Vowel in 'awesome'

[Terra]

Watch http://youtu.be/-Uj96kKzmVY?t=4m38s . She says "awesome" twice. What's the first vowel in each one? Is it [A] and then [O]? Or is it something else?

Also, does 'awe(some)' normally have [O] in General American? (My dialect merges /A/ and /O/, so I find it very hard to tell the difference between the two.)

[Pogostick Man]

Also, does 'awe(some)' normally have [O] in General American? (My dialect merges /A/ and /O/, so I find it very hard to tell the difference between the two.)

I would say so. I speak Inland North and I think I have either [ɔ] or [ɒ] for that vowel (either way, it isn't /ɑ/).

[Grunnen]

Watch http://youtu.be/-Uj96kKzmVY?t=4m38s . She says "awesome" twice. What's the first vowel in each one? Is it [A] and then [O]? Or is it something else?

Also, does 'awe(some)' normally have [O] in General American? (My dialect merges /A/ and /O/, so I find it very hard to tell the difference between the two.)

The way I hear it, she says she practiced saying [A]some, and she used to say [O]some.

[KathTheDragon]

I hear [ɑ] then [o] or some such diphthong, but definitely not [ɔ]

[Boşkoventi]

The first time is with [ɑ]. The second is the typical Southern realization of /ɔ/, which I would call [ɑɔ̯].

"It's [ɑɔ̯səm]."

[Ultimate Ridley]

I usually pronounce it [ɑsəm] but sometimes the [ɑ] is instead a or [ø] when I elect to pronounce words stupidly for no reason (I sometimes do this around friends).

[Imralu]

For me, it's [ˈoːsəm]

I usually pronounce it [ɑsəm] but sometimes the [ɑ] is instead a or [ø] when I elect to pronounce words stupidly for no reason (I sometimes do this around friends).

I sometimes do this in job interviews.