LL-L "Phonology" 2005.05.23 (04) [E]

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From: Críostóir Ó Ciardha <paada_please at yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: LL-L "Phonology" 2005.05.21 (10) [E]


Ron wrote:
"I've also noticed other newer trends. Low-stress /au/ (as in "bout") sounds
more "Canadian"..."

A quick question for the professional linguists on the list.

I have often wondered why US English speakers parrot this Canadian
shibboleth as if it is [y] or [u:]. Whenever I hear actual Canadians
pronouncing this it sounds very much more like [o:]. Hence Canadian "about"
is to me identical to "a boat" but nowhere near "a boot" as Americans would
have us believe.

Why do Americans hear [u:] and myself - whose native sound range is
Nottingham English / Cornish English - [o:] for this disputed phoneme? I
have raised this with my Australian-accented wife and my Irish-accented
friends and they all hear [o:], not [u:]. So what's happening?

Go raibh maith agat,

Criostóir.

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