Since trying to find out how to say "omicron", I've fallen down a rabbit hole of pronunciation differences. I think I pronounce all these leading "a" sounds differently.
1. all, alternative
2. almond, amen (short a)
3. allowed, amend
4. allegory, apple
5. ale
6. ate, asynchronous
Maybe 5 and 6 are the same, but I don't think so.
Do you pronounce these differently? Are there even more leading "a" sounds?
Ask HN: English speakers, how many ways do you say “a”? | Better HN
Add to that the pronunciation of 'o', "ch" and a lot more. I went into a rabbit hole on the same issue few years ago when I was trying to understand why "ch" in "chord" and "chore" are pronounced differently.
1 and 2 are the same for me (although, I don't say amen often, so I usually try to say it like everyone else which varies). But for 3, it's more of uh-mend or uh-llowed.
Yeah after thinking about it some more I can see the difference. I'm not sure if I would pronounce 3 differently from 1-2 or not though. I think I might pronounce "allowed" the same as 1-2 but "amend" a little like you are suggesting.
