The combination "ea" in English typically produces three possible sounds. The most common sound is /i:/ such as in the words eat, cheat, or meat.
An alternative sound produced by "ea" phonome is the /e/ sound, such as in sweat.
Your example is one of the least common sounds produced by the "ea" combination. In words such as steak or great the ea combination produces the long 'a' sound /eɪ/.
The word 'great' probably entered English through contact with Dutch or German speakers. It cognates with the Dutch groot and the German gross. The origin of the word may have affected its spelling.
The word "great" has a long -a vowel sound because it follows a specific vowel pattern in English where the vowel is pronounced as a long sound before the consonant 't'. This pattern can be found in other words like "late" or "plate" as well.
No, the word "Great" does not have a long vowel sound. The vowel sound in "Great" is a short vowel sound.
No, the word "steak" does not have a short vowel sound. The "e" at the end is silent, and the vowel sound is the long "a" sound.
No, the word "ladder" does not have a long vowel sound. The vowel sound in "ladder" is short.
long vowel sound
The word "hair" has a long A vowel sound.
No, the word "ladder" does not have a long vowel sound. The vowel sound in "ladder" is short.
No, the word "Great" does not have a long vowel sound. The vowel sound in "Great" is a short vowel sound.
Break has a long A sound. The EA vowel pair also has the long A in the word "great."Break is a homophone of brake.
No, the 'a' sound in "scale" is a short vowel sound. The long vowel sound for 'a' would be like in the word "cake".
It depends on the individual word. The word "teacher" has a long vowel sound in the middle, with a long 'e' sound. However, the word "teach" has a short vowel sound, with a short 'e' sound.
The word "say" has a long vowel sound--specifically, the long "a" sound.
The word "grass" has a short vowel sound for the letter "a," pronounced /æ/.
The word "menu" has a long vowel sound with the 'e' pronounced as 'ee'.
The word "spider" has a short vowel sound for the letter "i."
The word spider has a long I vowel sound. If you find that the vowel makes the same sound in the word as it does when saying it in the alphabet, it will be long.
The word "hair" has a long A vowel sound.
Yes, be has a long e vowel sound.