The pair 'ae' or the single mushed together symbol 'æ', is not pronounced as two separate vowels. It comes (almost always) from a borrowing from Latin. In the original Latin it is pronounced as /ai/ (in IPA) or to rhyme with the word 'eye'. But, for whatever reason, it is usually pronounced as '/iy/' or "ee".
How is æ pronounced?
In aegis the "ae" can be pronounced as a "long e" or "long a": \ˈē-jəs\ or \ˈā-jəs\ . The second option makes good sense to English speakers, who are used to "e" making vowels long: think of tie and toe—and the names Mae and Rae.
Is æ pronounced Ash?
Æ and æ (ash): This letter, called "ash," may be familiar to you from old-fashioned spellings of words like "Encyclopædia." The digraph æ in Old English is pronounced the same way as the "a" in the words "bat" or "cat."
How do you pronounce æ in Russian?
There are a number of vowels in English that do not exist in Russian such as the [æ] sound so often Russian speakers pronounce it as [ε]. For example "black" becomes " blεck". To pronounce the [æ] vowel, drop your jaw and lift the back of your tongue to form a sound like a goat: [æ].
What is æ in English?
or æ a digraph or ligature appearing in Latin and Latinized Greek words. In English words of Latin or Greek origin, ae is now usually represented by e, except generally in proper names (Caesar), in words belonging to Roman or Greek antiquities (aegis), and in modern words of scientific or technical use (aecium).