Pronuciations of word "A"

[TaiwanPofLee]

The word "A" has two diffenernt pronuciations, namely, (1) [ə]as "a" in "about" and (2) [eɪ] as "a" in "age". Please tell me the standard pronuciations of the following a's. Thanks.

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
A dog is faithful.
"A" is a vowel letter. (two a's)
Birds of a feather flock together.
He works seven days a week.
He earns seventy dollars a day.
I had a dream last night.
I see a man on the beach.
It's a quarter past ten.
More than a hundred people attended the meeting.
Rome was not built in a day.
There is a picture on the wall.

 

[bhaisahab]

As "a" in "about" except the first one in "A" is a vowel letter.

 

[emsr2d2]

In the majority of cases, most of us pronounce the word "a" the same way as the "a" in "about". When we recite the alphabet, the letter "a" is pronounced as it is in "age".

 

[Rover_KE]

By an amazing coincidence, I was reading this thread while listening to Desert Island Discs (a BBC radio programme).

This guy used a long 'a' to give himself a couple of seconds to choose his next word:

'We can think of ourselves as a.... family'. On reflection, this is quite common, and is less irritating than the annoying 'er' that people use when they are wondering what to say next.

Additionally, you'll hear a long 'a' when we're emphasising the contrast between definite and indefinite articles:

A: 'His arrogance is the reason for his unpopularity'.

B: 'No — his arrogance is a reason for his unpopularity' (there are other reasons for it).

 

[MikeNewYork]

You bring up two good examples in which the pronunciation changes according to circumstance. The same thing happens with the pronunciation of the definite article. I believe it is more common to hear "thuh", but "thee" is used at times. Some of it is just individual preference.

 

[MikeNewYork]

It is common in AmE also.

 

[TaiwanPofLee]

By an amazing coincidence, I was reading this thread while listening to Desert Island Discs (a BBC radio programme).

This guy used a long 'a' to give himself a couple of seconds to choose his next word:

'We can think of ourselves as a.... family'. On reflection, this is quite common, and is less irritating than the annoying 'er' that people use when they are wondering what to say next.

Additionally, you'll hear a long 'a' when we're emphasising the contrast between definite and indefinite articles:

A: 'His arrogance is the reason for his unpopularity'.

B: 'No — his arrogance is a reason for his unpopularity' (there are other reasons for it).

I suppose dialogist B stressed the word "a" and meant one.
I learned from my English teacher and textbook there are several cases where word "A" is stressed, having the sound [eɪ] as "a" in "age".