The letter combination “ae” is not common in English. We know what to do with the “oa” in boat and “who” in paddle and “ea” in sea, but “ae” doesn’t appear much, and in the cases where it does appear, it behaves inconsistently. It says one thing in algaeanother thing in Beautyand there is still another one in conductor. a person to do?
Fear not: your dictionary is here to help you.
At least to the best of our ability.
First a bit of background: the “ae” in these words comes from a Latin diphthong* that linguists believe is pronounced like the English vowel “long i” Mine. However, Latin has been in use for a long time and there is no language that prefers to change. The “i long” sound for “ae” no longer exists. Eventually, this sound merges with the Latin monosyllabic vowel “long e”, which eventually becomes the English vowel in I.
The “e long” sound is the sound we have in some English words of Latin origin spelled with “ae”:
algae (\ˈal-(ˌ)jē\ play )
Caesar (\ˈsē-zər\ play )
aquatic (\ˌa-kwə-ˈvī-tē\ play )
arborvitae (\ˌär-bər-ˈvī-tē\ play )
beard (\an-ˈte-nē\ play ) (Plural in zoology; radio has “antenna.”)
However, that older “i long” also exists in some English words, possibly supported by the study of classical Latin by English speakers. In most cases, it shares territory with the “long e”; Some English words with “ae” have a well-used double pronunciation:
Alumni (\ə-ˈləm-(ˌ)nē\ play or \ə-ˈləm-ˌnī\ )
larval (\ˈlär-(ˌ)vē\ play or \ˈlär-ˌvī\ )
gap (\lə-ˈkyü-(ˌ)nē\ play or \lə -ˈkü-ˌnī\ )
Bacchae (\ˈba-ˌkē\ play or \ˈba-ˌkī\ )
(From conductor (\ˈmī-(ˌ)strō\ play ), the only common English word “ae” pronounced with only a long “i”, as an exception, was adopted from Italian; Its pronunciation in English reflects its Italian pronunciation.)
But most of us have never learned Latin, and English has a lot of other words with “ae” that sound completely different. IN aegis “ae” can be pronounced “e long” or “long a”: \ˈē-jəs\ play or \ˈā-jəs\ . The second option makes sense for English speakers who are used to making long vowels “e”: think of tie And toe—and names ghost And rae. In a few words, like Beauty (\es-ˈthe-tik\ play ), “ae” makes a “short e” sound in the word meet.
What is clear when we learn all this on the page is that “ae” is a confusing little unit for English speakers. It’s not commonly found in everyday English words, which means no one can be blamed for not knowing what to do with it.
Now that you’ve read this article, you’ll know how to check your friendly dictionary in case you’re unsure. And when there’s no time for that, you’ll have a reasonable explanation for your uncertainty.
Some additional diphthong talk: * For non-linguists, to put it simply, a diphthong is a sound made by sliding from one vowel to another. another sound in a syllable. When linguists talk about such sounds, they are talking about the position of pronunciation—that is, the position of the lips, tongue, etc. in the production of the sound. To create a diphthong, the pronunciation position changes during the sound production. We use diphthongs all the time without thinking about it. Compare, for example, the vowels in the word catnot a diphthong, with the vowel in the word cow: to pronounce the following word, most speakers follow the consonant with the vowel in cat quickly glide into the inner vowel whisper. The \a\ to \oo\ slip occurs in a single syllable which is a diphthong. Other common diphthongs in English are the vowels in toy, MineAnd see.
Categories: Usage Notes
Source: vothisaucamau.edu.vn
