LoginHow to Pronounce the /æ/ Sound
In this lesson, we are going to learn how the sound /æ/ is produced by looking at the articulatory organs.
What Type of Sound Is /æ/?
/æ/ is between /ɑ/ and /ɛ/ sounds.
How to Produce /æ/?
To pronounce it, as you see in the picture, open your mouth a bit as if you are smiling and keep your lips unrounded. Produce the short /æ/ sound with your mouth open. Note that our mouths are not as wide as when want to pronounce the /ɑ/ sound and the lips are more stretched than when we are producing the sound /e/.
Which Letters are Pronounced as /æ/?
The sound /æ/ is represented by the following letters:
a:
can /kæn/
as /æz/
ant /ænt/
plan /plæn/
crab /kɹæb/
/æ/ Around the World
As you see in the table below, most of the common languages around the world do not have this sound; therefore you will a little practice to produce this sound.
Existence | Example | |
|---|---|---|
Mandarin | x | - |
Spanish | x | - |
Hindi | x | - |
Bengali | ✔ | ত্যাগ |
Portuguese | x | - |
Russian* | ✔ | пять |
Japanese | x | - |
Vietnamese | x | - |
Turkish | ✔ | erkek |
French | x | - |
German | x | - |
Italian | x | - |
Persian | ✔ | نَه |
Standard Arabic | ✔ | فَعَلَ |
Korean | x | - |
Indonesian | x | - |
Filipino | x | - |
Hungarian | x | - |
Dutch | x | - |
Polish | x | - |
Romanian | x | - |
Swedish | ✔ | värk |
Czech | x | - |
Greek | x | - |
Ukrainian | x | - |
Urdu | x | - |
* It is not a distinct sound, it is rather an approximate one.
Listening
Let us listen to the pronunciation of the /æ/ sound which has been mentioned below:
Down below, there are two other sounds similar to the /æ/ sound. At first, listen to the /e/ sound and then listen to the /ɑ/ sound:
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