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Mostly used for words of either Ancient Greek or Latin origin, though also used when referencing Old English texts or using recently derived Old English loanwords.
Often absent in American English (reduced to e) whenever it has the sound /ɛ/ or /iː/, but sometimes retained (in this form, or as ae) when it has a different sound, as in formulæ/formulae.
Antepenultimate letter of the Norwegian alphabet, coming after Z and before Ø.
Usage notes
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 of function words (like er, 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 (from våpen, våt). In such words there is usually no phonetic distinction from ⟨e⟩, thus , (the latter merging with veske). In certain dialects, /æ(ː)/ may be retained even in these cases or some of them.
The letter æ in the Norwegian runic inscriptions from 17-19 centuries is usually written as ⤉.[1][2]
References
^ K. Jonas Nordby (2001) Etterreformatoriske runeinnskrifter i Norge: Opphav og tradisjon, page 86
letter of the Old English (Anglo-Saxon) alphabet, listed in 24th and final position by Byrhtferð (1011); Called æsċ(“ash tree”) after the Anglo-Saxon ᚫ rune