hawk/hock

[sagehen]

  Jim Landau, Thu, 18 Jul 2002 09:46:27 EDT, writes:
>I always distinguish the /ah/ of "cot" and "hock" from the /aw/ of "caught"
>and "hawk", but do I have an unusual speech pattern in which most people's
>/ahr/ is  converted to /awr/?

Not by me.  I make these and all the distinctions you point out in this
post in the same way.  I was born & raised in Nebraska, of parents born &
raised in Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas & Nebraska.  [You didn't mention
"warsh" (for "wash"), which I had until I consciously suppressed it
sometime in my teens.  That /ar/ is a little more like "warm" than "arm."]
A. Murie