ont/ahnt (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Dan Goodman]

David Wake wrote:
> Wikipedia has an article on the 'father-bother merger":
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonological_history_of_English_low_back_vowels#Father-bother_merger
>
> According to Wells, it's only in Newfoundland, Eastern New England and
> (partly) New York City that they are distinguished within North
> America.  Outside North America (including the Caribbean) they are
> distinguished by all native accents of English.

I distinguish them, and I'm not from any of those regions.  It's
possible that the Hudson Valley Dialect has undergone that change since
my childhood.  (1950s, Ulster County NY.)


--
Dan Goodman
"I have always depended on the kindness of stranglers."
Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Expire
Journal dsgood.dreamwidth.org (livejournal.com, insanejournal.com)

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