How to pronounce the Short A sound /æ/
/æ/ is a short vowel made with the tongue front, low. Drop your jaw further than for the 'bed' vowel. Keep the tongue forward and low, spreading the lips flat.
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How to make it
- 1Drop your jaw further than for the 'bed' vowel.
- 2Keep the tongue forward and low, spreading the lips flat.
- 3Turn the voice on: the sound is bright and a little harsh.
- 4Hold it a touch longer than a short vowel usually lasts — English 'cat' is quite drawn out.
- Lips
- Spread wide and flat.
- Tongue
- Front and low — the lowest of the front vowels.
- Jaw
- Dropped noticeably; you can fit a finger between your teeth.
Feel it
Put a hand flat on your throat and say the sound. It should buzz under your fingers from the very start — if the buzz only arrives with the vowel, you are making the voiceless version.Where the sound appears
Keeping it through a whole line
The man had a black cat and a bad hat.
Ask Sam to pass the jam and the apple.
Minimal pairs to drill
Each of these is two words separated by exactly one sound. If a listener hears the wrong one, the problem is the contrast, not the effort.
If your first language is…
Nothing here is about ability. Every one of these is a sound system doing exactly what it was built to do, applied to a language that asks for something else.
- HindiUrdu
Hindi and Urdu have a long a close to 'father', so English 'cat' is often produced further back and darker.
- Mandarin
Mandarin a shifts with the sounds around it but never reaches the English 'cat' quality, so the jaw usually needs to drop further.
- Japanese
Japanese has a single a, so 'cat', 'cut' and 'cot' are all produced with it.
- Korean
Korean has no front low vowel distinct from its mid one, so 'bad' and 'bed' merge.
- Vietnamese
Vietnamese has a short and a long a, both further back than English 'cat', so the tongue needs to move forward.
- Thai
Thai a is central, so English 'hat' and 'hut' tend to merge.
- Spanish
Spanish a sits between the English 'cat' and 'father' vowels, so 'cat' and 'cut' and even 'cart' can all land on one sound.
- French
French a is further back than English 'cat', so 'hand' can sound like 'hond'.
- Italian
Italian has a single a, so 'bad', 'bud' and 'bard' converge on it.
- Russian
Russian a is central, so 'cat' drifts toward 'cut' unless the tongue is pushed forward.
- Arabic
Arabic a has a front and a back variant depending on the consonants around it, so the English 'cat' vowel is available in the front setting but hard to control.
- Turkish
Turkish has both a front e and a back a but nothing between them, so English 'cat' falls between two chairs.
Straight answers
Is /æ/ voiced or voiceless?
It is voiced. Put a hand on your throat and say it: you should feel a buzz the whole time. All English vowels are voiced, so the question only really separates the consonants.
What words start with the Short A sound?
Common ones include apple, and, after. In the middle of a word you get cat, hand, bank. Every one of those links to its own pronunciation page here.
How is /æ/ spelled in English?
It is written "a", "ai", "au". English spelling and English sound came apart centuries ago, so the same sound turns up under several spellings and the same spelling carries several sounds — which is why the sound, not the letter, is the thing to learn.
Why do Hindi & Urdu speakers find /æ/ hard?
Hindi and Urdu have a long a close to 'father', so English 'cat' is often produced further back and darker.
Record the Short A sound and see if it landed
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