[Lexicog] laxing before L

[Chaz and Helga Mortensen]

> Yes, I first heard it with /i/ also -- notably in the exclamation "Rilly"
> (really), where the lax V was often quite prolonged.

CM: I have pronounced 'really' as "rilly" most of my life. But there was a
time when my brother started pronouncing it as "reelly". I thought he was
copying someone on a certain comedy album, but he kept pronouncing it that
way.

> The backer and lower vowels seemed to come later but are quite definitely
part of the phenomenon.
> The earliest manifestations at my university were in the speech of urban,
> caucasian, female students from Johnson County, Kansas, a set of
well-to-do
> suburbs of Kansas City, MO.  I'm sure it must have begun on the "left
coast"
> like most other such features.

CM: Others have mentioned 'cool' being pronounced as "kyewl"; my teenage
daughter even writes it that way. But I haven't heard 'fool' as "full" and
so on; it may be limited to certain lexical items. I remember my college
years (early 80s) when a number of female students were pronouncing 'no' as
"nayo" (copying the left coast) instead of "nou", as it is usually
pronounced in my home area.



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