The short open front vowel

The short open front vowel (monophthong) is produced by the front of the tongue being raised slightly toward the hard palate and held in a position somewhat closer than fully open. The lips are spread. The sound is similar to Norwegian and therefore causes no problems to Norwegian speakers. The sound is regularly represented in spelling by the letter "a". Though short in front of fortis consonants, can be considerably lengthened in front of lenis consonants, and is then often as long as any long vowel. Learners of English therefore needs to pay attention to the varieties of the sound. The illustration on the right shows relative tongue position as compared to front vowels.