The common words are said, again, and against.
The word said is always a short E sound. In some pronunciations, certain and captain do, but they can also have a short I sound for the AI. Other AI words with the short E sound are again and against.
The best known are the words again and against (uh-gen,uh-genst), and the word said (sed). The word "says" also has a short E sound (sez).
The AI pair in tail has a long A vowel sound, to sound like tale.
maintain explain train brain drain main pain rain vain
raid said laid maid paid
The word said is always a short E sound. In some pronunciations, certain and captain do, but they can also have a short I sound for the AI. Other AI words with the short E sound are again and against.
Some examples of words with a short "a" sound spelled with "ai" are "lain," "paid," "said," and "wail."
The AI words include again and against. Some other words may be pronounced as short E in some dialects: certain curtain mountain fountain chaplain bargain These word endings that are spelled with ai-n sound more like short i as in "in". And that is only because of the "schwa."
The word "says" (sez) is a unique sound for the AY, but it is related to the past tense "said" (sed) where the AI also has a short E sound, as in the words "again" and "against." The A word many also has a short E sound.
The best known are the words again and against (uh-gen,uh-genst), and the word said (sed). The word "says" also has a short E sound (sez).
There are only a few: aisle, aisles in English, and words originally in other languages such as banzai, bonsai, samurai (Japanese), assegai (Portuguese, from Arabic-African).
Almost all AI paired words (and AY words) are pronounced with a long A (ay). But those with an R after the AI are classified as R-shaped vowel sounds: a caret A or "air." There are a few exceptions, such as aisle (long I), said (short E) and plaid (short A). A few long A words spelled with AI are: aid, laid, maid, paid, raid waif bail, fail, and other -ail words aim, maim attain, gain, main, pain, rain malaise, raise gait, wait waive
The short A vowel sound is "ah" as in apple, back, and bat. The short A sound is also heard in words such as: A words (silent E) : have, calve AI words : plaid AU words : laugh, guarantee
Most of these AI words have an unpronounced sound (just the letter) not a short E : as in certain (sur-tn) and curtain (kur-tn). This is similar to the schwa sound in mountain (moun-tən).Words that do have the short E are again (uh-gen) and against.
The vowel sound in bed is a short E sound (behd) as in the rhyming words bred, fed, led, red, and wed. Other rhyming words are spelled with EA (head, bread) or AI (said). The short E sound is seen in other words such as debt, get, ten, when, pep, and words beginning with ex- (ehks).
Some words with a long "a" sound spelled with "ia" include: Liars Dial Liar Crier
No. The AI has a long A sound as in trail and waits.