|| Foreign words, naturalised to some extent.
_N.B._—When under one termination other spellings occur,—_e.g._, under IRM, _term_ and _worm_,—the reader should refer to them; _i.e._, ERM and ORM.
There is an uncertainty, and therefore a choice, as to the pronunciation of many words ending in "a." Most are of classical or foreign derivation, and hence may come under A1, or A2; or perhaps even under a third sound, not exactly corresponding with either, as for instance "Julia," which is neither "Juli_ay_" nor "Juli_ah_" exactly. Here are a few:—Angelica, Basilica, sciatica, area, Omega (?), assafœtida, apocrypha, cyclopædia, regalia, paraphernalia, battalia, aurelia, parabola, cupola, nebula, phenomena, ephemera, amphora, plethora, etc.
A1 (as "a," definite article[18]), rhymes AY, EY, EIGH, EH, appliqué and similar French words; but A2 (as in "mamma"), rhymes AH, baa, ha, ah, la, papa, mamma, huzza, psha.
(As in "cab"), bab,§ cab, dab, Mab, gab,§ nab, blab,§ crab, drab,§ scab, stab, shab,§ slab, St Abb. (As in "squab"), see OB.§
Rhymes ACK, zodiac, maniac, demoniac, ammoniac, almanac, symposiac, hypochondriac, aphrodisiac, crack, lac.
Ace, dace, pace, face, lace, mace, race, brace, chace, grace, place, Thrace, space, trace, apace, deface, efface, disgrace, displace, misplace, embrace, grimace, interlace, retrace, populace, carapace, base, case, abase, debase, etc.
(As in "attach"), rhymes ATCH, attach, detach, batch, match, etc. (As in "brach"), rhymes AC, ACK, brach.
(As in "ache"), rhymes EAK, AKE, AQUE. (As in "tache"), rhymes ASH, tache,† patache,† panache.||
Back, brack,† hack, jack, lack, pack, quack, tack, sack, rack, black, clack,§ crack, knack, slack, snack,§ stack, track, wrack, attack, zodiac, demoniac, symposiac, almanac, smack, thwack,§ arrack.
Genethliacs, rhymes AX, ACKS, plural of nouns, or third person singular present of verbs in ACK, AC.
Act, fact, fract,† pact, tract, attract, abstract, extract, compact, contract, subact, co-act, detract, distract, exact, protract, enact, infract, subtract, transact, retract, charact,§ re-act, cataract, counteract, the preterites and participles of verbs in ACK.
(As in "bad"), add, bad, dad,§ gad, fad,§ had, lad, mad, pad, sad, brad, clad, glad, plaid (?), cad,§ chad,† etc. (As in "wad"), rhymes OD, ODD, quad,¶ wad.