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I've read every word starting with "SA" in my dictionary out loud. It's driving me crazy thinking there is only a single English word starting with what appears to be such a common syllable.

Is it my Midwestern American accent? What makes "saga" special?

JP Duffy
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    Try Soggy or somnolent. The spelling doesn't necessarily determine the pronunciation. – Jason Bassford Jan 16 '19 at 02:11
  • There are several minor variations of the pronunciation of the "sa" sound in that context. I would say that "sagacious" comes close, but others would likely pronounce it slightly differently. – Hot Licks Jan 16 '19 at 02:11
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    There is more than one pronunciation of "saga". According to Merriam-Webster, it can have the vowel of "father" or the vowel of "sag". – herisson Jan 16 '19 at 02:11
  • I'm specifically looking to match the Japanese さ. The little munchkin in my avatar is my son Sasuke, who sadly has no nickname. – JP Duffy Jan 16 '19 at 02:22
  • What words are close to the same vowel for you? For me, it's the vowel of the first syllable of samba and noggin. Closer to the cot vowel rather than caught, if you aren't merged, so for me different from the first vowel in sauna. Definitely not the vowel in sag or cat. But ymmv, so it would help to get a better sense of what vowel you mean. – 1006a Jan 16 '19 at 02:29
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    I don't pronounce the "r" in sardonic, so the two words start with the same sound for me. I'm blown away at the other pronunciation of "saga" - sounds quite bizarre to me! I'd love to know what countries or regions pronounce it that way: is it just AmE? – Chappo Hasn't Forgotten Jan 16 '19 at 02:35
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    @Chappo: I tried looking at the pronunciation of "saga" on Youglish. Based on the clips I saw so far, the "sag" pronunciation seems pretty uncommon, and I did only hear it from American English speakers. – herisson Jan 16 '19 at 02:43
  • What makes it 'special' is that it's a Scandinavian word which has been borrowed into English. As anyone who has watched The Bridge knows, the Swedes (and Norwegians) say 'sahga', the Danes say 'sayga'. – Kate Bunting Jan 16 '19 at 09:14
  • Sob, sock, sod... – Jim Jan 16 '19 at 16:42

2 Answers2

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The phonetic translation of the word 'saga' is sɑːɡə.

There exist a many number of words that share the same sound of "sa", or in other words, the sɑː sound.

A few such words include:

  1. Cryosar
  2. Sardonic
  3. Quasar
  4. Sarcophagus
  5. Arkansas (although proper, it still has the same sɑː pronunciation)
  6. Sardines

Similarly many more exist.

Viswa
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    ...if the speaker is non-rhotic. – Mitch Jan 16 '19 at 03:02
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    @Chappo I may not have much rep on this site, but my dad grew up in Arkansas and I’m a Texan, and I have to say we both pronounce the sas in Arkansas identically to the sa in saga. – gen-ℤ ready to perish Jan 16 '19 at 06:34
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    Perfect! I'm from Wisconsin for what it's worth. Sardine is the winner for me, starts with the same 'sa' and is a word everyone knows. Thanks! – JP Duffy Jan 16 '19 at 13:01
  • @sumelic I should stick to using IPA, especially since I'm no expert in phonetics! So, as an Australian I pronounce the last syllable of Arkansas as /soː/ whereas MW gives the primary pronunciation as /sȯ/ - a subtle difference. I'm intrigued that you pronounce it /sɑ/ - is this collateral damage from the cot-caught merger? ;-) But seriously (and for my better understanding), wouldn't that merger turn it into a /sɒ/? And do you pronounce the first syllable of saga as /sɑ/ too? – Chappo Hasn't Forgotten Jan 16 '19 at 13:48
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    @Chappo: In almost all American English accents, /ɒ/ does not exist as a sound distinct from /ɑ/ and /ɔ/. The vowel in words like "lot" has merged with the vowel of the word "father", and the merged vowel is typically transcribed as /ɑ/. (In a few other words, like "cloth", the vowel instead merged with the "thought" vowel /ɔ/, which Merriam-Webster writes as "ȯ"--MW does not use IPA transcription.) For speakers with the cot-caught merger like me, /ɑ/ has additionally replaced the "thought"/"cloth" vowel. So I have /sɑ/ in all of *saga, soccer, sausage, sought, Arkansas.* – herisson Jan 16 '19 at 13:59
  • @herisson Having been born and raised (a little) east of the Mississippi, I have /sɑ/ only in *saga, sock, sot, soccer, sans, saké, sandhi, Sappho* — whereas I have /sɔ/ in all of *sawn, salt, Jonas Salk, sauna, salsa, sauté, psalm, solve, sausage, saucer, sought, Arkansas*. Never having lived in a region with the merger nor being an especially avid consumer of SoCal-produced media, it forever jars me to hear the second set pronounced like the first, slowing me down a bit as I figure out which word was said. – tchrist Aug 29 '20 at 01:54
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There are a number of words that start with the "sah" sound. They're typically words we've adopted from another language, but are now accepted English words. The following are from Merriam-Webster, starting with the comparison word; note that MW provides an audio clip on each page so you can get an idea of how each is pronounced.

saga

\ ˈsä-gə \

sadhu

\ ˈsä-(ˌ)dü \
: a usually Hindu mendicant ascetic

sahib

\ ˈsä-ˌ(h)ib \
: SIR, MASTER —used especially among the native inhabitants of colonial India when addressing or speaking of a European of some social or official status

sake (2)

\ ˈsä-kē \
: a Japanese alcoholic beverage of fermented rice often served hot

Certain words starting with sar- that are either monosyllabic or have the stress on the first syllable may have the same pronunciation as the first syllable of saga, depending on whether the speaker is non-rhotic. Candidates include sarcasm, sarcous, sard, sarge, sari, sark, sarmentose, saros and sarsen. One of these is sufficient as an example (again relying on MW's dictionary entry):

sard

\ ˈsärd \
: a reddish-brown variety of chalcedony sometimes classified as a variety of carnelian

Chappo Hasn't Forgotten
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    You’re right that most of these are imports, or in arrhotic speakers. See this comment for a scant few more with /sɑ/ for me as an Inland North speaker. That means I have neither the cot–caught merger nor the cot–cart merger. Being older and more rural in origin than metropolitan, I also lack the more recent Northern Cities Vowel Shift. – tchrist Aug 29 '20 at 02:01