the diphthong /eɪ/ as in ace and main, usually when ⟨a⟩ is accompanied by 1, or often two, consonants and after that another vowel letter—this final results from Middle English lengthening followed by The nice Vowel ChangeWhile in the International Phonetic Alphabet, ⟨a⟩ is useful for the open entrance unrounded vowel, ⟨ä⟩ is utiliz