Regional variation

How /æ/ varies across English

Different English accents pronounce this vowel differently. Knowing the variation helps you understand speakers from other regions, even if you only practice producing one accent yourself.

Where it varies around the world

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Quick reference

• australian: /æ/ — Similar to GenAm for TRAP, but BATH words take /aː/: 'dance' → [daːns].
• british_rp: /a/ — More open; TRAP-BATH split means 'bath, class, dance' use /ɑː/ instead.
• californian: /ɛə/ — Pre-nasal raising: 'man, hand' → [mɛən, hɛənd].
• irish: /a/ — More central/open, closer to [a].
• new_york: /eə/ — Short-a tensing: 'bad, man' → [beəd, meən] (not in 'bat, mat').

Interactive comparison

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Try the same word in different accents

The word cat /kæt/ sounds different depending on where the speaker is from. Use the analyzer below to hear it in your target accent, then switch the accent setting in the analyzer to explore alternatives.

Try this sentence in the analyzer
“cat”
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/æ/near-open frontArticulator diagram · regional variants · drill ↗