The long "a" sound can be spelled in several different ways. Here are ten common representations:
- a (as in "make")
- ai (as in "rain")
- ay (as in "play")
- a_e (as in "cake")
- ea (as in "break")
- ei (as in "vein")
- ay (as in "bay")
- eigh (as in "eight")
- ao (as in "tao" - in certain contexts or languages)
- aw (which can represent a similar sound in dialects or variations of English, though more commonly associated with other sounds, as in "saw")
These spellings can vary based on regional accents and dialects, but they generally produce the long "a" sound.