An epiphany of sorts.. cot/caught merger
What prompted me to write was that I took this new meme that's been going around called What American Accent Do You Have?. It's just 13 simple questions. I was stumped on the question asking about the pronunciation of "stock" and "stalk." At first I marked them as having the same pronunciations in my accent, but there was a nagging feeling after I had submitted the test. Well, it turns out that after saying these words to myself over and over again , I decided that I do pronounce these words differently. I have also found that the same vowel in "stalk" and "caught" is the same from the vowels in awe, law, talk, chalk, walk, etc. but different from cot, hot, pot, lot, mop, etc.
What's weird is that I've apparently long perceived these words to have the same vowel sound. And thus I've been telling people these past few years that cot and caught have merged for me*. I guess this is why I was confused. Is this the case with any of you?
Back to my confusion... I think I was confused because the vowels are similar; cot is [kat] while caught is [kɑt]. My pronunciation of these two words is similar to that found in this recording (not my voice).
I have always associated the pronunciation of "caught" in the NJ/NY/PA (I've lived in NJ for a few years as a kid) accent as being more "o"-like or rounded; perhaps [kɔt]? Is this right?
I quizzed my parents, who both immigrated to Northern California from the Philippines as pre-teens (they sound American..). Thinking that I picked up this pronunciation from the east coast, to pronounce cot and caught similarly. To my surprise, they pronounced it like I do and claimed that everyone pronounces it like us, until I had my younger brothers and my sister-in-law pronounce those words.
I've also considered the possibility of Philippine English as having some influence. My grandmother, for example, pronounces caught in her thick Filipino accent as [kot].
In any case, for those of you on the east coast or elsewhere, I want to know if the vowel in "law" is the same as the vowel in "caught."
So if you have anything to add/share, I'd love to hear from you.
*And here I am, the huge language nerd that I am, excited that I'm not affected by the merger!
What's weird is that I've apparently long perceived these words to have the same vowel sound. And thus I've been telling people these past few years that cot and caught have merged for me*. I guess this is why I was confused. Is this the case with any of you?
Back to my confusion... I think I was confused because the vowels are similar; cot is [kat] while caught is [kɑt]. My pronunciation of these two words is similar to that found in this recording (not my voice).
I have always associated the pronunciation of "caught" in the NJ/NY/PA (I've lived in NJ for a few years as a kid) accent as being more "o"-like or rounded; perhaps [kɔt]? Is this right?
I quizzed my parents, who both immigrated to Northern California from the Philippines as pre-teens (they sound American..). Thinking that I picked up this pronunciation from the east coast, to pronounce cot and caught similarly. To my surprise, they pronounced it like I do and claimed that everyone pronounces it like us, until I had my younger brothers and my sister-in-law pronounce those words.
I've also considered the possibility of Philippine English as having some influence. My grandmother, for example, pronounces caught in her thick Filipino accent as [kot].
In any case, for those of you on the east coast or elsewhere, I want to know if the vowel in "law" is the same as the vowel in "caught."
So if you have anything to add/share, I'd love to hear from you.
*And here I am, the huge language nerd that I am, excited that I'm not affected by the merger!