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| − | The letter '''a''' ([[upper case]] '''A''') represents a [[vowel]]. It is used in different ways in English.
| + | *In '''writing''', the letter '''a''' appears in a number of [[digraph]]s. |
| | + | **'''ae''' (see also [[-ae-]]) is a common representation, in British spelling, of the [[Greek]] pair αι ('ai') in such words as παιδ- (paid-) 'child', αἷμα (haima) 'blood' and αἴσθε- (aisthe-) 'perceive', 'feel'. It is to to be seen in such words as '''encyclopaedia''', which [[American English]] spells as '''encyclopedia'''. In such words as 'pedagogue', the spelling with '-ae-' (paedagogue) now seems impossibly archaic, even in British English, although 'paedophile' and 'paediatrician' are usually given thus; in such words as 'anaesthetic', 'aesthete', 'haemoglobin' and 'anaemia', British retains, where American drops, the '-e-' representing the original ι. In word endings, all writers should retain '''-ae''' as the [[plural]] form of [[Latin]] [[noun]]s in '-a', such as |
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| − | *The '''sounds''' it represents are varied. Some of the variation comes between different varieties of spoken English, where, for example, the pronunciation of 'ask' and 'dance' is very different from that in [[RP]], which is itself different from the pronunciations in local British varieties of English such as most northern dialects like [[Geordie]] and Scots. The remarks that follow are based on [[RP]] usage.
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| − | **As a [[short vowel]], it has the sound represented in the [[IPA]] as {{IPA|æ}}. It is to be heard in such words as 'cat', 'man' and ''back'.
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| − | **In polysyllabic words, where '-a-' occurs in an unstressed syllable, it is often reduced to a [[schwa]] ({{IPA|É™}}), as in <nowiki>'</nowiki>'''a'''bout', 'li'''a'''ble','applic'''a'''nt', 'soci'''a'''l' and 'tri'''a'''l'. In some words, like 'vill'''a'''ge', this becomes more of an {{IPA|ɪ}}.
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| − | **The realization of '''A''' as a [[long vowel]] in the pure sense is a clear distinction between 'posh' and 'ordinary' speech, and serves as a [[class marker]]. [[RP]] makes the vowel in such words as 'bath' and 'glass' with {{IPA|É‘Ë}}, where most other varieties use a form of {{IPA|æ ''or'' a}}. This serves to identify speakers of 'the Queen's English' from people who are less privileged in social terms.
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| − | **When peoploe mean the [[diphthong]]al sound by 'the long vowel', they are referring to the sound of the name of the letter in English - 'eh' (
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| | + | : see also [[-a in Latin ]] |
| | + | **'''ai''' |
| | + | **'''au''' '''aw''' |
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| − | *In writing,
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| − | | + | ::'''''[[Etymology|Etymological]] note''''': '''A''', the first letter of the Roman alphabet, descends from the Phoenician symbol for a glottral stop, the sound at the beginning of its name, 'aleph (‘ox’). This letter, a consonant in Phoenician, was adopted by the Greeks as a vowel, A, to which they gave the name alpha. It was later adopted as A first by the Etruscans, then the Romans. |
| − | (2) Long, as in hate, lake, maple, chaos. In many accents of English, this sound is a diphthong, /e/, often in RP with a special value before r, /e/, as in vary, scarce. in avoid, prevalent, viable, vital, relevant, vicar, villa. (5) After /w/ and before /l/, a phonetically long, open value of o, //, as in wall, war, water, quarter, tall; in RP, after w, a short o-sound, //, as in swamp, swastika; likewise in yacht. (6) In any, many, the short e-sound in hen.
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| − | Digraphs and other combinations
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| − | With the value of long a in cases 1–3. (1) a-e, where one or more consonants separate a and e: hate, pale, waste. (2) ai, initially and medially: aid, pail, maintain. The value of short e is often heard in again, against, said. (3) ay, in final positions: day, dismay, relay. The value of short e is often heard in says. (4) au, initially and medially: sauce, author, because, laurel. These have values of o that tend to be accent-dependent: for example, // in RP, and // in AmE, sometimes with length variation. (5) aw, in all positions, but especially finally: awful, drawl, saw (with various values, many comparable to those of au). (6) aa, only in loans, such as: names from Hebrew, with the long-a value in Aaron, Canaan, and schwa in Isaac; from Afrikaans, with the value of phonetically long, open a (aardvark, kraal). (7) ae, in diverse loans, usually with the value of long a: maelstrom, from Dutch; Gael, from Celtic; Ishmael, Israel, from Hebrew. (8) As second element in a digraph (ea, oa), a usually indicates a special value for the first vowel, but is not itself pronounced: long e in east, beat, cheated, long o in oats, boat, soaked, with a glide effect before r in non-rhotic accents, as in fear, boar. (9) In four words, ea has the value of long a: break, great, steak, yea. (10) In many common words, the digraph ea is pronounced as short e: bread, meadow, ready, sweat, zealous. (11) The letter a combines in unusual, sometimes unique ways with other vowel letters in: aisle, aunt, beauty, broad, guinea, laugh, quay. (12) Distinctive values in loanwords are usually preserved: bureau, gauche, gaucho, naive/naïve. For the symbol æ, see DIGRAPH.
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| − | Variations
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| − | (1) In some pairs of derivationally associated words, a has been replaced or has disappeared in unstressed syllables (abstain/abstinence, maintain/maintenance, float/flotation); in others, it alternates with other letters (appearance/apparent, comparative/comparison, message/messenger). (2) There is variation in the endings -ant/ent, -ance/ence, -ancy/ency, producing such forms as assistant, concomitant, consistent, insistent, persistent, resistant. These differences relate to the historical derivation of the words in question: whether they were acquired directly from Latin or through French. If taken straight from Latin, the words derive from the participles of verbs that have either an a-stem (as with concomitant, from concomitans accompanying) or an e-stem (as with consistent, insistent, and persistent, from variations on the base form -sistens standing, setting). If, however, they are taken from French, they derive from participles all of which end in -ant, regardless of verb class (as with assistant and resistant). Sometimes, a distinction in meaning and use arises, as in dependant/dependent, but in
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| − | ambiance/ambience there is no such distinction.
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| − | ::'''''[[Etymology|Etymological]] note''''': A, a [Called ay, rhyming with say]. The 1st LETTER of the Roman ALPHABET as used for English. It descends from the Phoenician symbol for a GLOTTAL STOP, the sound at the beginning of its name, 'aleph (‘ox’). This letter, a consonant in Phoenician, was adopted by the Greeks as a vowel, A, to which they gave the name alpha. It was later adopted as A first by the Etruscans, then the Romans. | + | |
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| − | ::Much of the information on this opage has been taken from [[McArthur]]. | + | ::Much of the information on this page has been taken from [[McArthur]]. |
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| | [[category:phonetics]] | | [[category:phonetics]] |
| | [[category:pronunciation]] | | [[category:pronunciation]] |
| | + | [[category:spelling patterns]] |
| | [[category:snobberies]] | | [[category:snobberies]] |
| | + | [[category:OHEL]] |
