The last vowel in "difficult"

[Particles the Greek]

Presumably this is typically a syllabic /l/, although to me it sounds more like /ɔ/, and I used to know someone who had /ʌ/. What other vowels do ZBBers have here?

[clawgrip]

I have a "dark l" with no actual contact with the tip of my tongue, so like [ʌˠ] I guess (I'm not always so great at marking IPA correctly for English dialects). I notice a lot of people in American TV and movies merge the vowel + /l/ sounds in "cult" and "colt", or at least pronounce them a lot more similarly than I do, so I have assumed (absolutely without checking at all) that this might be some sort of California thing. If your pronunciation is [ɔ] then perhaps you have this sort of pronunciation.

[Pabappa]

Rhymes with adult for me but in fast speech I think it's just a schwa.

[2+3 clusivity]

I notice a lot of people in American TV and movies merge the vowel + /l/ sounds in "cult" and "colt", or at least pronounce them a lot more similarly than I do

Mid-Atlantic American (or mine at least) keeps those apart: <colt> [kʰoɫt]; <cult> [kʰəɫt ~ kʰʌɫt]. The dark v. light L still confuses me -- I suspect my dialect has merged them in favor of the latter, which is giving me trouble.
Similarly to the above, <Difficult> [dɪf.(ə).kʌɫt].

Presumably this is typically a syllabic /l/

Hm, I get those with <bottle>, etc. but not here.

I think /-ʊ̆- ~ -w-/ and /-l-/ interact pretty heavily. I do, on the other hand, get variations like: <foul>: [fæʊ̆(ə)ɫ ~ fæʔɫ]. Similarly, <Owl> can be [æʊ̆(ə)ɫ ~ æʔɫ].

[Salmoneus]

Interesting - I wouldn't have thought of it rhyming with cult. With a full vowel, for me it's /U/ (foot, look, etc), but in practice it's reduced a lot, maybe even all the way to a syllable /l/.

[Zaarin]

I have a syllabic /l/ in rapid speech, but /ʌ/ otherwise.

[Terra]

It has /ʌ/. It most certainly doesn't rhyme with "bolt" (/o/) or "bull" (/U/).

[vtardif]

I have /U/ in careful speech, reducing to [}] or syllabic [l].

[Nortaneous]

U

Could be a rounded syllabic lateral or w/e but same vowel as 'pull'

[jal]

Presumably this is typically a syllabic /l/, although to me it sounds more like /ɔ/, and I used to know someone who had /ʌ/. What other vowels do ZBBers have here?

If it is syllabic, I presume it's devoiced because of preceding /k/. If it isn't devoiced, I would suspect a schwa-like vowel there.


JAL

[----]

I merge cult and colt, but cull and coal are still different. In any case, I think in difficult it's a syllabic l.

[Mornche Geddick]

Syllabic l, with the tongue touching the teeth.

[ol bofosh]

A schwa here in careful speech [ˈdɪ.fɪ̈.kʰəɫtʰ]. L-vocalisation very common: [ˈdɪ.fɪ̈.kʰɵʊ̯ʔ].

[Znex]

I generally use L-vocalisation: ['dɪ.fə̥.kut̚]