Unstressed Final -a

Unstressed Final a

Level 1

Write the a, and say it like a short o.

How It Works

The classical spelling writes the same final a in every variety, but Languedocien does not say it like an a. When the last syllable has no stress, the a sounds like a short, open o, as in “not”.

  • femna (woman): the last a sounds like o.
  • pòrta (door): the same.
  • femnas (women): the a before the final s sounds like o too.
  • parla (he or she speaks): a verb ending follows the same rule.

Write what the spelling shows, not what you hear. femno and pòrto are spelling mistakes.

A stressed final vowel keeps its own sound. The à of ailà (over there) sounds like a plain a, and the accent is there to show the stress.

Examples (5)

  1. femna

    woman

    The final a sounds close to o.

  2. pòrta

    door

    The ò is open, and the final a sounds close to o.

  3. parla

    he or she speaks

    A verb ending follows the same rule.

  4. las femnas

    the women

    The a before the plural s sounds close to o.

  5. ailà

    over there

    The final à is stressed, so it keeps its a sound.

Common Mistakes

  • Writing the final a as o because of how it sounds.

    femno
    femna

    The spelling keeps the a. Only the sound is close to o.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Unstressed Final -aLevel 1Unstressed Final a

Learn This First

An unstressed final a only makes sense once learners know where the stress falls, so word stress comes first.