Boston/Worcester "cahn't"

[Arnold Zwicky]

On Mar 9, 2009, at 6:38 AM, Amy West wrote:

> I've probably asked this before, so if someone is patient enough to
> explain it to me again, very slowly, using small words, you can
> e-mail me directly instead of bothering the whole list.
>
> What rule is it that is governing the lengthening of  "a" in "can't"?

the wikipedia article isn't at all bad:
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonological_history_of_English_short_A

the short answer is: before f s T ns nt nC nd, but not in all such
words.  the phonetics of the lengthened ash (also the words affected)
varies from region to region in which the shift is manifested
(southern british english, boston area english, southern hemisphere
english).

> I hear it out hear in some Worcester pronunciations and it really
> jumps out at my foreign ear. Why is it happening?

presumably it developed from an allophonic lengthening of ash before
these syllable-coda consonants.

arnold

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