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𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮ᴀ lexical set
The 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮ᴀ lexical set is a vowel set as defined by John Wells in his 1982 book Accents of English.
Definition[edit | edit source]
Wells originally defined the set as follows:
- catalpa, quota, vodka, am(o)eba, panda, saga,
- sofa, saliva, Bertha, balsa, visa, acacia,
- dementia, neuralgia, drama, arena, opera,
- Cinderella, phobia,…
Pronunciation[edit | edit source]
This vowel is pronounced with the 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮ᴀ vowel, which varies between accents somewhat, but tends to be a schwa sound. Some African accents will pronounce it with the ᴛʀᴀᴘ vowel.
The rhotic equivalent of this is the 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵ᴇʀ lexical set, so non‑rhotic accents have a 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮ᴀ–𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵ᴇʀ merger.
Spelling[edit | edit source]
Spelling of this tends to be a final ⟨a⟩, in an unstressed syllable.
In some names, it can also be spelt ⟨ah⟩, e.g. Hannah, Rebekah, though Wells didn’t include any of them.
For the sake of completeness, let’s add a table like we have for the other sets:
| Phonogram | Words | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| ⟨a⟩ | catalpa, quota, vodka, am(o)eba, panda, saga, sofa, saliva, Bertha, balsa, visa, acacia, dementia, neuralgia, drama, arena, opera, Cinderella, phobia, | The only spelling. |
