This section is from the book "The Manual of Phonography", by Benn Pitman And Jerome B. Howard. Also available from Amazon: The Manual of Phonography.
Words Containing Medial A.
Careful speakers make a clear distinction between the a in ask, mica, avow, etc., and the vowel in alms, far, guard on the one hand, and the vowel in am, fat, gad on the other. This medial sound of a may be distinctly represented by sign number 9 in Appendix C, but in practical writing it should be written with either the light or heavy third-place dot, according to the preference of the writer-some approaching in their own speech more nearly to one and some to the other. The usual pronunciation of most speakers undoubtedly more nearly resembles the sound of the third-place light dot and that sign is accordingly used in printed phonography.
Use the third-place light dot: Ago, aback, taboo, agap, aloof, appall, abate, ability, mamma, toga, Ithaca, Java, comma, Elba, papa, Judah, Panama, malady.
Abash, abet, agape, agog, Agatha, ahead, Aleppo, along, Alva, among, anatomy, apathy, Apollo, apology, apeak, avail, awake, awoke, away, bigamy, botany, canoe, cockatoo, Dana, data, demagogue, demagogy, efficacy, fatigue, inca, Jaffa, Jonah, lava, Mecca, Mocha, manna, Malta, Numa, omega, Skeba, votary.
 
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