The phonology of the

open Open or OPEN may refer to: Music * Open (band), Australian pop/rock band * The Open (band), English indie rock band * ''Open'' (Blues Image album), 1969 * ''Open'' (Gotthard album), 1999 * ''Open'' (Cowboy Junkies album), 2001 * ''Open'' (YF ...

back The human back, also called the dorsum, is the large posterior area of the human body, rising from the top of the buttocks to the back of the neck. It is the surface of the body opposite from the chest and the abdomen. The vertebral column run ...

vowel A vowel is a syllabic speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness and also in quantity (leng ...

s of the

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...

has undergone changes both overall and with regional variations, through

Old Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...

and

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English p ...

to the present. The sounds heard in modern English were significantly influenced by the

Great Vowel Shift The Great Vowel Shift was a series of changes in the pronunciation of the English language that took place primarily between 1400 and 1700, beginning in southern England and today having influenced effectively all dialects of English. Through ...

, as well as more recent developments such as the ''cot–caught'' merger.

Overview

Old and Middle English

In the Old English vowel system, the vowels in the open back area were unrounded: . There were also rounded back vowels of mid-height: . The corresponding spellings were and , with the length distinctions not normally marked; in modern editions of Old English texts, the long vowels are often written , . As the Old English (OE) system developed into that of

(ME), the OE short vowel merged with the fronted to become a more central ME . Meanwhile, the OE long vowel was rounded and raised to ME . OE short remained relatively unchanged, becoming a short ME vowel regarded as , while OE long became ME (a higher vowel than ). Alternative developments were also possible; see

English historical vowel correspondences The phonological system of the Old English language underwent many changes during the period of its existence. These included a number of vowel shifts, and the palatalisation of velar consonants in many positions. For historical development ...

for details. Later, ME

open syllable lengthening Open syllable lengthening, in linguistics, is the process by which short vowels become long in an open syllable. It occurs in many languages at a phonetic or allophonic level, and no meaningful distinction in length is made. However, as it became ...

caused the short vowel to be normally changed to in open syllables. Remaining instances of the short vowel also tended to become lower. Hence in Late Middle English (around 1400) the following open back vowels were present, distinguished by length: * , spelt , as in ''dog'', ''god'' * , often spelt , or before consonant+vowel or certain consonant pairs, as in ''boat'', ''whole'', ''old''

16th-century changes

By 1600, the following changes had occurred: * The long vowel of ''boat'' had been raised to as a result of the

. Before non-prevocalic , the raising did not take place, so ''more'' was still . * The diphthong found in words such as ''cause'', ''law'', ''all'', ''salt'', ''psalm'', ''half'', ''change'', ''chamber'', ''dance'' had become an open back monophthong or . * At this time, the short in ''dog'' was lowered to There were thus two open back monophthongs: * as in ''lot'' * or as in ''cause'' and (before ) in ''more'' and one open back diphthong: * as in ''low''

17th-century changes

By 1700, the following further developments had taken place: * The diphthong of ''soul'' was raised to , and then monophthongized to , merging with ''boat'' (see ''toe–tow'' merger). Before , this change was later undone by the

horse–hoarse merger In English, many vowel shifts affect only vowels followed by in rhotic dialects, or vowels that were historically followed by that has been elided in non-rhotic dialects. Most of them involve the merging of vowel distinctions and so fewer vow ...

except in some varieties, as currently seen in

Irish English Hiberno-English (from Latin ''Hibernia'': "Ireland"), and in ga, Béarla na hÉireann. or Irish English, also formerly Anglo-Irish, is the set of English dialects native to the island of Ireland (including both the Republic of Ireland a ...

Scottish English Scottish English ( gd, Beurla Albannach) is the set of varieties of the English language spoken in Scotland. The transregional, standardised variety is called Scottish Standard English or Standard Scottish English (SSE). Scottish Standard ...

and

African American Vernacular English African-American Vernacular English (AAVE, ), also referred to as Black (Vernacular) English, Black English Vernacular, or occasionally Ebonics (a colloquial, controversial term), is the variety of English natively spoken, particularly in urban ...

. * Short was retracted and rounded to . The shift was suppressed before a

velar consonant Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the soft palate, the back part of the roof of the mouth (known also as the velum). Since the velar region of the roof of the mouth is relatively extensive an ...

, as in ''quack'', ''twang'', ''wag'', ''wax'', and also was suppressed in ''swam'' (the irregular past tense of ''swim''). The change of to did not occur in

Mid-Ulster English Ulster English ( sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr Inglish, ga, Béarla Ultach, also called Northern Hiberno-English or Northern Irish English) is the variety of English spoken in most of the Irish province of Ulster and throughout North ...

. * had begun to partake in lengthening and raising before a nonprevocalic voiceless fricative. That resulted in words like ''broth'', ''cost'' and ''off'' having instead of , and was the start of the split (see further below). * In words such as ''change'' and ''chamber'', the pronunciation was gradually replaced in the standard language by a variant with , derived from Middle English . That explains the contemporary pronunciation of these words with . * However, when preceded , as in ''laugh'' and ''half'', was shifted to instead, derived from Middle English . * An unrounded back vowel developed, found in certain classes of words that had previously had , like ''start'', ''father'' and ''palm''. That left the standard form of the language with four open back vowels: * in ''lot'' and ''want''. * in ''cloth'' and ''cost''. * in ''start'', ''father'' and ''palm''. * in ''tor'', ''cause'', and ''corn''.

Later changes

From the 18th century on, the following changes have occurred: * The three-way distinction between , , and was simplified in one of two ways: ** In

General American General American English or General American (abbreviated GA or GenAm) is the umbrella accent of American English spoken by a majority of Americans. In the United States it is often perceived as lacking any distinctly regional, ethnic, or so ...

and old-fashioned RP, was raised to , merging with the vowel in (the ''cloth-thought'' merger). ** In many accents of England, the lengthening of the set was undone, restoring the short pronunciation . This became standard RP by the mid-20th century. * In General American, the ''lot'' vowel has become unrounded and merged into (the ''father–bother'' merger). This leaves RP with three back vowels: * in ''lot'', ''want'', ''cloth'', and ''cost''. * in ''tor'', ''cause'', and ''corn''. * in ''start'', ''father'', and ''palm''. and General American with two: * in ''lot'', ''want'', ''start'', ''father'', and ''palm''. * in ''tor'', ''cause'', ''corn'', ''cloth'' and ''cost''.

Unrounded

In a few varieties of English, the vowel in ''lot'' is unrounded, pronounced toward []. This is found in the following dialects: *

* Much of the Caribbean *

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

* The

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and the

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of England * Most of

North American English North American English (NAmE, NAE) is the most generalized variety of the English language as spoken in the United States and Canada. Because of their related histories and cultures, plus the similarities between the pronunciations (accents), v ...

** Excluding

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

and Western Pennsylvania accents, in which it is typically raised toward , merging with the vowel in ''thought''. Linguists disagree as to whether the unrounding of the ''lot'' vowel occurred independently in North America (probably occurring around the end of the 17th century) or was imported from certain types of speech current in Britain at that time. In such accents, ''lot'' typically is pronounced as , therefore being kept distinct from the vowel in ''palm'', pronounced or . However, the major exception to this is

, where the vowel is lengthened to merge with the vowel in ''palm'', as described below. This merger is called the merger or more commonly the ''father–bother'' merger. (See further below.)

''Father–bother'' merger

The ''father–bother'' merger is unrounded ''lot'' taken a step further. On top of being unrounded, the length distinction between the vowel in ''lot'' and ''bother'' and the vowel in ''palm'' and ''father'' is lost, so that the two groups merge. Examples of possible

homophone A homophone () is a word that is pronounced the same (to varying extent) as another word but differs in meaning. A ''homophone'' may also differ in spelling. The two words may be spelled the same, for example ''rose'' (flower) and ''rose'' (p ...

s resulting from the merger include ''Khan'' and ''con'' () as well as ''Saab'' and ''sob'' (). Out of North American dialects that have unrounded ''lot'', the only notable exception to the merger is

New York City English New York City English, or Metropolitan New York English, is a regional dialect of American English spoken by many people in New York City and much of its surrounding metropolitan area. It is described by sociolinguist William Labov as the most ...

, where the opposition with the -type vowel is somewhat tenuous. While the accents in northeastern

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

, such as the

Boston accent A Boston accent is a local accent of Eastern New England English, native specifically to the city of Boston and its suburbs. Northeastern New England English is classified as traditionally including New Hampshire, Maine, and all of eastern Massa ...

, also remain unmerged, ''lot'' remains rounded and merges instead with ''cloth'' and ''thought'', though the outcome of that is still a longish free vowel that is heard as ''thought'' by British speakers. *Some

Singaporean English Singapore English (SgE, SE, en-SG) (similar and related to British English) is the set of varieties of the English language native to Singapore. In Singapore, English is spoken in two main forms: Singaporean Standard English (indistinguisha ...

{, class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" , + class="nowrap" , Homophonous pairs ! ! {{IPA, /ɒ/ or /ɔ/{{efn, only homophonous with the cot-caught merger ! IPA (using {{angbr IPA, ɑ for the merged vowel) ! Notes , - ,

Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nu ...

, , bolly , , {{IPA, ˈbɑli , - , Dalí , , dolly , , {{IPA, ˈdɑli , - ,

Hajj The Hajj (; ar, حَجّ '; sometimes also spelled Hadj, Hadji or Haj in English) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried ...

, , Hodge , , {{IPA, ˈhɑdʒ , - ,

Khan Khan may refer to: *Khan (inn), from Persian, a caravanserai or resting-place for a travelling caravan *Khan (surname), including a list of people with the name *Khan (title), a royal title for a ruler in Mongol and Turkic languages and used by ...

, , con , , {{IPA, ˈkɑn , - ,

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...

, , Molly , , {{IPA, ˈmɑli , - ,

Raab Raab is a market town (''Marktgemeinde'') in the district of Schärding in Upper Austria in Austria. History The village historically belonged to the Duchy of Bavaria until the Treaty of Teschen transferred the area to Austria in 1780. During t ...

, , rob , , {{IPA, ˈrɑb , - ,

Saab Saab or SAAB may refer to: Brands and enterprises * Saab Group, a Swedish aerospace and defence company, formerly known as SAAB, and later as Saab AB ** Datasaab, a former computer company, started as spin off from Saab AB * Saab Automobile, a fo ...

, , sob , , {{IPA, ˈsɑb , - ,

Shah Shah (; fa, شاه, , ) is a royal title that was historically used by the leading figures of Iranian monarchies.Yarshater, EhsaPersia or Iran, Persian or Farsi, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) It was also used by a variety of ...

, , Shaw , , {{IPA, ˈʃɑ , , with the cot-caught merger , - ,

Siân Siân (also Sian, Shân, Shahn; , ) is a Welsh feminine given name, equivalent to the English Jane, Scottish Sheena or Irish Siobhán. It is ultimately derived from the Hebrew name יְהוֹחָנָן (Yəhôḥānān), meaning “Yahweh is me ...

, ,

Sean Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Irish English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán (anglicized as ''Shaun/ Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan (Ulster variant; anglici ...

, , {{IPA, ˈʃɑn , , with the cot-caught merger , - , Siân , ,

Shawn Shawn may refer to: *Shawn (given name) *Shawn (surname) See also * Sean * Shaun Shaun is an anglicized spelling of the Irish name Seán. Alternative spellings include Shawn, Sean and Shawne. Notable persons with the given name include: Peop ...

, , {{IPA, ˈʃɑn , , with the cot-caught merger , - , Siân , , shone , , {{IPA, ˈʃɑn , - ,

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

, , stalling , , {{IPA, ˈstɑlɪn , , with the cot-caught merger and G-dropping.

{{sc2, LOT–CLOTH split

The {{sc2, LOT–CLOTH split is the result of a late 17th-century sound change that lengthened {{IPA, /ɒ/ to {{IPA, �ː} before

voiceless In linguistics, voicelessness is the property of sounds being pronounced without the larynx vibrating. Phonologically, it is a type of phonation, which contrasts with other states of the larynx, but some object that the word phonation implies v ...

fricative A fricative is a consonant produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. These may be the lower lip against the upper teeth, in the case of ; the back of the tongue against the soft palate in t ...

s, and also before {{IPA, /n/ in the word ''gone''. It was ultimately raised and merged with {{IPA, /ɔː/ of words like ''thought'', although in some accents that vowel is actually open {{IPA, �ː}. This means that {{sc2, CLOTH is not a separate vowel; rather, it means "either {{sc2, LOT or {{sc2, THOUGHT, depending on the accent". The sound change is most consistent in the last syllable of a word, and much less so elsewhere (see below). Some words that entered the language later, especially when used more in writing than speech, are exempt from the lengthening, e.g. ''joss'' and ''Goth'' with the short vowel. Similar changes took place in words with {{angbr, a; see ''trap–bath'' split and /æ/-tensing. The cot–caught merger, discussed below, has removed the distinction in some dialects. As a result of the lengthening and raising, in the above-mentioned accents ''cross'' rhymes with ''sauce'', and ''soft'' and ''cloth'' also have the vowel {{IPA, /ɔː/. Accents affected by this change include

American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lan ...

accents that lack the cot-caught merger and, originally, RP, although today words of this group almost always have short {{IPA, /ɒ/ in RP. The split still exists in some older RP speakers. The lengthening and raising generally happened before the fricatives {{IPA, /f/, {{IPA, /θ/ and {{IPA, /s/. In American English the raising was extended to the environment before {{IPA, /ŋ/ and {{IPA, /ɡ/, and in a few words before {{IPA, /k/ as well, giving pronunciations like {{IPA, /lɔŋ/ for ''long'', {{IPA, /dɔɡ/ for ''dog'' and {{IPA, /ˈtʃɔklət/ for ''chocolate''. In the varieties of

that have the lot–cloth split, the ''lot'' vowel is usually symbolized as {{IPA, /ɑ/, often called the "short o" for historical reasons, as the corresponding RP vowel {{IPA, /ɒ/ is still short (and it contrasts with {{IPA, /ɑː/ as in ''father'' and ''start''). The ''thought'' vowel is usually transcribed as {{IPA, /ɔ/ and it is often called the "open o". Its actual phonetic realization may be open {{IPAblink, ɒ, whereas the ''lot'' vowel may be realized as central {{IPAblink, ä. Some words vary as to which vowel they have. For example, words that end in ''-og'' like ''frog'', ''hog'', ''fog'', ''log'', ''bog'' etc. have {{IPA, /ɑ/ rather than {{IPA, /ɔ/ in some accents. There are also significant complexities in the pronunciation of written ''o'' occurring before one of the triggering phonemes {{IPA, /f θ s ŋ ɡ/ in a non-final syllable. However, the use of the open o as opposed to the short o is largely predictable. Just like with /æ/-tensing and the

trap–bath split The – split is a Phonological change#Phonemic splits, vowel split that occurs mainly in English language in Southern England, Southern English English, English in England (including Received Pronunciation), Australian English, New Zealand Engl ...

, there seems to be an open-syllable constraint. Namely, the change did not affect words with /ɑ/ in open syllables unless they were closely derived from words with {{IPA, /ɑ/ in close syllables. Hence {{IPA, /ɔ/ occurs in ''crossing'', ''crosser'', ''crosses'' because it occurs in ''cross''; likewise in ''longing'', ''longer'', ''longest'' because it occurs in ''long''. However, ''possible'', ''jostle'', ''impostor'', ''profit'', ''Gothic'', ''bongo'', ''Congo'', and ''boggle'' all have {{IPA, /ɑ/. However, there are still exceptions in words like ''Boston'' and ''foster''.{{Cite Merriam-Webster, foster A further list of words is mentioned in the table below: {, class="wikitable" , +Vowels with lot–cloth splits , - !scope="col", Set !scope="col", {{sc2, THOUGHT ({{IPA, /ɔ/) !scope="col", {{sc, LOT ({{IPA, /ɑ/) , - !scope="row", {{IPA, /-f/ , off, office, etc. , , profit , - !scope="row", {{IPA, /-θ/ , cloth, moth, broth, etc. , , Goth, Gothic , - !scope="row", {{IPA, /-s/ , loss, boss, etc. , , possible, jostle , - !scope="row", {{IPA, /-st/ , Boston, foster, lost, etc. , , roster , - !scope="row", {{IPA, /-ŋ/ , long, longest, etc. , , bongo, Congo , - !scope="row", {{IPA, /-g/ , dog, frog, hog, etc. , , boggle Some words may vary depending on the speaker like (''coffee'', ''offer'', ''donkey'', ''soggy'', ''boondoggle'', etc. with either {{IPA, /ɑ/ or {{IPA, /ɔ/).{{citation needed, date=May 2017 Meanwhile, other words vary by region. For example, in the Mid-Atlantic U.S. dialect, most famously spoken in metropolitan

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

and

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, the single word ''on'' (pronounced {{IPA, /ɑn/ in General American) rhymes with ''dawn'' {{IPA, /dɔn/: {{IPA, /ɔn/ (in the mid-Atlantic, this vowel is diphthongized to {{IPA, �ə~oə})). Labov et al. regard this phenomenon as occurring not just in the Mid-Atlantic region, but in all regions south of a geographic boundary that they identify as the ON line, which is significant because it distinguishes most varieties of

Northern American English Northern American English or Northern U.S. English (also, Northern AmE) is a class of historically related American English dialects, spoken by predominantly white Americans, in much of the Great Lakes region and some of the Northeast region wi ...

(in which ''on'' and ''Don'' are closer rhymes) from most varieties of Midland and

Southern American English Southern American English or Southern U.S. English is a regional dialect or collection of dialects of American English spoken throughout the Southern United States, though concentrated increasingly in more rural areas, and spoken primarily by Wh ...

(in which ''on'' and ''dawn'' are closer rhymes).{{sfnp, Labov, Ash, Boberg, 2006, p=189

''Cot–caught'' merger

{{main, Cot–caught merger{{!''Cot–caught'' merger The ''cot''–''caught'' merger (also known as the low back merger or the {{sc2, LOT–THOUGHT merger) is a

phonemic merger In historical linguistics, phonological change is any sound change that alters the distribution of phonemes in a language. In other words, a language develops a new system of oppositions among its phonemes. Old contrasts may disappear, new ones ...

occurring in many English accents, where the vowel sound in words like ''cot'', ''nod'', and ''stock'' (the {{sc2, LOT vowel), has merged with that of ''caught'', ''gnawed'', and ''stalk'' (the {{sc2, THOUGHT vowel). For example, with the merger, ''cot'' and ''caught'' become perfect

Other changes

{{sc2, GOAT–THOUGHT merger

{{main, Rhoticity in English#Goat–thought–north–force merger The {{sc2, GOAT–THOUGHT merger is a merger of the English vowels {{IPA, /oʊ/ and {{IPA, /ɔː/ that occurs in Bradford English and sometimes also in

Geordie Geordie () is a nickname for a person from the Tyneside area of North East England, and the dialect used by its inhabitants, also known in linguistics as Tyneside English or Newcastle English. There are different definitions of what constitut ...

and Northern

Welsh English Welsh English ( cy, Saesneg Gymreig) comprises the dialects of English spoken by Welsh people. The dialects are significantly influenced by Welsh grammar and often include words derived from Welsh. In addition to the distinctive words and gr ...

{{sc2, THOUGHT–FOOT merger

{{main, Rhoticity in English#Foot–goose–thought–north–force merger The {{sc2, THOUGHT–FOOT merger is a merger of the English vowels {{IPA, /ɔː/ and {{IPA, /ʊ/ that occurs in morphologically closed syllables in cockney, rendering ''fought'' homophonous with ''foot'' as {{IPA, �fʊʔ}. It is possible only in fast speech.

{{sc2, THOUGHT–GOOSE merger

{{main, Rhoticity in English#Foot–goose–thought–north–force merger The {{sc2, THOUGHT–GOOSE merger is a merger of the English vowels {{IPA, /ɔː/ and {{IPA, /uː/ that occurs in cockney, rendering ''hoard'' homophonous with ''who'd'' as {{IPA, �ʊd}, with the vowel quality that is typical of {{sc2, FOOT. It is possible only in fast speech and, in the case of {{IPA, /ɔː/ (but not {{IPA, /uː/), only in morphologically closed syllables.

{{sc2, THOUGHT split

In some London accents of English, the vowel in words such as ''thought,'' ''force,'' and ''north,'' which merged earlier on in these varieties of English, undergoes a conditional split based on syllable structure:

closed syllable A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds typically made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (typically, consonants). Syllables are often considered the phonological "bu ...

s have a higher vowel quality such as {{IPA, ː} (possibly even {{IPA, ʊ} in broad Cockney varieties), and

open syllable A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds typically made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (typically, consonants). Syllables are often considered the phonological "bu ...

s have a lower vowel quality {{IPA, �̝ː} or a centering diphthong {{IPA, �ə}. Originally-open syllables with an inflectional suffix (such as ''bored'') retain the lower vowel quality, creating minimal pairs such as ''bored'' {{IPA, ɔəd} vs. ''board'' {{IPA, oːd}.{{sfnp, Ostalski, 2009, pp=106–107 In broad

, some {{sc2, THOUGHT words (roughly, those spelled with ''a'', as in ''walk'' and ''talk'') have {{IPAblink, aː (which phonetically is the long counterpart of {{sc2, TRAP {{IPA, /a/) instead of the standard {{IPAblink, ɔː. Those are the traditional dialect forms which are being replaced with the standard {{IPAblink, ɔː. {{IPAblink, aː is therefore not necessarily a distinct phoneme in the vowel system of Geordie, also because it occurs as an allophone of {{IPA, /a/ before voiced consonants.{{sfnp, Wells, 1982, pp=360, 375

Distribution of /ɑː/

The distribution of the vowel transcribed with {{angbr IPA, ɑː in broad IPA varies greatly among dialects. It corresponds to {{IPA, /æ/, {{IPA, /ɒ/, {{IPA, /ɔː/ and (when not prevocalic within the same word) {{IPA, /ɑːr/ and even {{IPA, /ɔːr/ in other dialects: * In non-rhotic dialects spoken outside of North America, {{IPA, /ɑː/ corresponds mostly to {{IPA, /ɑːr/ in General American and so is most often spelled {{angbr, ar. In dialects with the

(such as Received Pronunciation, New Zealand English and South African English), it also corresponds to GA {{IPA, /æ/, which means that it can also be spelled {{angbr, a before voiceless fricatives. In those dialects, {{IPA, /ɒ/ and {{IPA, /ɔː/ are separate phonemes. * In native words, {{IPA, /ɑː/ in most non-rhotic speech of North America corresponds to both {{IPA, /ɑːr/ in GA (RP {{IPA, /ɑː/) and {{IPA, /ɒ/ in RP, as those dialects feature the

father–bother merger The phonology of the open back vowels of the English language has undergone changes both overall and with regional variations, through Old and Middle English to the present. The sounds heard in modern English were significantly influenced by the ...

. * In GA (which also features the father–bother merger), {{IPA, /ɑː/ mostly corresponds to {{IPA, /ɒ/ in RP. * Many speakers in the US and most speakers in Canada use {{IPA, /ɑː/ not only for RP {{IPA, /ɒ/ but also for {{IPA, /ɔː/. Those dialects have the

cot–caught merger The ''cot''–''caught'' merger or merger, formally known in linguistics as the low back merger, is a sound change present in some dialects of English where speakers do not distinguish the vowel phonemes in "cot" and "caught". "Cot" and "caugh ...

in addition to the father-bother merger (though a tiny minority of speakers lack the latter merger, like Scottish English). * In loanwords, the open central unrounded vowel {{IPAblink, ä in the source language is regularly approximated with {{IPA, /ɑː/ in North America and {{IPA, /æ/ in RP. However, in the case of mid back rounded vowels spelled {{angbr, o, the usual North American approximation is {{IPA, /oʊ/, not {{IPA, /ɑː/ (in RP, it can be either {{IPA, /əʊ/ or {{IPA, /ɒ/). However, when the vowel is both stressed and word-final, the only possibilities in RP are {{IPA, /ɑː/ in the first case and {{IPA, /əʊ/ in the latter case, mirroring GA. In many Scottish dialects, there is just one unrounded open vowel {{IPA, /a/ that has two allophones. Those dialects usually do not differentiate {{IPA, /ɒ/ from {{IPA, /ɔː/ and use {{IPAblink, ɔ for both. For the sake of simplicity, instances of an unrounded {{sc2, LOT vowel (phonetically {{IPAblink, ɑ) that do not merge with {{sc2, PALM/{{sc2, START are excluded from the table below. For this reason, the traditional Norfolk dialect is included but the contemporary one, nor the Cardiff dialect, are not. {, class="wikitable" , + {{IPA, /ɑː/ in native words and non-recent loanwords ! rowspan="2" , Variety ! rowspan="2" , Rhotic ! colspan="9" , Mergers and splits ! colspan="6" , Possible spellings , - ! {{small, {{IPA, /ɒrV-ɑːrV/ merger ! {{small,

card-cord merger In English language, English, many vowel shifts affect only vowels followed by in rhotic and non-rhotic accents, rhotic dialects, or vowels that were historically followed by that has been elided in non-rhotic dialects. Most of them involve the ...

! {{small, cot-caught merger ! {{small,

father-bother merger The phonology of the open back vowels of the English language has undergone changes both overall and with regional variations, through Old and Middle English to the present. The sounds heard in modern English were significantly influenced by the ...

! {{small,

father-farther merger Rhoticity in English is the pronunciation of the historical rhotic consonant by English speakers. The presence or absence of rhoticity is one of the most prominent distinctions by which varieties of English can be classified. In rhotic varieti ...

! {{small,

god-guard merger Rhoticity in English is the pronunciation of the historical rhotic consonant by English speakers. The presence or absence of rhoticity is one of the most prominent distinctions by which varieties of English can be classified. In rhotic varieti ...

! {{small,

lot-cloth split The phonology of the open back vowels of the English language has undergone changes both overall and with regional variations, through Old and Middle English to the present. The sounds heard in modern English were significantly influenced by the ...

! {{small, trap-palm merger ! {{small, trap-bath split ! {{angbr, a ! {{angbr, ar ! {{angbr, au ! {{angbr, aw ! {{angbr, o ! {{angbr, or , - !

Australian English Australian English (AusE, AusEng, AuE, AuEng, en-AU) is the set of varieties of the English language native to Australia. It is the country's common language and ''de facto'' national language; while Australia has no official language, Engli ...

, no , no , no , no , no , yes , no , no , no , variable , yes , yes , no , no , no , no , - !

Canadian English Canadian English (CanE, CE, en-CA) encompasses the varieties of English native to Canada. According to the 2016 census, English was the first language of 19.4 million Canadians or 58.1% of the total population; the remainder spoke French ( ...

, yes , no , no , yes , yes , {{N/A , {{N/A , {{N/A , no , no , yes , no , yes , yes , yes , no , - !

, yes , no , no , variable , yes , {{N/A , {{N/A , yes , no , no , yes , no , variable , variable , yes , no , - !

Hiberno-English Hiberno-English (from Latin ''Hibernia'': "Ireland"), and in ga, Béarla na hÉireann. or Irish English, also formerly Anglo-Irish, is the set of English dialects native to the island of Ireland (including both the Republic of Ireland a ...

, yes , no , no , variable , no , {{N/A , {{N/A , variable , no , variable , yes , no , no , no , no , no , - !

, variable , possible , no , no , variable , variable , variable , yes , no , no , yes , no , no , no , variable , no , - !

New Zealand English New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

, mostly no , no , no , no , no , mostly yes , no , no , no , yes , yes , mostly yes , no , no , no , no , - ! Northeastern New England English , no , no , no , yes , no , yes , no , {{N/A , no , no , yes , yes , no , no , no , no , - !

Northern England English The English language in Northern England has been shaped by the region's history of settlement and migration, and today encompasses a group of related dialects known as Northern England English (or, simply, Northern English in the United Kingd ...

, no , no , no , no , no , yes , no , no , no , no , yes , yes , no , no , no , no , - !

Philadelphia English Philadelphia English is a variety or dialect of American English native to Philadelphia and extending into Philadelphia's metropolitan area throughout the Delaware Valley, including southeastern Pennsylvania, counties of northern Delaware (espec ...

, yes , possible , no , no , yes , {{N/A , {{N/A , yes , no , no , yes , no , no , no , yes , no , - !

Received Pronunciation Received Pronunciation (RP) is the Accent (sociolinguistics), accent traditionally regarded as the Standard language, standard and most Prestige (sociolinguistics), prestigious form of spoken British English. For over a century, there has been ...

, no , no , no , no , no , yes , no , no , no , yes , yes , yes , no , no , no , no , - !

, variable , no , no , variable , no , no , no , (unclear) , variable , mostly no , yes , no , no , no , no , no , - !

South African English South African English (SAfrE, SAfrEng, SAE, en-ZA) is the set of English language dialects native to South Africans. History British settlers first arrived in the South African region in 1795, when they established a military holding op ...

, mostly no , no , no , no , no , mostly yes , no , variable , no , yes , yes , mostly yes , no , no , no , no , - !

, variable , mostly no , mostly no , variable , yes , variable , variable , yes , no , no , yes , variable , variable , variable , yes , mostly no , - ! Traditional

Norfolk dialect East Anglian English is a dialect of English spoken in East Anglia, primarily in or before the mid-20th century. East Anglian English has had a very considerable input into modern Estuary English, which has largely replaced it. However, it has r ...

, no , variable , no , no , variable , yes , variable , yes , no , yes , variable , variable , no , no , yes , no , - !

, mostly no , no , no , no , no , mostly yes , no , no , no , no , yes , yes , no , no , no , no

Fronted /oʊ/

{{see also, English-language vowel changes before historic /l/#Goat split In many dialects of English, the vowel {{IPA, /oʊ/ has undergone fronting. The exact phonetic value varies. Dialects with the fronted {{IPA, /oʊ/ include Received Pronunciation; Southern, Midland, and Mid-Atlantic American English; and Australian English. This fronting does not generally occur before {{IPA, /l/, a relatively retracted consonant.

Table

{, class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" , + Stages leading to some of the open back vowels of General American, summarized from Wells (1982), with the ''cot''–''caught'' merger added ! , , ''law''
''ball''
''taught''
''caught'' , , ''off''
''cloth''
''loss'' , , ''lot''
''stop''
''rob''
''cot''
''bother'' , , ''father''
''palm''
''calm'' , - style="vertical-align: middle;" ! Middle English , rowspan="2" , {{IPA, aʊ , , {{IPA, ɔ , , {{IPA, ɔ , , rowspan="4" , {{IPA, a , - style="vertical-align: middle;" ! Quality change , rowspan="2" , {{IPA, ɒ , , rowspan="5" , {{IPA, ɒ , - style="vertical-align: middle;" ! ''Thought''-monophthonging , rowspan="5" , {{IPA, ɔː , - style="vertical-align: middle;" ! Pre-fricative lengthening , rowspan="4" , {{IPA, ɒː , - style="vertical-align: middle;" ! ''A''-lengthening , {{IPA, aː , - style="vertical-align: middle;" ! Quality change , rowspan="2" , {{IPA, ɑː , - style="vertical-align: middle;" ! ''Lot''-unrounding , {{IPA, ɑ , - style="vertical-align: middle;" ! Loss of distinctive length , {{IPA, ɔ , , {{IPA, ɒ , , rowspan="2" , {{IPA, (ɑ) , , rowspan="2" , {{IPA, ɑ , - style="vertical-align: top;" ! ''Cloth''–''thought'' merger , {{IPA, (ɔ) , , {{IPA, ɔ , - style="vertical-align: top;" ! General American output , {{IPA, ɔ , , {{IPA, ɔ , , {{IPA, ɑ , , {{IPA, ɑ , - style="vertical-align: top;" ! ''Cot''–''caught'' merger , colspan="4" , {{IPA, ɑ

References

{{Reflist

Bibliography

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