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Long "A" sound

 

Is a phonetic symbol that corresponds to the vowel sound in words like "face", "cake" and "play". 

 

This diphthong is informally called “long a” or the long sound of the letter a.

 

 

 

Only verbs using the -ate suffix are pronounced with a long a sound.

examples:

 

to celebrate
to decorate
to evaluate

 

otherwise the short i "ɪ" pronunciation is more common as in the words delicate and unfortunate (adjectives).

 

Match the verbs with the right image and use the long a pronunciation for those words.

 

 

 

hesitate,syndicate, investigate, circulate, bicarbonate, locate, migrate, operate, refrigerate, quadrate,calculate, educate.

 

 

 

The sound eɪ as in Ray and as in train

 

 

The sound [ei] as in Ray and as in train.

 

When the letter "a" is  followed by "i" or "y" it is pronounced ei as in the sound of the phoneme eɪ.

Examples:

 

rain, main, aim, brain, drain, train, stain, remain, explain, complain, fail, mail, sail, rail, raise, raid, afraid, wait, straight, faint, paint. with the letter "i"

 

ray, gray, play, lay, day, may, say, way, pray, stay, stray, delay, saying, staying, playing, laying, praying, delaying, betrayal, portrayal, layer, player.

 with the letter "y"

 

There is a lots of AI words in english, make sure you pronounce them as in the examples above:

 

Abstain, acquaint, aid, aide, ail,ailment, aim, aimless, appertain, appraisal, arraign, ascertain, assail, assailant, attain, avail, available, await, bail, bailiff

bailiwick, bait, bobtail, bouillabaisse, braid, brain, braise, braille, caisson, caitiff, campaign, chain, chaise, chatelaine, chilblain, claim, cocaine, complain, complaisant, constrain, constraint, contain, contrail, curtail, daily, dainty, daisy, declaim, derail, detail, detain, disclaimer, disdain, domain, drain, entail, entertain, entrails, exclaim, explain, fail, failure, fain, faint, faith, flail, frail, frailty, gaiety, gain,  gait, grain, hail, ingrain, jail, lackadaisical, laid, lain, legerdemain, plaintiff,  plaintive, praise, prevail, proclaim, ptomaine,

quail, quaint, quatrain, raid, rail, raiment, rain, rainbow, raise, raisin, reclaim, refrain, regain, remain, restrain, retain, retail, sail, saint, slain, snail, sprain, staid, stain, straight, strain, strait, sustain, swain, tail, tailor, taint, terrain, trail, train, traipse, trait, traitor, travail, twain, upbraid, vain, waif, wail, wain, wainscot, waist, waive, wassail, wraith, Craig, Elaine, Gail, Haiti, Jamaica, Kuwait, Maine, Spain.

 

There is a lots of AY words in english, make sure you pronounce them as in the examples above:

 

affray, airway, allay, always, anyway, array, ashtray,

away, bay, bayonet, bays, belay, betray, betrayal,

birthday, bray, bricklayer, byplay, byway, caraway, castaway, chambray, clay, crayon, crayfish, crossways, cutawayday, daydream, daylight, decay, defray disarray, dismay, display, doomsday, essay, everyday, expressway, fairway, faraway, fay, flay, foray, fray, freeway, gainsay, gangway, gay, gray,  halfway, hallway, hay, hayloft, headway, hearsay, heyday, highwayman, holiday, hooray, horseplay, inlay, interplay,jay, jaywalk, lay, layer, layette, layman, layoff, layover, layperson, leeway, main, stay, may maybe, mayfly,mayflower, mayhem, mayonnaise, mayor maypole, mislay, moray, nay, nosegay, nowadays, okay, outlay, overlay, overpay, parkway, parlay, pathway, pay, payment, payoff, play, playful, playground, playhouse, playpen, playwright, portray, pray, prayer, quay, ray, rayon, relay, replay, roundelay, say, slay, soothsay, spay, splay, spray, stay, stowaway, stray, subway, sway, today, tray, underway, unsay, way, wayfarer, waylaid, waylay, wayside, wayward, yesterday, Bombay, Dayton, Dwayne, Himalaya, Malaysia, Malay, Norway, Paraguay, Taylor, Uruguay, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pronounce the letter "a" as in AI and AY words also when words are finished on silen "e"

 

Examples:

make, take, place, same, name, came, late, date, page, state, face, waves, gave, Became, space, plane, based, game, shape, race, age, scale, case, phrase, lake, save, safe, trade, lane, escape, wage, grade, blockade, decade, concave, membrane, hibernate, earthquake, hurricane, Crusades, phase, cape, centigrade. 

 

A silent letter e at the end of a word often signals a specific pronunciation of the preceding vowel letter, as in the difference between "rid" /ˈrɪd/ and "ride" /ˈraɪd/.

more examples:

 

can------cane

pan------pane

slat-------slate

plan-------plane

tam-------tame

fat-------fate

van------vane

mat------mate

fad------fade

sham-----shame

rat-------rate

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nouns using the -ation suffix are pronounced with a long a sound.

examples:

  • Aviation

  • Citation

  • Creation

  • Donation

  • Dotation

  • Duration

  • Equation

  • Fixation

  • Ideation

  • Iodation

  • Lavation

  • Laxation

  • Legation

  • Lobation

  • Location

  • Lunation

  • Luxation

  • Mutation

  • Natation

  • Negation

  • Notation

  • Relation

  • Rotation

  • Solation

  • Sudation

  • Taxation

  • Vacation

  • Vocation

  • Oration

  • Ovation

  • Station

Full Definition of -ATION

 

  • An action or process - e.g. hibernation.

  • The result of an action or process - e.g. accumulation.

  • A state or quality - e.g. exhilaration.

 

 

 

 

Open Syllables:

An open syllable has one and only one vowel, and that vowel occurs at the end of the syllable.

 

In an open syllable, nothing comes after the vowel.

 

For other examples, look at the first syllables in these words:

 

ba by                cap tion

pa per              back pack
a ble                
ab sent

 

Words in which open syllables have the letter "a" on it, are pronounced with the long vowel sound of letter "a" [ei].

 

paper, table, baby, major, radius, lady, April, Cable, fatal, label, data, tomato, potato, bakery, apron, hazy, vacation, basic, basis, maple, staple, ladle, shaken, shaky, taken, forsaken, raven, gracious, spacious, patient, navel, capable, bagel, elevator, operator, Asia, refrigerator, basin, slavery, evaporation, ratio, aphid, fracas, fragrant ,Mediterranean, qualitative, blamable, innovative, biodegradable, debatable, inflatable, inescapable, acre.

 

 

 

 

 

Open Syllables:
Nouns using the -ation suffix are pronounced with
Pronounce the letter "a" as in AI and AY w
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