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æ

The IPA æ sound is very common in English - there are thousands of words with this short a sound.
There is also a slightly longer æː sound in bad, bag, mad and sad.
English spelling also has a long ay sound, which is the IPA sound in day and face.

 

Words with an ordinary æ sound

"The cat sat on the mat"
and, apple, caravan, catch, dad, happy, garage, manager, map, landmark, pasta, taxi, bank, cash, value,
alphabet, attitude, academic, family, fantastic, laboratory, mathematics, national, panic, rabbit

 

Words with a longer æ sound

Bad, bag, glad, mad and sad are often longer than other words with æ.
It's possible to spell them æː by adding the IPA ː symbol. The ː symbol means "long vowel sound".
Many linguists say these words are longer only in southern England and Australia, but I hear the long form in America and Canada too. Maybe it's because we often use bad, mad and sad for emphasis.

Compare these pairs and phrases:

  • bad, lad. "John's son is a bad lad."
  • bag, mag, magazine. "I have the latest New Scientist mag in my bag."
  • mad, fad. "A diet of only eggs and apples is a mad fad."
  • sad, dad. "We lost the World Cup. My dad's sad about that."
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