Low front vowels

English has one low front vowel, /æ/, which has different realizations in different regions. In Eastern American, especially in some New England varieties (Boston), the lower and more back vowel [a] is common (e.g. half [haf], rat [ɹ̣at]). (In the South, a diphthongal allophone is frequently heard (e.g. glass [glæɪs], bad [bæɪd].)

Before an [ɹ̣] plus another vowel, as in carry, Paris, Arabic, [æ] occurs along the Atlantic, along the Gulf Coast, and in the South, but [ε] occurs more frequently in other areas. This vowel can be diphthongal, especially before /ʃ, Ʒ, k/, in the South (e.g. splash [splæɪʃ], back [bæɪk]).