/or/ distinctions

[D. Ezra Johnson]

I spent some time in Crowley, Louisiana (near Lafayette) and I taught high
school there. I can report that the /or/ ~ /ohr/ distinction is universal
there.

However, for some of the speakers, /or/ is very close to /ahr/, since the
local /ahr/ is very far back.

To my ears, when they said "four" it sounded pretty 'normal'.
Their pronunciation of "for" sounded like how I say "far".
Their pronunciation of "far" was lower and backer than my "far".

I do believe that some speakers preserved the three-way distinction, which
is rather unusual in a completely rhotic dialect.

Dan
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