The CLOTH set in low-back merged accents

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Ryusenshi
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The CLOTH set in low-back merged accents

Post by Ryusenshi »

I think I've noticed something interesting with some American accents. I first noticed it when watching Breaking Bad, particularly with Anna Gunn.

What I hear is that she has [ɑː] in most THOUGHT words: thought, talk, law are |θɑːt, tʰɑːk, lɑː], i.e. the typical low-back merger. But I think I heard a rounded vowel in some other words, such as lost, long [lɒːst, lɒːŋ] (typically the CLOTH set).

(Note: I'm not interested in vowel length here.)

I think I've heard that pattern in regions where the cot-caught merger is relatively recent, such as parts of the West (but not California). I guess what happens is that:
- in most environments, where [ɑː] and [ɒː] used to contrast, they merged into [ɑː], so that lot and thought both have [ɑː];
- but in a few environments, due to the LOT-CLOTH split, only [ɒː] appeared (typically before voiceless fricatives and voiced velars), so presumably both lost and sauce still have [ɒː].

Have you noticed something similar? If you haven't, does that seem plausible at least? Or am I just talking out of my ass?

Travis B.
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Re: The CLOTH set in low-back merged accents

Post by Travis B. »

The dialect here in southeastern Wisconsin is not cot-caught merged, as LOT is now [a], but the realization of THOUGHT, CLOTH, and START seems to be relatively unstable, with, depending on the individual and just exactly where one is from, both [ɒ] and [ɑ] being possible realizations of THOUGHT and CLOTH and [ɑʁ] and [ɒʁ] being possible realizations of START. E.g. My father and I have [ɒ] for THOUGHT and CLOTH and [ɑʁ] for START, but my mother has [ɑ] and [ɑʁ], and my daughter has [ɒ] for THOUGHT and CLOTH and both [ɑʁ] and [ɒʁ] for START, and from hearing people from here in Waukesha county (I grew up in Milwaukee county) I hear a lot of people with pronunciations similar to my mother's.

So what you could be hearing is just an inconsistent shift of THOUGHT and CLOTH from [ɒ] to [ɑ] which is not yet complete in some people's speech.
Dibotahamdn duthma jallni agaynni ra hgitn lakrhmi.
Amuhawr jalla vowa vta hlakrhi hdm duthmi xaja.
Irdro. Irdro. Irdro. Irdro. Irdro. Irdro. Irdro.

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Re: The CLOTH set in low-back merged accents

Post by Nortaneous »

some people in New England merge cot-caught but not father-bother
Siöö jandeng raiglin zåbei tandiüłåd;
nää džunnfin kukuch vklaivei sivei tåd.
Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei. Chei.

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