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):

A list of irregular a’s: spelling pronunciation again *əgén against *əgénst any *énny au pãir *ô pãir (ã stressed) 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) first 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.

See also

• Letter (alphabet)
• Alphabet
• Writing system
• Orthography
• Written language
• Writing