No one said it rhymes with acorn…
I’m not going to bother recording myself enunciating the difference while I’m here at work, but there is a subtle difference in some of the recordings, sounding more like “an” in some and “ayn” in others, like the ones I mentioned.
Well, per both pages on Forvo, even, it’s the same vowel. However, I would be quite interested in hearing your two pronunciations, if that’s something you do.
My own idiolect has some ‘variety’, thanks to having lived all over the world, including several different places in the UK, where dialect and accent vary considerably (much more so than in the USA, for example). Interestingly, Japan has a similar level of variation to the UK, as I understand it.
Also, please don’t feel I am trying to pick a fight with you; text without tone can come across as cold or confrontational, especially when attempting precision, but I am coming from a place of genuine curiosity. 
P.S. I realize it as /'æŋkə/, since my idiolect is mostly non-rhotic and with a mix of RP and Northern English / Scottish vowels.
If the IPA calls all of those recordings the exact same sound, then I trust it a little less than I would be led to expect from the way it’s usually described.
I don’t have any expertise in the area, just was agreeing with LawlietBlack, who is the one who proposed it in the first place.
Well, IPA comes with caveats, and the ng ligature /ŋ/, which most speakers realize when /n/ is followed by /k/ or /g/, does change the sound of the word, but it’s still the same vowel in all those recordings, essentially. The biggest difference in the one you identified as close to yours is vowel length, which was much longer than my own, and longer than the other examples - typically /æ/ is a short vowel. Americans, in general (plenty of exceptions, but it is noticeable enough difference), as compared to British speakers, tend to have longer vowels and indeed, to speak somewhat more slowly. However, allowing for that … aye, the page identified the vowel correctly, in terms of the standard pronunciation, and the sound files agree.
I can produce the difference I was referring to at any speed, having tried it a few times, plus most of the recordings are from America, so I don’t know if that’s relevant.
However you want to represent it, it’s not identical to the vowel in jam.
Does anchor have the same a sound as rancor???
TOPIC: “This rule is unnecessarily harsh.”
RESPONSE: “Japanese is easy and you are pathetic.”
FOLLOW-UP: “I jave you a jift at your jraduation keremony.”
@Leebo For you, no, but in standard English, aye, it is. No matter, don’t want to derail the thread with this side discussion. It’s interesting to me, but probably not to most people 
@Jintanuki Aye, it is, for all speakers I know, and as it was pronounced in the Star Wars film
I’m talking about the pronunciation difference I mentioned. I acknowledged that the identical pronunciation exists, but it’s not the one that was referred to originally.
I do agree that it’s not an interesting subject though.
I will resign my post as a native English speaker post haste.
LOL Well, I have had people refuse to believe I’m a native speaker, too, based on the differences in my speech from their own. Because I travelled a lot, including living in different places at different times of my life, my own accent appears to vary enormously, and overall doesn’t match any identifiable place, though Americans usually identify as “British” in some way, or occasionally Australian (which it’s not, nor have I ever been to Oz).
is gimp pronounced Jimp?
girl is gi so it should be Jirl
gift should be jift
gig should be jig
gilmore should be jilmore
gizzard should be jizzard
give should be j’ve
gibbous should be jibbous
gimlet should be jimlet
Okay, I know many words do change the G into a soft "j"ish sound (giblet, gigantic, gist), but saying gif is jif because of the i doesn’t really work either because English is a language of exceptions.
(this off-topic but it tickled my funny bone pronouncing these words with soft Gs)
Gig, gizzard and gimlet are all realized with a so-called “soft gee”, by some speakers, actually.
Equally, I have heard giblet and gist with a so-called “hard gee”.
Okay, seriously now… wtf happened to my thread? It’s gotten so badly derailed, the wreckage crosses state lines. It’s a federal disaster.
Leebo did it.
Yes, as the person who didn’t bring up the pronunciation, and as the person who didn’t question said pronunciation, I take full responsibility for starting this discussion about pronunciation.
At least you own up to your terrible derailing.
The senpai always has to take responsibility for their kouhai’s mistakes.
Drive thru: “Is Pepsi okay?”
Me: “Is Monopoly money okay?”
Pretty sure it’s my fault, since I brought gif/jif into this for a shit post 
I’m sorry to say this but… I’m in the Pepsi > Coke camp