#and /ɑ/ (rp 'father')

[formicarum-rex]

reading an explanation of the cyrillic alphabet (as used in russian) and it's saying that а is pronounced "a as in father" and stressed о is pronounced "o as in bottle" and its times like these im thankful for ipa

[yeli-renrong]

Continuing with the strange case of the 1892 dictionary...

Unstressed <a> is /ȧ/ in open syllables and /ă/ in closed ones. Occasionally a geminate is inserted into the transcription to close the syllable: ăl-lĕj' "allege".

Words with <ȧ>:

ȧ-bȧft' "abaft"

ȧ-bŏl'ĭsh "abolish"

ȧft'ẽr "after"

ăl'gȧ "alga"

ȧ-mȧs' "amass"

ȧnt "ant"

ȧnt'ēt"ẽr "anteater"

ȧsk "ask"

ȧsp "asp"

ȧs "ass"

ȧ-slȧnt' "aslant"

ȧ-vȧst' "avast"

ȧ-va̤nt' or -vänt' "avant"

bȧsk “bask”

bȧs’kĕt “basket”

bȧss “bass (fish)” and “bass (linden, lime tree)”

bȧth “bath (place for bathing)”

kȧsh “cache”

kȧ”fā̇’ “cafe”

chȧnt “chant”

kȧnt “can’t”

kȧsk “cask” and “casque”

kȧst “cast” and “caste”

dȧks’hụnt “dachshund” (“facsimile” has <ă>, but no stress)

dȧft “daft”

dȧns “dance”

fȧst “fast”

fȧs’ʼn “fasten”

gȧsp “gasp”

hȧsp “hasp”

lȧns “lance”

lȧnch “lanch”

lȧs “lass”

lȧst “last”

mȧsk “mask” and “masque”

mȧs “mass” (all senses)

mȧst “mast”

mȧs’tẽr “master”

mȧs’tĭf “mastiff”

Words with <ă>:

ăb"ō̇-lĭsh'ŭn "abolition"

ăl'gȧ "alga" 

ăl'kō̇r-ăn ~ ăl"kō̇r-än "Al-Koran"

ăm "am"

ăn'sẽr "answer"

ăn-tēk' "antique"

ănt'lẽr "antler"

ăr'ăb "Arab"

ăr"ĭs-tŏk'rȧ-sy̆ "aristocracy"

ȧ-rĭs'tō̇-krăt / ăr'ĭs-tō̇- "aristocrat"

ăs'pĕn "aspen"

băs-sōōn’ “bassoon”

băs'tĭ-nād “bastinade”

băth “bath (a Hebrew measure)”

kăsh’ȧ-lŏt “cachalot”

kănt “cant”

kăs-kād “cascade”

kăsh “cash”

kăs-tēl’ “castile”

dăf’fō̇-dĭl “daffodil”

dăsh “dash”

făs-tĭd’ĭ-ŭs “fastidious”

găs “gas”

găsh “gash”

hăst “hast (< have)”

lăsh “lash”

lăs’sō̇ “lasso” (also “lassitude”)

lăch “latch”

măns “manse”

măs’kẽr-ād “masquerade”

măs’sȧ.kẽr “massacre”

măs’tĭk “mastic”

măs’tō̇-dŏn “mastodon”

Odd pairs:

ȧ-bŏl'ĭsh "abolish" ~ ăb"ō̇-lĭsh'ŭn "abolition"

ȧnt "ant" ~ ăn-tēk' "antique", ănt'lẽr "antler"

ȧ-rĭs'tō̇-krăt / ăr'ĭs-tō̇- "aristocrat" ~ ăr"ĭs-tŏk'rȧ-sy̆ "aristocracy" 

ȧ-rā'bĭ-ɑn "Arabian" ~ ăr'ăb "Arab"

ȧs "ass" ~ ăs'pĕn "aspen"

bȧss “bass (fish)” ~ băs-sōōn’ “bassoon” 

bȧth “bath (place for bathing)” ~ băth “bath (a Hebrew measure)” (and “mathematic”)

kȧsh “cache” ~ kăsh’ȧ-lŏt “cachalot”, most words with -ash- (dash, gash, mash)

kȧnt “can’t” ~ kănt “cant” (all other words with cant- have <ă>)

kȧsk “cask” and “casque” ~ kăs-kād “cascade”, kăsh “cash”

kȧst “cast” and “caste” ~ kăs-tēl’ “castile” (also <ă> in “castanet”, “castellan”, “castigate”, “castle”, “castor”, and “castrel”; but <ȧ> in “castaway”)

dȧft “daft” ~ dăf’fō̇-dĭl “daffodil”

fȧst “fast” ~ făs-tĭd’ĭ-ŭs “fastidious”

ȧs "ass", gȧsp “gasp” ~ găs “gas”  

lȧns “lance” ~ măns “manse”

lȧs “lass” ~ lăs’sō̇ “lasso”

mȧsk “mask” and “masque” ~ măs’kẽr-ād “masquerade”

mȧs “mass” (all senses) ~ măs’sȧ.kẽr “massacre”

mȧs’tĭf “mastiff” (and “mast”, “master”) ~ măst’ĭk “mastic” (and “masticate”, “mastodon”)

And unusual pronunciations that aren’t related to anything:

äṉk'shŭs "anxious" 

kăb’bā̇j “cabbage” (also in “damage”)

käf “calf”, häf “half”

kȧ-nīn’ “canine”  

kāp’n / kāpŭn “capon”

kăn’tō̇ “canto”, pl. -tōz

What’s going on here? Does this match up with TRAP-BATH? Wiktionary says ‘ant’ and ‘avast’ didn’t shift in RP and still have /æ/.

Unless <ȧ> is a cover symbol (and isn’t mentioned anywhere to be one), the only hypothesis I can come up with is that American English at one point underwent something very similar to the TRAP-BATH split, but didn’t merge the resulting vowel into PALM <ä>. (‘Palm’ and ‘father’ are two example words given for <ä>. ‘Father’ seems to have <ă> in the actual entry, but they might just have used too much ink.)

The overdot isn’t used for any other vowel, except for macron + overdot to mark unstressed (reduced?) long vowels.

Maybe BATH merged into schwa instead? There’s no a-based symbol for schwa, and all the other a-based vowel letters are easily accounted for:

ā - /e:/

ā̇ - unstressed/reduced /e:/

â - /e:r/

ă - /æ/

ä - /ɑː/

ɑ - silent vowel before syllabic /m n l r/? (but dăm’ɑsk “damask”)

a̤ - /ɔː/