen to other native speakers pronounce words and try to memorize them.
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5 Answers
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AnonymousAre ther any rules please?
Not really. There is often no logic when it comes to pronunciation, in English and (I suspect) in many other languages. My suggestion would be to listen to other native speakers pronounce words and try to memorize them.
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AnonymousAre there any rules please?
The only rule that applies in the cases you mention is that initial "a" pronounced as a schwa is unstressed.

announce, apply, ago, asleep, avow

If the first syllable is stressed, "a" can't be a schwa, but it doesn't have to be [æ].

apple, Allen, all, a
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CalifJimIf the first syllable is stressed, "a" can't be a schwa, but it doesn't have to be [æ].
What do you mean by it does not have to [æ] please?
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It can be another vowel/diphthong, as in aviation, also.
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AnonymousWhat do you mean by it does not have to be [æ] please?
The letter "a" when in a stressed syllable at the beginning of a word can have any one of several pronunciations. [æ] is only one of these. I provided you with examples. The initial "a" is pronounced [æ] in some of them, but not in all of them.

CJ
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