Hoarse, four, mourning etc.

[Geoff Nathan]

As others have noted, the 'horse:hoarse' contrast has been extensively discussed on this list, and in the dialectological literature. It is one of a small number of similar examples ('boar:bore, board:bored' for example) that continue to contrast in parts of the midwest and southern US. A competent discussion can be found here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English-language_vowel_changes_before_historic_r#Horse-hoarse_merger


unfortunately there are no sound samples for the contrast. The OED says that RP still distinguishes them as a contrast between long open-o and open-o schwa. I believe this has disappeared, however.


The other two (for:four, morning:mourning) are identical in all contemporary dialects I'm aware of, and their etymologies suggest that they fell together long ago (the former), or were never different (the latter, at least from Middle English times). There is some dispute about this, however.


Geoff

Geoffrey S. Nathan
Faculty Liaison, C&IT
and Associate Professor, Linguistics Program
+1 (313) 577-1259 (C&IT)
+1 (313) 577-8621 (English/Linguistics)

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