fronted /oU/

[Nathan H Brown]

I've heard that fronted /oU/ sound in several dialects. It's the sound
used in standard British speech. In America, I've heard it in southern
New Jersey, Philadelphia and Baltimore. I've also heard it in West
Virginia, from a 30-year-old or so contestant on "Who Wants to Be a
Millionaire." His parents, though, used the General American /oU/. DARE
says that it's a Philadelphia/Baltimore/Pittsburgh/eastern North Carolina
feature that has been spreading; maybe it has been spreading in West
Virginia. Ainsley is supposed to be from North Carolina; she could be
from the eastern part of the state. A friend of mine from Kansas City
says she's never used the sound or heard it in Kansas City; I guess it's
not heard in that part of Missouri.