Hockey

[James Harbeck]

>Speaking of hockey, and the COT/CAUGHT merger, I distinctly remember
>a radio announcer in Chicago during the Glenn Hall/Bobby Hull/Pierre
>Pilote/Stan Mikita days, probably an ex-player, and therefore, at
>that time almost certainly Canadian, who talked always about the
>"Black Hocks" with a vowel that approximated those of my friends in
>"hocks" (not "hawks"), i. e. a pretty front /a/.  What I've heard
>Canadians do, on the whole, is use something like the Chicago vowel
>in "hawks" in both.  Are there any regions in Canada that routinely
>unround and/or front the merged vowel?

I think you could get unrounding (in fact, for most Canadians it's
only middling round at best, I'd say), but I'd be a bit surprised by
significant fronting. But I don't have data ready to hand. The link
Tom Zurinskas posted might give you some indication -- I haven't gone
through it all.

James Harbeck.

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