The letters “a” and “e” are one letter apart, but in different syllables

acetone

afebrile

agape (charitable love)

agave

alameda

amenity

amethyst

anemone

aneurism

Ave (Maria)

azalea

café

cafeteria

camellia

cameo

canapé

caveat

chameleon

chicanery

diazepam

faceting

favela

finale

gamelan

gamete

gametocyte

gaseous

gazebo

glacé

javelin

javelina

kamikaze

karate

lamé (fabric)

laverock

macerate

macramé

majesty

maledict

malefic

malemute (or malamute)

malevolent

mameluke

mate (the drink)

maverick

metastases

pakeha

panacea

paté

placebo

ramekin(ramequin)

ravenous

sake (drink)

Same (Timor Leste)

sarape

saveloy

sesame

shitake

tamale

travelogue

travesty

triticale

valé (salutation)

vivace

wannabe

One response to “a…e as in sesame (two sounds, not a digraph)”

  1. […] a…e: agave, anemone, café, canapé, finale, glacé, karate, kamikaze, macramé, paté, sarape, sesame, shitake, valé. The French accented é informs pronunciation – think “resume” vs “resumé”, “expose vs exposé”, so please don’t drop it. There are also thousands of words like “cameo”, “javelin”,  “malevolent” and “saveloy”, with A and E one letter apart, which kids fixated on word appearance can insist are “bossy E” or “magic E” words, sigh, more can be found here. […]

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