/a/ and /æ/

[diamondcutter]

I found different dictionaries give the same word different phonetic symbols. For example, the word cat.

cat /kat/
https://www.lexico.com/definition/cat

cat /kæt/
https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/cat_1?q=cat

I wonder if the symbols /a/ and /æ/ stand for the same sound.

 

[GoesStation]

Different dictionaries use different pronunciation systems. They also don't necessarily agree about the pronunciation of every word.

 

[diamondcutter]

Thanks, GoesStation.

To my ears, the British and Americans pronoun ‘cat’, ‘apple’, ‘black’ etc. differently. Do you think so?

 

[emsr2d2]

To my ears, the British and Americans pronoun ‘cat’, ‘apple’, ‘black’ etc. differently. Do you think so?

In general, yes, but don't forget that there are a lot of different accents within both countries so there's bound to be some overlap somewhere. Certainly, someone in New York pronounces those three words differently from me.

 

[jutfrank]

In those dictionaries, both symbols /a/ and /æ/ stand for the same sound, yes. They are not showing two different ways of pronouncing the word, if that's what you're wondering.