How can i pronounce letter 'a' correctly?

Question

I've read different questions about pronouncing 'a' like this : Sounds of the letter a

In my native tongue-Arabic- there are 3 degrees of pronouncing 'a'

My confusion is in 2 things:

The symbols used in answers like æ, ə, etc. are difficult to me (please guide me how to understand them)
Can you tell me when specifically should I use each one of these three degrees?

Those pronunciation symbols are part of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). Please do your research. — Nihilist_Frost, Commented Jan 11, 2016 at 12:40
@Nihilist_Frost The international IPA symbols and the ones used specifically for English have different values. They represent different types of sounds. Also the Original Poster is asking about sound/spelling correspondence - which isn't covered by the IPA, or even by most coursebooks. So I think it's a fair question. — Araucaria - Not here any more., Commented Jan 11, 2016 at 13:07
@Araucaria This is why I didn't file a close vote. I was seeing how he has problems understanding those symbols. — Nihilist_Frost, Commented Jan 11, 2016 at 13:34
Long: the -ey in "They". Short: the -a in "hat/cat/bat/rat/chat..." — lurker, Commented Jan 11, 2016 at 23:22
@lurker That is only basic building blocks. Get "Amelia", "usage", "a", and "martial" and you'll have a problem. — Nihilist_Frost, Commented Jan 11, 2016 at 23:41

Nihilist_Frost · Accepted Answer · 2016-01-11 13:54:16Z

There is no consistent rule. English spelling is a harsh mistress. You'll have to pick up each case separately.

To demonstrate:

a, cat, Mars, able, usage,

have respectively /ə, æ, ɑ, eɪ, ɪ/.

Dictionaries to look up IPA pronunciations in may help you.

For the symbols:

The IPA symbols are a bit different between English and others. Most notably in their R sounds, T's, and sometimes vowels too.

For IPA transcriptions, try Dictionary.com, Macmillan Dictionary, Cambridge Dictionaries Online, Wiktionary, ...

Also, Dictionary.com transcribes /j/ (the Y consonant) as /y/ (a vowel sound that doesn't exist in English) for some reason.

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