Meaning of Italian a | Babel Free

Definitions

The speech sound represented by the letter A in the Italian language. The open central unrounded vowel (IPA: [ä]).

Examples

“It will, perhaps, be objected, that the most frequent short sound of a, as heard in cat, rat, mat, carry, marry, parry, is the short sound of the Italian a in father, car, mar, par, and not the short sound of the a in care, mare, and pare;”

“The latter sound, a in all, used to be called the ‘German a’ by older English grammarians, in opposition to the a in father, named the ‘Italian a.’ In point of fact, there is no such sound as this so-called German a in received German pronunciation, all German a’s, whether long or short, being pronounced as Italian a’s, i. e. as ‘pure’ [ā], when long, and [a], when short.”

“The Italian a, numbered 2, is going through a transition in American speech. In British speech it is fixed as a broad sound; the use of a as in father being much more common in England than in America. Italian a as in last, past, fast, grass in this country is hardly heard west of the Hudson.”

CEFR level