Pronounce English Accurately

Video Text

Vowels 3 and 4: short /e/ versus short /æ/

Next are /e/, the vowel in 'bed', number 3 and /æ/, the vowel in 'hat', number 4.

/e/ is made with the front of the tongue at mid height, lower than for /ɪ/, but also with the blade of the tongue at the front of the vowel space. The mouth is half-closed and the lips are either neutral or slightly spread.

/æ/ is made with the mouth really wide open - as wide as it can go without hurting the jaws! - and the tongue is very low.

But the blade of the tongue is still the highest point, not the back of it.

Both sounds are short.

Here are the two vowel sounds contrasted on their own. Watch my mouth:

/e - æ - e - æ - e - æ/

The archetypal spelling of /e/ is the letter 'e', as in 'bed' and 'red' and 'Fred'.

The archetypal spelling of /æ/ is the letter 'a', as in 'bad' and 'sad' and 'fad'.

Examples of /e/:

Spelt with 'e' plus a final consonant: 'leg, bet'

With 'e' plus double consonant letters: 'berry, kettle, egg, went'

A short 'e' even though there's only one consonant following: 'editor'

The spelling 'ea' is surprisingly common: 'dead, death, breath, wealth, lead' (the metal), and 'read' (the past tense of the verb “to read”).

As far as I am aware, there is only one word spelt 'ie' and pronounced /e/: 'friend'

Anomalously spelt with 'a': 'any, many' and 'ate'. The past tense of 'to eat', 'ate', can be pronounced either /et/ or as it's spelt, /eɪt/.

Spelt 'ai' in 'said' /sed/ and 'ay' in 'says' /sez/. The pronunciation /seɪd/ and /seɪz/ exists but is non-standard and should be avoided.

An anomalous spelling is the 'u' in 'bury', which is homophonous with 'berry': /ˈber.i/, and 'burial' /ˈber.iəl/.

The 'ei' in 'leisure': /ˈleʒ.ə/ and the 'ea' in 'pleasure' and 'measure'.

Examples of /æ/:

Spelt with 'a' plus a final consonant: 'hat, rat, mat, cat'.

Spelt with 'a' plus double consonant letters: 'cattle, marry, hand'.

We would expect the letter 'a' plus one consonant plus 'e' to be pronounced /eɪ/, as in 'name' and 'tape', but in the word 'have' it is /æ/.

An unusual spelling/pronunciation combination is the 'ai' in 'plait' (to plait hair, hair in plaits). This is never pronounced /pleɪt/ in standard British English, always /plæt/, but in American English it can be either /plæt/ or /pleɪt/.

The /e - æ/ distinction is vital as it makes contrast between many words:

bed - bad

beg - bag

head - had

leg - lag

said - sad

kettle - cattle

pet - pat

men - man

vet - vat

Practice sentences:

/e/:

I met Emma yesterday; she sat on the very edge of the bench.

Could I get an extension on Wednesday's deadline?

/æ/:

The manager managed to map the entire disk of the Apple Mac.

Actually, matters of this magnitude should never be handled by raggedy tramps.