Italian a

plural Italian a's

1. human sciencesThe speech sound represented by the letter A in the Italian language. The open central unrounded vowel (IPA: [ä]).

   It will, perhaps, be objected, that the most frequent short sound of a, as heard in cat, rat, mat, carry, marry, parry, is the short sound of the Italian a in father, car, mar, par, and not the short sound of the a in care, mare, and pare;

   1791, John Walker, A Critical Pronouncing Dictionary and Expositor of the English Language, London: G. G. J. and J. Robinson, page 9

   2 more examples

   The latter sound, a in all, used to be called the ‘German a’ by older English grammarians, in opposition to the a in father, named the ‘Italian a.’ In point of fact, there is no such sound as this so-called German a in received German pronunciation, all German a’s, whether long or short, being pronounced as Italian a’s, i. e. as ‘pure’ [ā], when long, and [a], when short.

   1885, Wilhelm Viëtor, German Pronunciation: Practice and Theory, Heilbronn: Henninger Bros., page 22

   The Italian a, numbered 2, is going through a transition in American speech. In British speech it is fixed as a broad sound; the use of a as in father being much more common in England than in America. Italian a as in last, past, fast, grass in this country is hardly heard west of the Hudson.

   1920, Charles Henry Woolbert, The Fundamentals of Speech: A Behavioristic Study of the Underlying Principles of Speaking and Reading, New York and London: Harper & Brothers, page 293