Italian a

Noun

Italian a (plural Italian a's)

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