pronounced as /notice/English diphthongs have undergone many changes since the Old and Middle English periods. The sound changes discussed here involved at least one phoneme which historically was a diphthong.
Old English diphthongs could be short or long. Both kinds arose from sound changes occurring in Old English itself, although the long forms sometimes also developed from Proto-Germanic diphthongs. They were mostly of the height-harmonic type (both elements at the same height) with the second element further back than the first. The set of diphthongs that occurred depended on dialect (and their exact pronunciation is in any case uncertain). Typical diphthongs are considered to have been as follows:
As with monophthongs, the length of the diphthongs was not indicated in spelling, but in modern editions of OE texts the long forms are often written with a macron: (īo), (īe), (ēo), (ēa).
In the transition from Old to Middle English, all of these diphthongs generally merged with monophthongs.
Although the Old English diphthongs merged into monophthongs, Middle English began to develop a new set of diphthongs. Many of these came about through vocalization of the palatal approximant pronounced as //j// (usually from an earlier pronounced as //ʝ//) or the labio-velar approximant pronounced as //w// (sometimes from an earlier voiced velar fricative pronounced as /[ɣ]/), when they followed a vowel. For example:
Diphthongs also arose as a result of vowel breaking before pronounced as //h// (which had allophones pronounced as /[x]/ and pronounced as /[ç]/ in this position – for the subsequent disappearance of these sounds, see h-loss). For example:
The diphthongs that developed by these processes also came to be used in many loanwords, particularly those from Old French. For a table showing the development of the Middle English diphthongs, see Middle English phonology (diphthong equivalents).
Early Middle English had two separate diphthongs pronounced as //ɛj// and pronounced as //aj//. The vowel pronounced as //ɛj// was typically represented orthographically with "ei" or "ey", and the vowel pronounced as //aj// was typically represented orthographically with "ai" or "ay". These came to be merged, perhaps by the fourteenth century. The merger is reflected in all dialects of present-day English.
In early Middle English, before the merger, way and day, which came from Old English weġ and dæġ had pronounced as //ej// and pronounced as //aj// respectively. Similarly, vein and vain (borrowings from French) were pronounced differently as pronounced as //vejn// and pronounced as //vajn//. After the merger, vein and vain were homophones, and way and day rhymed.
The merged vowel was a diphthong, something like pronounced as //ɛj// or pronounced as //æj//. Later (around the 1800s) this diphthong would merge in most dialects with the monophthong of words like pane in the pane–pain merger.
The English of southeastern England around 1400 had seven diphthongs, of which three ended in pronounced as //j//:
and four ended in pronounced as //w//:
Typical spellings are as in the examples above. The spellings eu and ew are both pronounced as //ɪw// and pronounced as //ɛw//, and the spellings oi and oy are used for both pronounced as //ɔj// and pronounced as //ʊj//. The most common words with ew pronounced pronounced as //ɛw// were dew, few, hew, lewd, mew, newt, pewter, sew, shew (show), shrew, shrewd and strew. Words in which pronounced as //ʊj// was commonly used included boil, coin, destroy, join, moist, point, poison, soil, spoil, Troy, turmoil and voice, although there was significant variation.
By the mid-16th century, the Great Vowel Shift had created two new diphthongs out of the former long close monophthongs pronounced as //iː// and pronounced as //uː// of Middle English. The diphthongs were pronounced as //əɪ// as in tide, and pronounced as //əʊ// as in house. Thus, the English of south-eastern England could then have had nine diphthongs.
By the late 16th century, the inventory of diphthongs had been reduced as a result of several developments, all of which took place in the mid-to-late 16th century:
That left pronounced as //ɪu//, pronounced as //ɔɪ//, pronounced as //ʊɪ//, pronounced as //əɪ// and pronounced as //əʊ// as the diphthongs of south-eastern England.
By the late 17th century, these further developments had taken place in the dialect of south-eastern England:
The changes above caused only the diphthongs pronounced as //aɪ//, pronounced as //aʊ// and pronounced as //ɔɪ// to remain.
In the 18th century or later, the monophthongs pronounced as //eː/ and /oː// (the products of the pane–pain and toe–tow mergers) became diphthongal in Standard English. That produced the vowels pronounced as //eɪ// and pronounced as //oʊ//. In RP, the starting point of the latter diphthong has now become more centralized and is commonly written pronounced as //əʊ//.
RP has also developed centering diphthongs pronounced as //ɪə//, pronounced as //eə//, pronounced as //ʊə//, as a result of breaking before /r/ and the loss of pronounced as //r// when it is not followed by another vowel (see English-language vowel changes before historic pronounced as //r//). They occur in words like near, square and cure.
Present-day RP is thus normally analyzed as having eight diphthongs: the five closing diphthongs pronounced as //eɪ//, pronounced as //əʊ//, pronounced as //aɪ//, pronounced as //aʊ//, pronounced as //ɔɪ// (of face, goat, price, mouth and choice) and the three centering diphthongs pronounced as //ɪə//, pronounced as //eə//, pronounced as //ʊə//. General American does not have the centering diphthongs (at least, not as independent phonemes). For more information, see English phonology (vowels).
The coil–curl or oil–earl merger is a vowel merger that historically occurred in some non-rhotic dialects of American English, making both pronounced as //ə// and pronounced as //ɔɪ// become pronounced as //əɪ//. This is strongly associated with New York City English and New Orleans English, but only the latter has any modern presence of the feature.
The cot–coat merger is a phenomenon exhibited by some speakers of Zulu English in which the phonemes pronounced as //ɒ// and pronounced as //oʊ// are not distinguished, making "cot" and "coat" homophones. Zulu English often also has a cot-caught merger, so that sets like "cot", "caught" and "coat" can be homophones.[2]
This merger can also be found in some broad Central Belt Scottish English accents. The merger of both sounds into pronounced as //o// is standard in Central Scots.
The line–loin merger is a merger between the diphthongs pronounced as //aɪ// and pronounced as //ɔɪ// that occurs in some accents of Southern English English, Hiberno-English, Newfoundland English, and Caribbean English. Pairs like line and loin, bile and boil, imply and employ are homophones in merging accents.
| aisle | oil | pronounced as /ˈɑɪl/ | |
| ally | alloy | pronounced as /ˈælɑɪ/ | |
| bile | boil | pronounced as /ˈbɑɪl/ | |
| buy | boy | pronounced as /ˈbɑɪ/ | |
| by | boy | pronounced as /ˈbɑɪ/ | |
| bye | boy | pronounced as /ˈbɑɪ/ | |
| buy | buoy | pronounced as /ˈbɑɪ/ | |
| by | buoy | pronounced as /ˈbɑɪ/ | |
| bye | buoy | pronounced as /ˈbɑɪ/ | |
| divide | devoid | pronounced as /dɪˈvɑɪd/ | |
| dried | droid | pronounced as /ˈdrɑɪd/ | |
| file | foil | pronounced as /ˈfɑɪl/ | |
| fire | foyer | pronounced as /ˈfɑɪə(r)/ | |
| grind | groined | pronounced as /ˈɡrɑɪnd/ | |
| guy | goy | pronounced as /ˈɡɑɪ/ | |
| heist | hoist | pronounced as /ˈhɑɪst/ | |
| hi | hoy | pronounced as /ˈhɑɪ/ | |
| high | hoy | pronounced as /ˈhɑɪ/ | |
| I | oi | pronounced as /ˈɑɪ/ | |
| I | oy | pronounced as /ˈɑɪ/ | |
| I'll | oil | pronounced as /ˈɑɪl/ | |
| imply | employ | pronounced as /ɪmˈplɑɪ/ | |
| isle | oil | pronounced as /ˈɑɪl/ | |
| Jain | join | pronounced as /ˈdʒɑɪn/ | |
| Kai | coy | pronounced as /ˈkɑɪ/ | |
| Kai | koi | pronounced as /ˈkɑɪ/ | |
| kine | coin | pronounced as /ˈkɑɪn/ | |
| Kyle | coil | pronounced as /ˈkɑɪl/ | |
| liar | lawyer | pronounced as /ˈlɑɪə(r)/ | |
| lied | Lloyd | pronounced as /ˈlɑɪd/ | |
| line | loin | pronounced as /ˈlɑɪn/ | |
| Lyle | loyal | pronounced as /ˈlɑɪəl/ | |
| lyre | lawyer | pronounced as /ˈlɑɪə(r)/ | |
| mile | moil | pronounced as /ˈmɑɪl/ | |
| nighs | noise | pronounced as /ˈnɑɪz/ | |
| Nile | noil | pronounced as /ˈnɑɪl/ | |
| pie | poi | pronounced as /ˈpɑɪ/ | |
| pies | poise | pronounced as /ˈpɑɪz/ | |
| pint | point | pronounced as /ˈpɑɪnt/ | |
| ply | ploy | pronounced as /ˈplɑɪ/ | |
| psi | soy | pronounced as /ˈsɑɪ/ | |
| quite | quoit | pronounced as /ˈkwɑɪt/ | |
| ride | roid | pronounced as /ˈrɑɪd/ | |
| rile | roil | pronounced as /ˈrɑɪl/ | |
| rile | royal | pronounced as /ˈrɑɪəl/ | |
| rye | Roy | pronounced as /ˈrɑɪ/ | |
| sigh | soy | pronounced as /ˈsɑɪ/ | |
| sire | sawyer | pronounced as /ˈsɑɪə(r)/ | |
| sire | soya | pronounced as /ˈsɑɪə/ | |
| Thai | toy | pronounced as /ˈtɑɪ/ | |
| tide | toyed | pronounced as /ˈtɑɪd/ | |
| tie | toy | pronounced as /ˈtɑɪ/ | |
| tile | toil | pronounced as /ˈtɑɪl/ | |
| try | Troy | pronounced as /ˈtrɑɪ/ | |
| vice | voice | pronounced as /ˈvɑɪs/ | |
| vied | void | pronounced as /ˈvɑɪd/ | |
| wry | Roy | pronounced as /ˈrɑɪ/ |
The earliest stage of Early Modern English had a contrast between the long mid monophthongs pronounced as //eː, oː// (as in pane and toe respectively) and the diphthongs pronounced as //ɛj, ɔw// (as in pain and tow respectively). In the vast majority of Modern English accents these have been merged, so that the pairs pane–pain and toe–tow are homophones. These mergers are grouped together by Wells as the long mid mergers. All accents with the pane–pain merger have the toe–tow merger and vice versa.
The pane–pain merger is a merger of the long mid monophthong pronounced as //eː// and the diphthong pronounced as //eɪ// that occurs in most dialects of English. In the vast majority of Modern English accents, the vowels have been merged; whether the outcome is monophthongal or diphthongal depends on the accent. However, in a few regional accents, including some in East Anglia, South Wales, and even Newfoundland and older Maine accents, the merger has not gone through (at least not completely) and so pairs like pane-pain are distinct.
A distinction, with the pane words pronounced with pronounced as /[eː]/ and the pain words pronounced with pronounced as /[æɪ]/, survived in Norfolk English into the 20th century. Trudgill describes the disappearance of the distinction in Norfolk: "This disappearance was being effected by the gradual and variable transfer of lexical items from the set of pronounced as //eː// to the set of pronounced as //æɪ// as part of dedialectalisation process, the end-point of which will soon be (a few speakers even today maintain a vestigial and variable distinction) the complete merger of the two lexical sets under pronounced as //æɪ// — the completion of a slow process of lexical diffusion."[3]
Walters (2001) reports the survival of the distinction in the Welsh English spoken in the Rhondda Valley, with pronounced as /[eː]/ in the pane words and pronounced as /[ɛi]/ in the pain words.
In accents that preserve the distinction, the phoneme pronounced as //ei// is usually represented by the spellings ai, ay, ei and ey as in day, play, rain, pain, maid, rein, they etc. and the phoneme pronounced as //eː// is usually represented by aCe as in pane, plane, lane, late etc. and sometimes by é and e as in re, café, Santa Fe etc.
| ade | aid | pronounced as /ˈeɪd/ | |
| ale | ail | pronounced as /ˈeɪl/ | |
| ate | eight | pronounced as /ˈeɪt/ | |
| bale | bail | pronounced as /ˈbeɪl/ | |
| bade | bayed | pronounced as /ˈbeɪd/ | |
| blare | Blair | pronounced as /ˈbleə(r)/ | |
| blaze | Blaise | pronounced as /ˈbleɪz/ | |
| cane | Cain | pronounced as /ˈkeɪn/ | |
| clade | clayed | pronounced as /ˈkleɪd/ | |
| Clare | Claire | pronounced as /ˈkleə(r)/ | |
| bate | bait | pronounced as /ˈbeɪt/ | |
| Daly | daily | pronounced as /ˈdeɪli/ | |
| Dane | deign | pronounced as /ˈdeɪn/ | |
| daze | days | pronounced as /ˈdeɪz/ | |
| e'er | air | pronounced as /ˈeə(r)/ | |
| e'er | heir | pronounced as /ˈeə(r)/ | |
| ere | air | pronounced as /ˈeə(r)/ | |
| ere | heir | pronounced as /ˈeə(r)/ | |
| fane | fain | pronounced as /ˈfeɪn/ | |
| fare | fair | pronounced as /ˈfeə(r)/ | |
| faze | fays | pronounced as /ˈfeɪz/ | |
| flare | flair | pronounced as /ˈfleə(r)/ | |
| gale | Gail | pronounced as /ˈɡeɪl/ | |
| gate | gait | pronounced as /ˈɡeɪt/ | |
| gaze | gays | pronounced as /ˈɡeɪz/ | |
| glave | glaive | pronounced as /ˈɡleɪv/ | |
| grade | grayed | pronounced as /ˈɡreɪd/ | |
| graze | grays | pronounced as /ˈɡreɪz/ | |
| hale | hail | pronounced as /ˈheɪl/ | |
| hare | hair | pronounced as /ˈheə(r)/ | |
| haze | hays | pronounced as /ˈheɪz/ | |
| haze | heys | pronounced as /ˈheɪz/ | |
| lade | laid | pronounced as /ˈleɪd/ | |
| lane | lain | pronounced as /ˈleɪn/ | |
| laze | lays | pronounced as /ˈleɪz/ | |
| made | maid | pronounced as /ˈmeɪd/ | |
| Mae | May | pronounced as /ˈmeɪ/ | |
| male | pronounced as /ˈmeɪl/ | ||
| mane | main | pronounced as /ˈmeɪn/ | |
| maze | maize | pronounced as /ˈmeɪz/ | |
| maze | Mays | pronounced as /ˈmeɪz/ | |
| page | Paige | pronounced as /ˈpeɪdʒ/ | |
| pale | pail | pronounced as /ˈpeɪl/ | |
| pane | pain | pronounced as /ˈpeɪn/ | |
| pare | pair | pronounced as /ˈpeə(r)/ | |
| pear | pair | pronounced as /ˈpeə(r)/ | |
| phase | fays | pronounced as /ˈfeɪz/ | |
| phrase | frays | pronounced as /ˈfreɪz/ | |
| plane | plain | pronounced as /ˈpleɪn/ | |
| plate | plait | pronounced as /ˈpleɪt/ | |
| Rae | ray | pronounced as /ˈreɪ/ | |
| raze | raise | pronounced as /ˈreɪz/ | |
| raze | rays | pronounced as /ˈreɪz/ | |
| razor | raiser | pronounced as /ˈreɪzə(r)/ | |
| re | ray | pronounced as /ˈreɪ/ | |
| sale | sail | pronounced as /ˈseɪl/ | |
| sane | sain | pronounced as /ˈseɪn/ | |
| sane | seine | pronounced as /ˈseɪn/ | |
| sane | Seine | pronounced as /ˈseɪn/ | |
| spade | spayed | pronounced as /ˈspeɪd/ | |
| stare | stair | pronounced as /ˈsteə(r)/ | |
| suede | swayed | pronounced as /ˈsweɪd/ | |
| tale | tail | pronounced as /ˈteɪl/ | |
| there | their | pronounced as /ˈðeə(r)/ | |
| there | they're | pronounced as /ˈðeə(r)/ | |
| trade | trayed | pronounced as /ˈtreɪd/ | |
| vale | vail | pronounced as /ˈveɪl/ | |
| vale | veil | pronounced as /ˈveɪl/ | |
| vane | vain | pronounced as /ˈveɪn/ | |
| vane | vein | pronounced as /ˈveɪn/ | |
| wade | weighed | pronounced as /ˈweɪd/ | |
| wale | wail | pronounced as /ˈweɪl/ | |
| wales | wails | pronounced as /ˈweɪlz/ | |
| Wales | wails | pronounced as /ˈweɪlz/ | |
| wane | wain | pronounced as /ˈweɪn/ | |
| wane | Wayne | pronounced as /ˈweɪn/ | |
| waste | waist | pronounced as /ˈweɪst/ | |
| wave | waive | pronounced as /ˈweɪv/ | |
| waver | waiver | pronounced as /ˈweɪv/ | |
| whale | wail | pronounced as /ˈweɪl/ |
The toe–tow merger is a merger of the Early Modern English vowels pronounced as //oː// (as in toe) and pronounced as //ou// (as in tow) that occurs in most dialects of English. (The vowels in Middle English and at the beginning of the Early Modern English period were pronounced as //ɔː// and pronounced as //ɔw// respectively, and they shifted in the second phase of the Great Vowel Shift.)
The merger occurs in the vast majority of Modern English accents; whether the outcome is monophthongal or diphthongal depends on the accent. The traditional phonetic transcription for General American and earlier Received Pronunciation in the 20th century is pronounced as //oʊ//, a diphthong. But in a few regional accents, including some in Northern England, East Anglia and South Wales, the merger has not gone through (at least not completely), so that pairs like toe and tow, moan and mown, groan and grown, sole and soul, throne and thrown are distinct.
In 19th century England, the distinction was still very widespread; the main areas with the merger were in the northern Home Counties and parts of the Midlands.
The distinction is most often preserved in East Anglian accents, especially in Norfolk. Peter Trudgill[3] discusses this distinction, and states that "...until very recently, all Norfolk English speakers consistently and automatically maintained the nose-knows distinction... In the 1940s and 1950s, it was therefore a totally unremarkable feature of Norfolk English shared by all speakers, and therefore of no salience whatsoever."
In a recent investigation into the English of the Fens, young people in west Norfolk were found to be maintaining the distinction, with back pronounced as /[ʊu]/ or pronounced as /[ɤʊ]/ in the toe set and central pronounced as /[ɐʉ]/ in the tow set, with the latter but not the former showing the influence of Estuary English.
Walters[4] Some other speakers may keep the contrast, so that rod is pronounced as //rɑd// and ride is pronounced as //rad//.
This is similar to an earlier sound change where Proto-Germanic *ai shifted to Old English ā.
| ah | eye | pronounced as /ˈa/ | ||
| ah | I | pronounced as /ˈa/ | ||
| baa | buy | pronounced as /ˈba/ | ||
| baa | by | pronounced as /ˈba/ | ||
| baa | bye | pronounced as /ˈba/ | ||
| blot | blight | pronounced as /ˈblat/ | ||
| bock | bike | pronounced as /ˈbak/ | ||
| bod | bide | pronounced as /ˈbad/ | ||
| bot | bight | pronounced as /ˈbat/ | ||
| bot | bite | pronounced as /ˈbat/ | ||
| box | bikes | pronounced as /ˈbaks/ | ||
| con | kine | pronounced as /ˈkan/ | ||
| cot | kite | pronounced as /ˈkat/ | ||
| doc | dike | pronounced as /ˈdak/ | ||
| dock | dike | pronounced as /ˈdak/ | ||
| dom | dime | pronounced as /ˈdam/ | ||
| Dom | dime | pronounced as /ˈdam/ | ||
| don | dine | pronounced as /ˈdan/ | ||
| Don | dine | pronounced as /ˈdan/ | ||
| fa | fie | pronounced as /ˈfa/ | ||
| far | fire | pronounced as /ˈfar/ | ||
| grom | grime | pronounced as /ˈgram/ | ||
| ha | high | pronounced as /ˈha/ | ||
| hock | hike | pronounced as /ˈhak/ | ||
| hot | height | pronounced as /ˈhat/ | ||
| jar | gyre | pronounced as /ˈdʒar/ | ||
| job | gibe, jibe | pronounced as /ˈdʒab/ | ||
| knot | knight | pronounced as /ˈnat/ | ||
| knot | night | pronounced as /ˈnat/ | ||
| la | lie | pronounced as /ˈla/ | ||
| la | lye | pronounced as /ˈla/ | ||
| lock | like | pronounced as /ˈlak/ | ||
| lot | light, lite | pronounced as /ˈlat/ | ||
| lox | likes | pronounced as /ˈlaks/ | ||
| ma | my | pronounced as /ˈma/ | ||
| mar | mire | pronounced as /ˈmar/ | ||
| mock | mic | pronounced as /ˈmak/ | ||
| mock | Mike | pronounced as /ˈmak/ | ||
| mom | mime | pronounced as /ˈmam/ | ||
| motte | might | pronounced as /ˈmat/ | ||
| motte | mite | pronounced as /ˈmat/ | ||
| nah | nigh | pronounced as /ˈna/ | ||
| nah | pronounced as /ˈna/ | |||
| not | knight | pronounced as /ˈnat/ | ||
| not | night | pronounced as /ˈnat/ | ||
| odd | ide | pronounced as /ˈad/ | ||
| odds | ides | pronounced as /ˈadz/ | ||
| ox | Ike's | pronounced as /ˈaks/ | ||
| pa | pi | pronounced as /ˈpa/ | ||
| pa | pie | pronounced as /ˈpa/ | ||
| par | pyre | pronounced as /ˈpar/ | ||
| pock | pike | pronounced as /ˈpak/ | ||
| pod | pied | pronounced as /ˈpad/ | ||
| plod | plied | pronounced as /ˈplad/ | ||
| plot | plight | pronounced as /ˈplat/ | ||
| pop | pipe | pronounced as /ˈpap/ | ||
| pox | pikes | pronounced as /ˈpaks/ | ||
| prod | pride | pronounced as /ˈprad/ | ||
| prod | pried | pronounced as /ˈprad/ | ||
| prom | prime | pronounced as /ˈpram/ | ||
| rah | rye | pronounced as /ˈra/ | ||
| roc | Reich | pronounced as /ˈrak/ | ||
| rock | Reich | pronounced as /ˈrak/ | ||
| rod | ride | pronounced as /ˈrad/ | ||
| ROM | rime | pronounced as /ˈram/ | ||
| ROM | rhyme | pronounced as /ˈram/ | ||
| rot | right | pronounced as /ˈrat/ | ||
| rot | rite | pronounced as /ˈrat/ | ||
| scrod | scried | pronounced as /ˈskrad/ | ||
| shah | shy | pronounced as /ˈʃa/ | ||
| shod | shied | pronounced as /ˈʃad/ | ||
| slot | sleight | pronounced as /ˈslat/ | ||
| slot | slight | pronounced as /ˈslat/ | ||
| sock | psych | pronounced as /ˈsak/ | ||
| sod | side | pronounced as /ˈsad/ | ||
| sod | sighed | pronounced as /ˈsad/ | ||
| sot | sight | pronounced as /ˈsat/ | ||
| spa | spy | pronounced as /ˈspa/ | ||
| spar | spire | pronounced as /ˈspar/ | ||
| spot | spite | pronounced as /ˈspat/ | ||
| strop | stripe | pronounced as /ˈstrap/ | ||
| swan | swine | pronounced as /ˈswan/ | ||
| swap | swipe | pronounced as /ˈswap/ | ||
| ta | tie | pronounced as /ˈta/ | ||
| tar | tire, tyre | pronounced as /ˈtar/ | ||
| tod | tide | pronounced as /ˈtad/ | ||
| tod | tied | pronounced as /ˈtad/ | ||
| Todd | tide | pronounced as /ˈtad/ | ||
| Todd | tied | pronounced as /ˈtad/ | ||
| tom | time | pronounced as /ˈtam/ | ||
| tom | thyme | pronounced as /ˈtam/ | ||
| Tom | time | pronounced as /ˈtam/ | ||
| Tom | thyme | pronounced as /ˈtam/ | ||
| top | type | pronounced as /ˈtap/ | ||
| tot | tight | pronounced as /ˈtat/ | ||
| trod | tried | pronounced as /ˈtrad/ | ||
| trot | trite | pronounced as /ˈtrat/ | ||
| wad | why'd | pronounced as /ˈwad/ | With wine-whine merger. | |
| wad | wide | pronounced as /ˈwad/ | ||
| watt | white | pronounced as /ˈwat/ | With wine-whine merger. | |
| watt | wight | pronounced as /ˈwat/ |
Smoothing of pronounced as //aɪ.ə// is a process that occurs in many varieties of British English where bisyllabic pronounced as //aɪ.ə// becomes the triphthong pronounced as //aɪə// in certain words with pronounced as //aɪ.ə//. As a result, "scientific" is pronounced pronounced as //saɪənˈtɪf.ɪk// with three syllables and "science" is pronounced pronounced as //ˈsa(ɪ)əns// with one syllable.[5]
Reports of Maine English in the 1970s reported a similar toad-towed distinction among older speakers, but was lost in subsequent generations.
In accents that preserve the distinction, the phoneme descended from Early Modern English pronounced as //ou// is usually represented by the spellings ou, and ow as in soul, dough, tow, know, though etc. or through L-vocalization as in bolt, cold, folk, roll etc., while that descended from Early Modern English pronounced as //oː// is usually represented by oa, oe, or oCe as in boat, road, toe, doe, home, hose, go, tone etc.
| Bo | bow | pronounced as /ˈboʊ/ | |
| bode | bowed | pronounced as /ˈboʊd/ | |
| borne | bourn(e) | pronounced as /ˈboə(r)n/ | |
| borne | Bourne | pronounced as /ˈboə(r)n/ | |
| coaled | cold | pronounced as /ˈkoʊld/ | |
| coarse | course | pronounced as /ˈkoə(r)s/ | |
| do (note) | dough | pronounced as /ˈdoʊ/ | |
| doe | dough | pronounced as /ˈdoʊ/ | |
| doze | doughs | pronounced as /ˈdoʊz/ | |
| floe | flow | pronounced as /ˈfloʊ/ | |
| foaled | fold | pronounced as /ˈfoʊld/ | |
| fore | four | pronounced as /ˈfoə(r)/ | |
| forth | fourth | pronounced as /ˈfoə(r)θ/ | |
| fro | frow | pronounced as /ˈfroʊ/ | |
| froe | frow | pronounced as /ˈfroʊ/ | |
| froze | frows | pronounced as /ˈfroʊz/ | |
| groan | grown | pronounced as /ˈɡroʊn/ | |
| holed | hold | pronounced as /ˈhoʊld/ | |
| moan | mown | pronounced as /ˈmoʊn/ | |
| mode | mowed | pronounced as /ˈmoʊd/ | |
| Moe | mow | pronounced as /ˈmoʊ/ | |
| no | know | pronounced as /ˈnoʊ/ | |
| nose | knows | pronounced as /ˈnoʊz/ | |
| O | owe | pronounced as /ˈoʊ/ | |
| ode | owed | pronounced as /ˈoʊd/ | |
| oh | owe | pronounced as /ˈoʊ/ | |
| pole | poll | pronounced as /ˈpoʊl/ | |
| pore | pour | pronounced as /ˈpoə(r)/ | |
| road | rowed | pronounced as /ˈroʊd/ | |
| rode | rowed | pronounced as /ˈroʊd/ | |
| roe | row | pronounced as /ˈroʊ/ | |
| role | roll | pronounced as /ˈroʊl/ | |
| rose | rows | pronounced as /ˈroʊz/ | |
| shone | shewn | pronounced as /ˈʃoʊn/ | |
| shone | shown | pronounced as /ˈʃoʊn/ | |
| so | sew | pronounced as /ˈsoʊ/ | |
| so | sow | pronounced as /ˈsoʊ/ | |
| sole | soul | pronounced as /ˈsoʊl/ | |
| soled | sold | pronounced as /ˈsoʊld/ | |
| soled | souled | pronounced as /ˈsoʊld/ | |
| throe | throw | pronounced as /ˈθroʊ/ | |
| throne | thrown | pronounced as /ˈθroʊn/ | |
| toad | towed | pronounced as /ˈtoʊd/ | |
| toe | tow | pronounced as /ˈtoʊ/ | |
| toed | towed | pronounced as /ˈtoʊd/ | |
| tole | toll | pronounced as /ˈtoʊl/ |
The mare–mayor merger occurs in British English and the Philadelphia - Baltimore dialect, and among scattered other American English speakers. The process has bisyllabic pronounced as //eɪ.ər// pronounced with a centering diphthong as in pronounced as //eər// in many words. Such varieties pronounce mayor as pronounced as //ˈmeə(r)//, homophonous with mare.
North American English accents with the merger allow it to affect also sequences without pronounced as //r// since some words with the pronounced as //eɪ.ə// sequence merge with pronounced as //eə//, which is associated with /æ/ tensing before nasal consonants. The best-known examples are mayonnaise (pronounced as //ˈmeəneɪz~ˈmæneɪz//), crayon pronounced as //kreən~kræn//, and Graham (pronounced as //greəm~ɡræm//, a homophone of gram).
| bare | Bayer | pronounced as /ˈbeə(r)/ | |
| flare | flayer | pronounced as /ˈfleə(r)/ | |
| flair | flayer | pronounced as /ˈfleə(r)/ | |
| gram, gramme | Graham | pronounced as /ˈɡreəm/ | |
| lair | layer | pronounced as /ˈleə(r)/ | |
| mare | mayor | pronounced as /ˈmeə(r)/ | |
| pair | payer | pronounced as /ˈpeə(r)/ | |
| pare | payer | pronounced as /ˈpeə(r)/ | |
| pear | payer | pronounced as /ˈpeə(r)/ | |
| prayer | prayer | pronounced as /ˈpreə(r)/ | |
| stare | stayer | pronounced as /ˈsteə(r)/ | |
| sware | swayer | pronounced as /ˈsweə(r)/ | |
| swear | swayer | pronounced as /ˈsweə(r)/ | |
| there | they're | pronounced as /ˈðeə(r)/ |
The pride–proud merger is a merger of the diphthongs pronounced as //aɪ// and pronounced as //aʊ// before voiced consonants into monophthongal pronounced as //a// occurring for some speakers of African American Vernacular English; making pride and proud, dine and down, find and found, etc. homophones. Some speakers with this merger may also have the rod–ride merger hence having a three–way merger of pronounced as //ɑ//, pronounced as //aɪ// and pronounced as //aʊ// before voiced consonants, making pride, prod, and proud and find, found and fond homophones.
| bi | bough | pronounced as /ˈba/ | ||
| bi | bow | pronounced as /ˈba/ | ||
| bide | bowed | pronounced as /ˈbad/ | ||
| bight | bout | pronounced as /ˈbat/ | ||
| bite | bout | pronounced as /ˈbat/ | ||
| brine | brown | pronounced as /ˈbran/ | ||
| buy | bough | pronounced as /ˈba/ | ||
| buy | bow | pronounced as /ˈba/ | ||
| by | bough | pronounced as /ˈba/ | ||
| by | bow | pronounced as /ˈba/ | ||
| bye | bough | pronounced as /ˈba/ | ||
| bye | bow | pronounced as /ˈba/ | ||
| chai | chow | pronounced as /ˈtʃa/ | ||
| Clyde | cloud | pronounced as /ˈklad/ | ||
| dine | down | pronounced as /ˈdan/ | ||
| dire | dour | pronounced as /ˈda(ə)r/ | ||
| dyne | down | pronounced as /ˈdan/ | ||
| file | foul | pronounced as /ˈfal/ | ||
| file | fowl | pronounced as /ˈfal/ | ||
| find | found | pronounced as /ˈfand/ | ||
| fined | found | pronounced as /ˈfand/ | ||
| flight | flout | pronounced as /ˈflat/ | ||
| Giles | jowls | pronounced as /ˈdʒalz/ | ||
| hi | how | pronounced as /ˈha/ | ||
| high | how | pronounced as /ˈha/ | ||
| hind | hound | pronounced as /ˈhand/ | ||
| I | ow | pronounced as /ˈa/ | ||
| I'll | owl | pronounced as /ˈal/ | ||
| ire | hour | pronounced as /ˈa(ə)r/ | ||
| ire | our | pronounced as /ˈa(ə)r/ | ||
| isle | owl | pronounced as /ˈal/ | ||
| Kai | cow | pronounced as /ˈka/ | ||
| Kyle | cowl | pronounced as /ˈkal/ | ||
| liar | lour | pronounced as /ˈla(ə)r/ | ||
| lice | louse | pronounced as /ˈlas/ | ||
| lied | loud | pronounced as /ˈlad/ | ||
| light | lout | pronounced as /ˈlat/ | ||
| lite | lout | pronounced as /ˈlat/ | ||
| lyre | lour | pronounced as /ˈla(ə)r/ | ||
| lyse | louse | pronounced as /ˈlas/ | ||
| mice | mouse | pronounced as /ˈmas/ | ||
| mind | mound | pronounced as /ˈmand/ | ||
| mined | mound | pronounced as /ˈmand/ | ||
| nigh | now | pronounced as /ˈna/ | ||
| nine | noun | pronounced as /ˈnan/ | ||
| Nye | now | pronounced as /ˈna/ | ||
| phial | foul | pronounced as /ˈfa(ə)l/ | With vile-vial merger. | |
| phial | fowl | pronounced as /ˈfa(ə)l/ | With vile-vial merger. | |
| ply | plow; plough | pronounced as /ˈpla/ | ||
| pride | proud | pronounced as /ˈprad/ | ||
| pried | proud | pronounced as /ˈprad/ | ||
| pries | prows | pronounced as /ˈpraz/ | ||
| prise | prows | pronounced as /ˈpraz/ | ||
| prize | prows | pronounced as /ˈpraz/ | ||
| pry | prow | pronounced as /ˈpra/ | ||
| pyre | power | pronounced as /ˈpa(ə)r/ | ||
| ride | rowed | pronounced as /ˈrad/ | ||
| right | rout | pronounced as /ˈrat/ | ||
| right | route | pronounced as /ˈrat/ | ||
| rind | round | pronounced as /ˈrand/] | ||
| rise | rouse | pronounced as /ˈraz/ | ||
| rise | rows | pronounced as /ˈraz/ | ||
| rite | rout | pronounced as /ˈrat/ | ||
| rite | route | pronounced as /ˈrat/ | ||
| rye | row | pronounced as /ˈra/ | ||
| ryes | rouse | pronounced as /ˈraz/ | ||
| sai | sow | pronounced as /ˈsa/ | ||
| sigh | sow | pronounced as /ˈsa/ | ||
| signed | sound | pronounced as /ˈsand/] | ||
| sire | sour | pronounced as /ˈsa(ə)r/ | ||
| size | sows | pronounced as /ˈsaz/ | ||
| sly | slough | pronounced as /ˈsla/ | ||
| thy | thou | pronounced as /ˈða/ | ||
| tie | tau | pronounced as /ˈta/ | ||
| tight | tout | pronounced as /ˈtat/ | ||
| tine | town | pronounced as /ˈtan/ | ||
| trite | trout | pronounced as /ˈtat/ | ||
| Ty | tau | pronounced as /ˈta/ | ||
| vie | vow | pronounced as /ˈva/ | ||
| why | wow | pronounced as /ˈwa/ | With wine-whine merger. | |
| wise | wows | pronounced as /ˈwaz/ | ||
| Y; wye | wow | pronounced as /ˈwa/ |
The rod–ride merger is a merger of pronounced as //ɑ// and pronounced as //aɪ// occurring for some speakers of Southern American English and African American Vernacular English, in which rod and ride are merged as pronounced as //rad//.