Mostly used for words of eitherAncient Greek orLatin origin, though also used when referencing Old English texts or using recently derived Old English loanwords.
Often absent inAmerican English (reduced toe) whenever it has the sound/æ/ or/ɛː/, but sometimes retained (in this form, or asae) when it has a different sound, as informulæ/formulae.
Norwegian ⟨æ⟩ is usually found before ⟨r⟩, where it represents/æ(ː)/ and is generally distinguished from/e(ː)/, itself represented by ⟨e⟩. Exceptions are a number offunction words (likeer,her) which have/æː/, but are nevertheless spelt with ⟨e⟩ for simplicity.
Before other consonants, ⟨æ⟩ occurs but rarely, mostly when there is a related word with ⟨å⟩, e.g.væpne,væske (fromvåpen,våt). In such words there is usually no phonetic distinction from ⟨e⟩, thus[ˈveːpnə],[ˈvɛskə] (the latter merging withveske). In certain dialects,/æ(ː)/ may be retained even in these cases or some of them.
The letteræ in the Norwegian runic inscriptions from 17-19 centuries is usually written as⤉.[1][2]
letter of the Old English (Anglo-Saxon) alphabet, listed in 24th and final position by Byrhtferð (1011); Calledæsċ(“ash tree”) after the Anglo-Saxonᚫ rune
These are the laws that Hlothhere and Eadric, kings of Kent, laid down. Hlothhere and Eadric, kings of Kent, added theselaws listed hereafter to the laws their ancestors created.
Witodlīċe þis fēowertiġfealde fæsten wæs āsteald on ðǣre Ealdan Gėcyðnysse, ðāðā sē heretoga Moyses fæste fēowertiġ daga and fēowertiġ nihta tosamne, tō þȳ þæt hē moste Godesǣ underfōn.
Truly, this fortyfold fast was established in the Old Testament, where the leader Moses fasted for forty days and forty nights, so that he could be allowed to receive God'slaw.
