/a/ and /æ/

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GoesStation

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Different dictionaries use different pronunciation systems. They also don't necessarily agree about the pronunciation of every word.
 

diamondcutter

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Thanks, GoesStation.

To my ears, the British and Americans pronoun ‘cat’, ‘apple’, ‘black’ etc. differently. Do you think so?
 

emsr2d2

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To my ears, the British and Americans pronoun ‘cat’, ‘apple’, ‘black’ etc. differently. Do you think so?

In general, yes, but don't forget that there are a lot of different accents within both countries so there's bound to be some overlap somewhere. Certainly, someone in New York pronounces those three words differently from me.
 

jutfrank

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In those dictionaries, both symbols /a/ and /æ/ stand for the same sound, yes. They are not showing two different ways of pronouncing the word, if that's what you're wondering.
 
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