⟨al⟩

⟨al⟩ is a vowel digraph that occurs in English, consisting of the letters A and L.

This occurs in words mentioned in the table below:

Phoneme(s)	Example words	Notes
/ɔːl/	also, albeit, already, altogether, always alderman, bald, halt, salt (also can be /ɒl/).	Those beginning with the prefix related to all. Syllable ends in /d/ or /t/.
/ɔː(l)/	chalk, stalk, talk, walk	Syllable ends with /k/. Have /l/ very reduced, often to nothing.
/ɒl/	alderman bald, halt, salt squalid, quality, qualify, Walter	Alternative to /ɔːl/ as above. Due to vowel mutation after /w/
/æl/	Alabama, album, alcohol, Algeria, alkali, alphabet, Balmoral, calculate, malaria, palpable, Ralph (modern pronunciation), plus almond (more modern pronunciation)	Stressed. Also include words from Arabic.
/əl/	alarm. Alaska, alert, alive, alone, along, emerald, herald, Donald, Ronald, McDonald, etc.	Unstressed.
/ɑ:/	alms, almond (traditional pronunciation), balm, calm, napalm, palm, psalm, qualms	Continues with /m/ — except salmon.
/ɑ:l/	finale, tamale	Derived from French/Spanish
/æ/	salmon
/eɪ/	Ralph (traditional pronunciation)

There is also related trigraphs ⟨all⟩, and ⟨aul⟩.