[Ads-l] "almond" [' ɔːmənd]

[David Barnhart]

World Book Dictionary (Clarence L. Barnhart, ed.) has four pronunciations:

Initial vowel: low front and low central but not low back.
"lateral" consonant: -l and +l

Regards,
David


-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Mark Mandel
Sent: Wednesday, May 25, 2016 12:43 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: "almond" ['ɔːmənd]

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Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Poster:       Mark Mandel <thnidu at GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      "almond" ['=?UTF-8?Q?=C9=94=CB=90m=C9=99nd=5D?=
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Totally unscientifically:

Sitting in a restaurant, I just heard "almond" repeatedly pronounced ['=C9=94=CB=90m=C9=99nd], with a relatively open [=C9=94]. I don't recall h= earing that pronunciation before, only [=C9=91=CB=90], [=C9=91l], and, I think, [=C3=A6= l].

The speakers, at another table behind me, are apparently college age, both male and female. The location, for what it's worth, is west Philadelphia, the area known as University City; so there's no telling where they're from, and I can't hear enough enough of their conversation to guess. Blame the cocktail party effect:  My last name means 'almond', and I was contemplating the almond croissants in the pastry case.

And oh, heck, they've just left. I also heard them mention "vowels", and I was hoping that would be enough of a common interest to excuse my asking them.

Mark Mandel

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