Rhoticity in English

Rhoticity in English is the pronunciation of the historical rhotic consonant /r/ in all contexts by speakers of certain varieties of English. The presence or absence of rhoticity is one of the most prominent distinctions by which varieties of English can be classified. In rhotic varieties, the historical English /r/ sound is preserved in all pronunciation contexts. In non-rhotic varieties, speakers no longer pronounce /r/ in postvocalic environments—that is, when it is immediately after a vowel and not followed by another vowel.[1][2] For example, a rhotic English speaker pronounces the words hard and butter as /ˈhɑːrd/ and /ˈbʌtər/, whereas a non-rhotic speaker "drops" or "deletes" the /r/ sound, pronouncing them as /ˈhɑːd/ and /ˈbʌtə/.[lower-alpha 1] When an r is at the end of a word but the next word begins with a vowel, as in the phrase "tuner amp", most non-rhotic speakers will pronounce the /r/ in that position (the linking R), since it is followed by a vowel in this case. Not all non-rhotic varieties use the linking R; for example, it is absent in non-rhotic varieties of Southern American English.[5]

For the quality of realization of English phoneme /r/ among dialects, see Pronunciation of English /r/.

The rhotic varieties of English include the dialects of Scotland, Ireland, and most of the United States and Canada. The non-rhotic varieties include most of the dialects of modern England, Wales, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. In some varieties, such as those of some parts of the southern and northeastern United States,[6][2] rhoticity is a sociolinguistic variable: postvocalic r is deleted depending on an array of social factors such as the speaker's age, social class, ethnicity or the degree of formality of the speech event.

Evidence from written documents suggests that loss of postvocalic /r/ began sporadically during the mid-15th century, although these /r/-less spellings were uncommon and were restricted to private documents, especially ones written by women.[2] In the mid-18th century, postvocalic /r/ was still pronounced in most environments, but by the 1740s to 1770s it was often deleted entirely, especially after low vowels. By the early 19th century, the southern British standard was fully transformed into a non-rhotic variety, though some variation persisted as late as the 1870s.[7] This loss of postvocalic /r/ in British English influenced southern and eastern American port cities with close connections to Britain, causing their upper-class pronunciation to become non-rhotic while the rest of the United States remained rhotic.[8] Non-rhotic pronunciation continued to influence American prestige speech until the 1860s, when the American Civil War began to shift America's centers of wealth and political power to rhotic areas with fewer cultural connections to the old colonial and British elites.[9] The advent of radio and television in the 20th century established a national standard of American pronunciation that preserves historical /r/, with rhotic speech in particular becoming prestigious in the United States rapidly after the Second World War.[10]

History

England

Red areas indicate where rural English accents were rhotic in the 1950s.[11]

Red areas are where English dialects of the late 20th century were rhotic.[12]

The earliest traces of a loss of /r/ in English appear in the early 15th century and occur before coronal consonants, especially /s/, giving modern "ass (buttocks)" (Old English ears, Middle English ers or ars), and "bass (fish)" (OE bærs, ME bars).[2] A second phase of /r/-loss began during the 15th century, and was characterized by sporadic and lexically variable deletion, such as monyng "morning" and cadenall "cardinal".[2] These /r/-less spellings appear throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, but are uncommon and are restricted to private documents, especially ones written by women.[2] No English authorities describe loss of /r/ in the standard language prior to the mid-18th century, and many do not fully accept it until the 1790s.[2]

During the mid-17th century, a number of sources describe /r/ as being weakened but still present.[13] The English playwright Ben Jonson's English Grammar, published posthumously in 1640, records that /r/ was "sounded firme in the beginning of words, and more liquid in the middle, and ends."[7] The next major documentation of the pronunciation of /r/ appears a century later in 1740, when the British author of a primer for French students of English said: "...in many words r before a consonant is greatly softened, almost mute, and slightly lengthens the preceding vowel".[14]

By the 1770s, postvocalic /r/-less pronunciation was becoming common around London even in more formal, educated speech. The English actor and linguist John Walker used the spelling ar to indicate the long vowel of aunt in his 1775 rhyming dictionary.[4] In his influential Critical Pronouncing Dictionary and Expositor of the English Language (1791), Walker reported, with a strong tone of disapproval, that "... the r in lard, bard, [...] is pronounced so much in the throat as to be little more than the middle or Italian a, lengthened into baa, baad...."[7] Americans returning to England after the end of the American Revolutionary War in 1783 reported surprise at the significant changes in fashionable pronunciation.[15]

By the early 19th century, the southern British standard was fully transformed into a non-rhotic variety, though it continued to be variable as late as the 1870s.[7] The extent of rhoticity across England in the mid-19th century is summarized as widespread in the book New Zealand English: its Origins and Evolution:

[T]he only areas of England ... for which we have no evidence of rhoticity in the mid-nineteenth century lie in two separate corridors. The first runs south from the North Riding of Yorkshire through the Vale of York into north and central Lincolnshire, nearly all of Nottinghamshire, and adjacent areas of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, and Staffordshire. The second includes all of Norfolk, western Suffolk and Essex, eastern Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire, Middlesex, and northern Surrey and Kent.[16]

North America

The loss of postvocalic /r/ in the British prestige standard in the late 18th and early 19th centuries influenced American port cities with close connections to Britain, and caused upper-class pronunciation in many eastern and southern port cities such as New York City, Boston, Alexandria, Charleston, and Savannah to become non-rhotic.[8] Like regional dialects in England, the accents of other areas in America remained rhotic in a display of linguistic "lag" that preserved the original pronunciation of /r/.[8]

Non-rhotic pronunciation continued to influence American prestige speech until the 1860s, when the American Civil War shifted America's centers of wealth and political power to areas with fewer cultural connections to the old colonial and British elite.[9] This largely removed the prestige associated with non-rhotic pronunciation in America, so that when the advent of radio and television in the 20th century established a national standard of American pronunciation, it became a rhotic variety that preserves historical /r/.[9] This trend seems to have accelerated after the Second World War.[10]

Modern pronunciation

In most non-rhotic accents, if a word ending in written "r" is followed immediately by a word beginning with a vowel, the /r/ is pronounced—as in water ice. This phenomenon is referred to as "linking R". Many non-rhotic speakers also insert an epenthetic /r/ between vowels when the first vowel is one that can occur before syllable-final r (drawring for drawing). This so-called "intrusive R" has been stigmatized, but nowadays many speakers of Received Pronunciation (RP) frequently "intrude" an epenthetic /r/ at word boundaries, especially where one or both vowels is schwa; for example the idea of it becomes the idea-r-of it, Australia and New Zealand becomes Australia-r-and New Zealand, the formerly well-known India-r-Office and "Laura Norder" (Law and Order). The typical alternative used by RP speakers (and some rhotic speakers as well) is to insert a glottal stop where an intrusive R would otherwise be placed.[17][18]

For non-rhotic speakers, what was historically a vowel plus /r/ is now usually realized as a long vowel. This is called compensatory lengthening, lengthening that occurs after the elision of a sound. So in RP and many other non-rhotic accents card, fern, born are pronounced [kɑːd], [fɜːn], [bɔːn] or similar (actual pronunciations vary from accent to accent). This length may be retained in phrases, so while car pronounced in isolation is [kɑː], car owner is [ˈkɑːrəʊnə]. But a final schwa usually remains short, so water in isolation is [wɔːtə]. In RP and similar accents the vowels /iː/ and /uː/ (or /ʊ/), when followed by r, become diphthongs ending in schwa, so near is [nɪə] and poor is [pʊə], though these have other realizations as well, including monophthongal ones; once again, the pronunciations vary from accent to accent. The same happens to diphthongs followed by R, though these may be considered to end in /ər/ in rhotic speech, and it is the /ər/ that reduces to schwa as usual in non-rhotic speech: tire said in isolation is [taɪə] and sour is [saʊə].[19] For some speakers, some long vowels alternate with a diphthong ending in schwa, so wear may be [wɛə] but wearing [ˈwɛːɹɪŋ].

The compensatory lengthening view is challenged by Wells, who states that during the seventeenth century stressed vowels followed by /r/ and another consonant or word boundary underwent a lengthening process known as Pre-R Lengthening. This process was not a compensatory lengthening process but an independent development, which explains why modern pronunciations feature both [ɜː] (bird, fur) and [ɜːr] (stirring, stir it) according to their positions: [ɜːr] was the regular outcome of the lengthening, which shortened to [ɜː] after R-Dropping in the eighteenth century; the lengthening involved 'mid and open short vowels', meaning that the lengthening of /ɑː/ in car was not a compensatory process due to R-Dropping.[20]

Even General American speakers commonly drop the /r/ in non-final unstressed syllables when another syllable in the same word also contains /r/; this may be referred to as R-dissimilation. Examples include the dropping of the first /r/ in the words surprise, governor and caterpillar. In more careful speech, however, the /r/ sounds are all retained.[21]

Distribution

Final post-vocalic /r/ in farmer in English rural dialects of the 1950s[22]

---

  [ə] (non-rhotic)

  [əʴ] (alveolar)

  [əʵ] (retroflex)

  [əʵː] (retroflex & long)

  [əʶ] (uvular)

  [ɔʶ] (back & rounded)

Rhotic accents include most varieties of Scottish English, Irish or Hiberno-English, North American English, Barbadian English, Indian English,[23] and Pakistani English.[24]

Non-rhotic accents include most varieties of English English, Welsh English, New Zealand English, Australian English, South African English and Trinidadian and Tobagonian English.

Semi-rhotic accents have also been studied, such as Jamaican English, in which r is pronounced (as in even non-rhotic accents) before vowels, but also in stressed monosyllables or stressed syllables at the ends of words (e.g. in "car" or "dare"); however, it is not pronounced at the end of unstressed syllables (e.g. in "water") or before consonants (e.g. "market").[25]

Variably rhotic accents are also widely documented, in which deletion of r (when not before vowels) is optional; in these dialects the probability of deleting r may vary depending on social, stylistic, and contextual factors. Variably rhotic accents comprise much of Caribbean English, for example, as spoken in Tobago, Guyana, Antigua and Barbuda, and the Bahamas.[26] They also include current-day New York City English,[27] New York Latino English, and some Boston English, as well as some varieties of Scottish English.[28]

Non-rhotic accents in the Americas include those of the rest of the Caribbean and Belize.

England

Though most English varieties in England are non-rhotic today, stemming from a trend toward this in southeastern England accelerating in the very late 18th century onwards, rhotic accents are still found in the West Country (south and west of a line from near Shrewsbury to around Portsmouth), the Corby area, some of Lancashire (north and west of the centre of Manchester), some parts of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, and in the areas that border Scotland. The prestige form, however, exerts a steady pressure toward non-rhoticity. Thus the urban speech of Bristol or Southampton is more accurately described as variably rhotic, the degree of rhoticity being reduced as one moves up the class and formality scales.[29]

Scotland

Most Scottish accents are rhotic, but non-rhotic speech has been reported in Edinburgh since the 1970s and Glasgow since the 1980s.[28]

United States

Red dots show major U.S. cities where the 2006 Atlas of North American English found 50% or higher non-rhotic speech in at least one white speaker within their data sample.[10] (Non-rhotic speech may be found in speakers of African-American English throughout the country.)

American English is predominantly rhotic today, but at the end of the 1800s non-rhotic accents were common throughout much of the coastal Eastern and Southern U.S., including along the Gulf Coast. In fact, non-rhotic accents were established in all major U.S. cities along the Atlantic coast except for the Delaware Valley area, with its early Scots-Irish influence, centered around Philadelphia and Baltimore. Since the American Civil War and even more intensely during the early to mid-1900s (presumably correlated with the Second World War),[10] rhotic accents began to gain social prestige nationwide, even in the aforementioned traditionally non-rhotic areas. Thus, non-rhotic accents are increasingly perceived by Americans as sounding foreign or less educated due to an association with working-class or immigrant speakers in Eastern and Southern cities, while rhotic accents are increasingly perceived as sounding more "General American".[30]

Today, non-rhoticity in the American South is found primarily among older speakers, and only in some areas such as central and southern Alabama; Savannah, Georgia; and Norfolk, Virginia,[6] as well as in the Yat accent of New Orleans. The local dialects of eastern New England, especially Boston, Massachusetts, extending into the states of Maine and (less so) New Hampshire, show some non-rhoticity, as well as the traditional Rhode Island dialect; however, this feature has been receding in the recent generations. The New York City dialect is traditionally non-rhotic, though William Labov more precisely classifies its current form as variably rhotic,[31] with many of its sub-varieties now fully rhotic, such as in northeastern New Jersey.

African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) is largely non-rhotic, and in some non-rhotic Southern and AAVE accents, there is no linking r, that is, /r/ at the end of a word is deleted even when the following word starts with a vowel, so that "Mister Adams" is pronounced [mɪstə(ʔ)ˈædəmz].[32] In a few such accents, intervocalic /r/ is deleted before an unstressed syllable even within a word when the following syllable begins with a vowel. In such accents, pronunciations like [kæəˈlaːnə] for Carolina, or [bɛːˈʌp] for "bear up" are heard.[33] This pronunciation also occurs in AAVE[34] and also occurred for many older non-rhotic Southern speakers.[35]

Typically, even non-rhotic modern varieties of American English pronounce the /r/ in /ɜr/ (as in "bird," "work," or "perky") and realize it, as in most rhotic varieties, as [ɚ] (listen) (an r-colored mid central vowel) or [əɹ] (a sequence of a mid central vowel and a postalveolar or retroflex approximant).

Canada

Canadian English is entirely rhotic except for small isolated areas in southwestern New Brunswick, parts of Newfoundland, and the Lunenburg English variety spoken in Lunenburg and Shelburne Counties, Nova Scotia, which may be non-rhotic or variably rhotic.[36]

Ireland

The prestige form of English spoken in Ireland is rhotic and most regional accents are rhotic although some regional accents, particularly in the area around counties Louth and Cavan are notably non-rhotic and many non-prestige accents have touches of non-rhoticity. In Dublin, the traditional local dialect is largely non-rhotic but the more modern varieties, referred to by Hickey as "mainstream Dublin English" and "fashionable Dublin English", are fully rhotic. Hickey used this as an example of how English in Ireland does not follow prestige trends in England.[37]

Asia

The English spoken in Asia is predominantly rhotic. Many varieties of Indian English are rhotic owing to the underlying phonotactics of the native Indo-Aryan and Dravidian languages[23] whilst some tend to be non-rhotic. In the case of the Philippines, this may be explained because the English that is spoken there is heavily influenced by the American dialect. In addition, many East Asians (in Mainland China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan) who have a good command of English generally have rhotic accents because of the influence of American English. This excludes Hong Kong, whose RP English dialect is a result of its almost 150-year history as a British Crown colony (and later, a British dependent territory). The lack of consonant /r/ in Cantonese also contributes to the phenomenon (although rhoticity started to exist due to the handover in 1997 and influence by US and East Asian entertainment industry). However, many older (and younger) speakers among South and East Asians have a non-rhotic accent.

Other Asian regions with non-rhotic English are Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei.[38] A typical Malaysian's English would be almost totally non-rhotic due to the nonexistence of rhotic endings in both languages of influence, whereas a more educated Malaysian's English may be non-rhotic due to Standard Malaysian English being based on RP (Received Pronunciation). The classical English spoken in Brunei is non-rhotic. But one current change that seems to be taking place is that Brunei English is becoming rhotic, partly influenced by American English and partly influenced by the rhoticity of Standard Malay, also influenced by languages of Indians in Brunei (Tamil and Punjabi) (rhoticity is also used by Chinese Bruneians), although English in neighboring Malaysia, Singapore, and Australia remains non-rhotic; rhoticity in Brunei English is equal to Philippine and Indian dialects of English and Scottish and Irish dialects. Non-rhoticity is mostly found in older generations, its phenomenon is almost similar to the status of American English, wherein non-rhoticity reduced greatly.[39][40]

A typical teenager's Southeast Asian English would be rhotic,[41] mainly because of prominent influence by American English.[41] Spoken English in Myanmar is non-rhotic, but there are a number of English speakers with a rhotic or partially rhotic pronunciation. Sri Lankan English may be rhotic.

Africa

The English spoken in most of Africa is based on RP and is generally non-rhotic. Pronunciation and variation in African English accents are largely affected by native African language influences, level of education and exposure to Western influences. The English accents spoken in the coastal areas of West Africa are primarily non-rhotic as are the underlying varieties of Niger-Congo languages spoken in that part of West Africa. Rhoticity may be present in English spoken in areas where rhotic Afro-Asiatic or Nilo Saharan languages are spoken across northern West Africa and in the Nilotic regions of East Africa. More modern trends show an increasing American influence on African English pronunciation particularly among younger urban affluent populations, where the American rhotic 'r' may be over-stressed in informal communication to create a pseudo-Americanised accent. By and large official spoken English used in post colonial African countries is non-rhotic. Standard Liberian English is also non-rhotic because liquids are lost at the end of words or before consonants.[42] South African English is mostly non-rhotic, especially Cultivated dialect based on RP, except for some Broad varieties spoken in the Cape Province (typically in -er suffixes, as in writer). It appears that postvocalic /r/ is entering the speech of younger people under the influence of American English, and maybe an influence of Scottish dialect brought by Scottish settlers.[43][44]

Australia

Standard Australian English is non-rhotic. A degree of rhoticity has been observed in a particular sublect of Australian Aboriginal English spoken on the coast of South Australia, especially in speakers from the Point Pearce and Raukkan settlements. These speakers realise /r/ as [ɹ] in the preconsonantal postvocalic position – after a vowel but before another a consonant – but only within stems. For example: [boːɹd] "board", [tʃɜɹtʃ] "church", [pɜɹθ] "Perth"; but [flæː] "flour", [dɒktə] "doctor", [jɪəz] "years". It has been speculated that this feature may derive from the fact that many of the first settlers in coastal South Australia – including Cornish tin-miners, Scottish missionaries, and American whalers – spoke rhotic varieties.[45]

New Zealand

Although New Zealand English is predominantly non-rhotic, Southland and parts of Otago in the far south of New Zealand's South Island are rhotic from apparent Scottish influence.[46] Older Southland speakers use /ɹ/ variably after vowels, but today younger speakers use /ɹ/ only with the NURSE vowel and occasionally with the LETTER vowel. Younger Southland speakers pronounce /ɹ/ in third term /ˌθɵːɹd ˈtɵːɹm/ (General NZE pronunciation: /ˌθɵːd ˈtɵːm/) but sometimes in farm cart /fɐːm kɐːt/ (same as in General NZE).[47] However, non-prevocalic /ɹ/ among non-rhotic speakers is sometimes pronounced in a few words, including Ireland /ˈɑɪɹlənd/, merely /ˈmiəɹli/, err /ɵːɹ/, and the name of the letter R /ɐːɹ/ (General NZE pronunciations: /ˈɑɪlənd, ˈmiəli, ɵː, ɐː/).[48] The Māori accent varies from the European-origin New Zealand accent; some Māori speakers are semi-rhotic like most white New Zealand speakers, although it is not clearly identified to any particular region or attributed to any defined language shift. The Māori language itself tends in most cases to use an r with an alveolar tap [ɾ], like Scottish dialect.[49]

Mergers characteristic of non-rhotic accents

Some phonemic mergers are characteristic of non-rhotic accents. These usually include one item that historically contained an R (lost in the non-rhotic accent), and one that never did so. The section below lists mergers in order of approximately decreasing prevalence.

Batted–battered merger

This merger is present in non-rhotic accents which have undergone the weak vowel merger. Such accents include Australian, New Zealand, most South African speech, and some non-rhotic English speech (e.g. Norfolk, Sheffield). The third edition of Longman Pronunciation Dictionary lists /əd/ (and /əz/ mentioned below) as possible (though less common than /ɪd/ and /ɪz/) British pronunciations, which means that the merger is an option even in RP.

A large number of homophonous pairs involve the syllabic -es and agentive -ers suffixes, such as merges-mergers and bleaches-bleachers. Because there are so many, they are excluded from the list of homophonous pairs below.

Homophonous pairs

/ɪ̈/	/ər/	IPA	Notes
batted	battered	ˈbætəd
betted	bettered	ˈbɛtəd
busted	bustard	ˈbʌstəd
butches	butchers	ˈbʊtʃəz
butted	buttered	ˈbʌtəd
charted	chartered	ˈtʃɑːtəd
chatted	chattered	ˈtʃætəd
founded	foundered	ˈfaʊndəd
humid	humo(u)red	ˈhjuːməd
masted	mastered	ˈmæstəd, ˈmɑːstəd
matted	mattered	ˈmætəd
modding	modern	ˈmɒdən	With G-dropping.
patted	pattered	ˈpætəd
patting	pattern	ˈpætən	With G-dropping.
satin	Saturn	ˈsætən
scatted	scattered	ˈskætəd
splendid	splendo(u)red	ˈsplɛndəd
tatted	tattered	ˈtætəd
tended	tendered	ˈtɛndəd
territory	terror tree	ˈtɛrətriː	With happy-tensing and in British and Southern Hemisphere English. In the US, territory is /ˈtɛrətɔːriː/.

Bud–bird merger

A merger of /ɜː(r)/ and /ʌ/ occurring for some speakers of Jamaican English making bud and bird homophones as /bʌd/.[50] The conversion of /ɜː/ to [ʌ] or [ə] is also found in places scattered around England and Scotland. Some speakers, mostly rural, in the area from London to Norfolk exhibit this conversion, mainly before voiceless fricatives. This gives pronunciation like first [fʌst] and worse [wʌs]. The word cuss appears to derive from the application of this sound change to the word curse. Similarly, lurve is coined from love.

Homophonous pairs

/ʌ/	/ɜːr/	IPA	Notes
blood	blurred	ˈblʌd
bub	burb	ˈbʌb
buck	Burke	ˈbʌk
Buckley	Berkeley	ˈbʌkli
bud	bird	ˈbʌd
bud	burred	ˈbʌd
budging	burgeon	ˈbʌdʒən	With weak vowel merger and G-dropping.
bug	berg	ˈbʌɡ
bug	burg	ˈbʌɡ
bugger	burger	ˈbʌɡə
bugging	bergen; Bergen	ˈbʌɡən	With weak vowel merger and G-dropping.
bummer	Burma	ˈbʌmə
bun	Bern	ˈbʌn
bun	burn	ˈbʌn
bunt	burnt	ˈbʌnt
bused; bussed	burst	ˈbʌst
bust	burst	ˈbʌst
but	Bert	ˈbʌt
but	Burt	ˈbʌt
butt	Bert	ˈbʌt
butt	Burt	ˈbʌt
button	Burton	ˈbʌtən
buzz	burrs	ˈbʌz
chuck	chirk	ˈtʃʌk
cluck	clerk	ˈklʌk
colo(u)r	curler	ˈkʌlə
coven	curving	ˈkʌvən	With weak vowel merger and G-dropping.
cub	curb	ˈkʌb
cub	kerb	ˈkʌb
cud	curd	ˈkʌd
cud	curred	ˈkʌd
cud	Kurd	ˈkʌd
cuddle	curdle	ˈkʌdəl
cuff you	curfew	ˈkʌfju
cull	curl	ˈkʌl
culler	curler	ˈkʌlə
cunning	kerning	ˈkʌnɪŋ
cuss	curse	ˈkʌs
cut	curt; Curt	ˈkʌt
cutting	curtain	ˈkʌtɪn	With G-dropping.
dost	durst	ˈdʌst
doth	dearth	ˈdʌθ
duck	dirk	ˈdʌk
ducked	dirked	ˈdʌkt
ducks	dirks	ˈdʌks
duct	dirked	ˈdʌkt
dust	durst	ˈdʌst
dux	dirks	ˈdʌks
fud	furred	ˈfʌd
fun	fern	ˈfʌn
fussed	first	ˈfʌst
fuzz	furs	ˈfʌz
gull	girl	ˈɡʌl
gully	girly	ˈɡʌli
gutter	girder	ˈɡʌɾə	With intervocalic alveolar flapping.
hub	herb	ˈ(h)ʌb	With or without H-dropping.
huck	Herc	ˈhʌk
huck	irk	ˈʌk	With H-dropping.
huddle	hurdle	ˈhʌdəl
hull	hurl	ˈhʌl
hum	herm	ˈhʌm
Hun	earn	ˈʌn	With H-dropping.
Hun	urn	ˈʌn	With H-dropping.
hush	Hirsch	ˈhʌʃ
hut	hurt	ˈhʌt
love	lurve	ˈlʌv
luck	lurk	ˈlʌk
lucks	lurks	ˈlʌks
lunt	learnt	ˈlʌnt
luxe	lurks	ˈlʌks
much	merch	ˈmʌtʃ
muck	merc	ˈmʌk
muck	mirk	ˈmʌk
muck	murk	ˈmʌk
muddle	myrtle	ˈmʌɾəl	With intervocalic alveolar flapping.
mudder	murder	ˈmʌdə
mull	merl	ˈmʌl
mutter	murder	ˈmʌɾə	With intervocalic alveolar flapping.
mutton	Merton	ˈmʌtən
oven	Irving	ˈʌvən	With weak vowel merger and G-dropping.
puck	perk	ˈpʌk
pudge	purge	ˈpʌdʒ
pup	perp	ˈpʌp
pus	purse	ˈpʌs
pussy (pus)	Percy	ˈpʌsi
putt	pert	ˈpʌt
scut	skirt	ˈskʌt
shuck	shirk	ˈʃʌk
spun	spurn	ˈspʌn
stud	stirred	ˈstʌd
such	search	ˈsʌtʃ
suck	cirque	ˈsʌk
suckle	circle	ˈsʌkəl
suffer	surfer	ˈsʌfə
sully	surly	ˈsʌli
Sutton	certain	ˈsʌtən	With weak vowel merger.
thud	third	ˈθʌd
ton(ne)	tern	ˈtʌn
ton(ne)	turn	ˈtʌn
tough	turf	ˈtʌf
tuck	Turk	ˈtʌk
tucks	Turks	ˈtʌks
Tuttle	turtle	ˈtʌtəl
tux	Turks	ˈtʌks
us	Erse	ˈʌs
wont	weren't	ˈwʌnt

Comma–letter merger

In the terminology of John C. Wells, this consists of the merger of the lexical sets comma and letter. It is found in all or nearly all non-rhotic accents,[51] and is even present in some accents that are in other respects rhotic, such as those of some speakers in Jamaica and the Bahamas.[51]

In some accents, syllabification may interact with rhoticity, resulting in homophones where non-rhotic accents have centering diphthongs. Possibilities include Korea–career,[52] Shi'a–sheer, and Maia–mire,[53] while skua may be identical with the second syllable of obscure.[54]

Homophonous pairs

/ə/	/ər/	IPA	Notes
Ana	honor	ˈɑːnə	With father-bother merger.
Anna	honor	ˈɑːnə	In American English, with father-bother merger. In the UK, Anna can be pronounced /ˈænə/.
area	airier	ˈɛəriə
Basia	basher	ˈbæʃə	In British English. In North America, Basia can be pronounced /ˈbɑːʃə/.
CAPTCHA	capture	ˈkæptʃə
Carla	collar	ˈkɑːlə	With god-guard merger.
Carta	Carter	ˈkɑːtə
cheetah	cheater	ˈtʃiːtə
Darla	dollar	ˈdɑlə	With god-guard merger.
Dinah	diner	ˈdaɪnə
coca	coker	ˈkoʊkə
coda	coder	ˈkoʊdə
cola	coaler	ˈkoʊlə
coma	comber	ˈkoʊmə
custody	custardy	ˈkʌstədi
data	dater	ˈdeɪtə
Dhaka	darker	ˈdɑːkə	In American English. In the UK, Dhaka is /ˈdækə/.
Easton	eastern	ˈiːstən
FEMA	femur	ˈfiːmə
Ghana	Garner	ˈɡɑːnə
Helena	Eleanor	ˈɛlənə	With h-dropping. Outside North America.
eta	eater	ˈiːtə
eyen	iron	ˈaɪən
feta	fetter	ˈfɛtə
formally	formerly	ˈfɔːməli
geta	getter	ˈɡɛtə
ion	iron	ˈaɪən
karma	calmer	ˈkɑːmə
kava	carver	ˈkɑːvə
Lena	leaner	ˈliːnə
Lima	lemur	ˈliːmə
Lisa	leaser	ˈliːsə
Luna	lunar	ˈl(j)uːnə
Maia	Meier	ˈmaɪə
Maia	mire	ˈmaɪə
Maya	Meier	ˈmaɪə
Maya	mire	ˈmaɪə
manna	manner	ˈmænə
manna	manor	ˈmænə
Marta	martyr	ˈmɑːtə
Mia	mere	ˈmɪə
miner	myna(h); mina(h)	ˈmaɪnə
minor	myna(h); mina(h)	ˈmaɪnə
Mona	moaner	ˈmoʊnə
Nia	near	ˈnɪə
Palma	palmer; Palmer	ˈpɑːmə
panda	pander	ˈpændə
parka	Parker	ˈpɑːkə
Parma	palmer; Palmer	ˈpɑːmə
Patton	pattern	ˈpætən
PETA	peter; Peter	ˈpiːtə
pharma	farmer	ˈfɑːmə
Pia	peer	ˈpɪə
Pia	pier	ˈpɪə
pita	peter; Peter	ˈpiːtə	"pita" may also be pronounced ˈpɪtə and therefore not merged
Rhoda	rotor	ˈroʊɾə	With intervocalic alveolar flapping.
Rita	reader	ˈriːɾə	With intervocalic alveolar flapping.
Roma	roamer	ˈroʊmə
rota	rotor	ˈroʊtə
Saba	sabre; saber	ˈseɪbə
schema	schemer	ˈskiːmə
Sia	sear	ˈsɪə
Sia	seer	ˈsɪə
seven	Severn	ˈsɛvən
soda	solder	ˈsoʊdə	"solder" may also be pronounced ˈsɒdə(r) and therefore not merged
soya	sawyer	ˈsɔɪə
Stata	starter	ˈstɑːtə	Stata is also pronounced /ˈstætə/ and /ˈsteɪtə/.
taiga	tiger	ˈtaɪɡə
terra; Terra	terror	ˈtɛrə
Tia	tear (weep)	ˈtɪə
tuba	tuber	ˈt(j)uːbə
tuna	tuner	ˈt(j)uːnə
Vespa	vesper	ˈvɛspə
via	veer	ˈvɪə
Wanda	wander	ˈwɒndə
Weston	western	ˈwɛstən
Wicca	wicker	ˈwɪkə

Dough–door merger

In Wells' terminology, this consists of the merger of the lexical sets GOAT and FORCE. It may be found in some southern U.S. non-rhotic speech, some speakers of African-American English, some speakers in Guyana and some Welsh speech.[51]

Homophonous pairs

/oʊ/	/oʊr/	IPA	Notes
beau	boar	ˈboʊ
beau	bore	ˈboʊ
bode	board	ˈboʊd
bode	bored	ˈboʊd
bone	borne	ˈboʊn
bone	Bourne	ˈboʊn
bow	boar	ˈboʊ
bow	bore	ˈboʊ
bowed	board	ˈboʊd
bowed	bored	ˈboʊd
chose	chores	ˈtʃoʊz
coast	coursed	ˈkoʊst
coat	court	ˈkoʊt
code	cored	ˈkoʊd
doe	door	ˈdoʊ
does	doors	ˈdoʊz
dough	door	ˈdoʊ
doze	doors	ˈdoʊz
floe	floor	ˈfloʊ
flow	floor	ˈfloʊ
foe	fore	ˈfoʊ
foe	four	ˈfoʊ
go	gore	ˈɡoʊ
goad	gored	ˈɡoʊd
hoe	whore	ˈhoʊ
hoed	hoard	ˈhoʊd
hoed	horde	ˈhoʊd
hoed	whored	ˈhoʊd
hoes	whores	ˈhoʊz
hose	whores	ˈhoʊz
lo	lore	ˈloʊ
load	lord; Lord	ˈloʊd
lode	lord; Lord	ˈloʊd
low	lore	ˈloʊ
moan	mourn	ˈmoʊn
Moe	Moore	ˈmoʊ
Moe	more	ˈmoʊ
Mona	mourner	ˈmoʊnə
mow	Moore	ˈmoʊ
mow	more	ˈmoʊ
mown	mourn	ˈmoʊn
O	oar	ˈoʊ
O	ore	ˈoʊ
ode	oared	ˈoʊd
oh	oar	ˈoʊ
oh	ore	ˈoʊ
owe	oar	ˈoʊ
owe	ore	ˈoʊ
owed	oared	ˈoʊd
Po	pore	ˈpoʊ
Po	pour	ˈpoʊ
Poe	pore	ˈpoʊ
Poe	pour	ˈpoʊ
poach	porch	ˈpoʊtʃ
poke	pork	ˈpoʊk
pose	pores	ˈpoʊz
pose	pours	ˈpoʊz
road	roared	ˈroʊd
rode	roared	ˈroʊd
roe	roar	ˈroʊ
rose	roars	ˈroʊz
row	roar	ˈroʊ
rowed	roared	ˈroʊd
sew	soar	ˈsoʊ
sew	sore	ˈsoʊ
sewed	soared	ˈsoʊd
sewed	sored	ˈsoʊd
sewed	sword	ˈsoʊd
shone	shorn	ˈʃoʊn
show	shore	ˈʃoʊ
shown	shorn	ˈʃoʊn
snow	snore	ˈsnoʊ
so	soar	ˈsoʊ
so	sore	ˈsoʊ
sow	soar	ˈsoʊ
sow	sore	ˈsoʊ
sowed	soared	ˈsoʊd
sowed	sored	ˈsoʊd
sowed	sword	ˈsoʊd
stow	store	ˈstoʊ
Thoth	tort	ˈtoʊt	With th-stopping.
toad	toward	ˈtoʊd
toe	tore	ˈtoʊ
toed	toward	ˈtoʊd
tone	torn	ˈtoʊn
tote	tort	ˈtoʊt
tow	tore	ˈtoʊ
towed	toward	ˈtoʊd
woe	wore	ˈwoʊ
whoa	wore	ˈwoʊ	With wine–whine merger.
yo	yore	ˈjoʊ
yo	your	ˈjoʊ

Face–square–near merger

The merger of the lexical sets FACE, SQUARE and NEAR is possible in Jamaican English and partially also in Northern East Anglian English. From a historical viewpoint, it is a complete absorption of /r/ into the preceding vowel (cf. father-farther merger and pawn-porn merger).

In Jamaica, the merger occurs after deletion of the postvocalic /r/ in a preconsonantal position, so that fade can be homophonous with feared as [feːd], but day [deː] is normally distinct from dear [deːɹ], though vowels in both words can be analyzed as belonging to the same phoneme (followed by /r/ in the latter case, so that the merger of FACE and SQUARE/NEAR does not occur). In Jamaican Patois, the merged vowel is an opening diphthong [iɛ] and that realization can also be heard in Jamaican English, mostly before a sounded /r/ (so that fare and fear can be both [feːɹ] and [fiɛɹ]), but sometimes also in other positions. Alternatively, /eː/ can be laxed to [ɛ] before a sounded /r/, which produces a variable Mary-merry merger: [fɛɹ].[55]

It is possible in northern East Anglian varieties (to [e̞ː]), but only in the case of items descended from ME /aː/, such as daze. Those descended from ME /ai/ (such as days) have a distinctive /æi/ vowel. It appears to be receding, as items descended from ME /aː/ are being transferred to the /æi/ class; in other words, a pane-pain merger is taking place. In the southern dialect area, the pane-pain merger is complete and all three vowels are distinct: FACE is [æi], SQUARE is [ɛː] and NEAR is [ɪə].[56]

A near-merger of FACE and SQUARE is possible in General South African English, but the vowels typically remain distinct as [eɪ] (for FACE) and [eː] (for SQUARE). The difference between the two phonemes is so subtle that they're [ðeː] can be misheard as they [ðeɪ] (see zero copula). In other varieties the difference can be greater, e.g. [ðeː] vs. [ðʌɪ] in Broad SAE and [ðɛə] vs. [ðeɪ] in the Cultivated variety. Even in General SAE, SQUARE can be [ɛə] or [ɛː], strongly distinguished from FACE [eɪ]. NEAR remains distinct in all varieties, typically as [ɪə].[57][58]

In the Cardiff dialect SQUARE can also be similar to cardinal [e] (though long [eː], as in South Africa), but FACE typically has a fully close ending point [ei] and thus the vowels are more distinct than in the General South African accent. An alternative realization of the former is an open-mid monophthong [ɛː]. Formerly, FACE was sometimes realized as a narrow diphthong [eɪ], but this has virtually disappeared by the 1990s. NEAR is phonemically distinct, normally as [iːə].[59]

In Geordie, the merger of FACE and NEAR is recessive and has never been categorical (SQUARE [ɛː] has always been a distinct vowel), as FACE can instead be pronounced as the closing diphthong [eɪ] or, more commonly, the close-mid front monophthong [eː]. The latter is the most common choice for younger speakers who tend to reject the centering diphthongs for FACE, which categorically undoes the merger for those speakers. Even when FACE is realized as an opening-centering diphthong, it may be distinguished from NEAR by the openness of the first element: [ɪə] or [eə] for FACE vs. [iə] for NEAR.[60][61][62]

Some of the words listed below may have different forms in traditional Geordie. For the sake of simplicity, the merged vowel is transcribed with ⟨eː⟩.

Homophonous pairs

/eɪ/ (from ME /aː/)	/eɪ/ (from other sources)	/eə/	/ɪə/	IPA	Notes
A	hay	hair	here	ˈeː	With h-dropping, in fully non-rhotic varieties.
A	hay	hare	here	ˈeː	With h-dropping, in fully non-rhotic varieties.
A	hey	hair	here	ˈeː	With h-dropping, in fully non-rhotic varieties.
A	hey	hare	here	ˈeː	With h-dropping, in fully non-rhotic varieties.
	aid	aired	eared	ˈeːd
	aid	hared	eared	ˈeːd	With h-dropping.
bade		bared	beard	ˈbeːd
bade		bared	beered	ˈbeːd
bade		beared	beard	ˈbeːd
bade		beared	beered	ˈbeːd
base			Bierce	ˈbeːs
bass			Bierce	ˈbeːs
	bay	bare	beer	ˈbeː	In fully non-rhotic varieties.
	bay	bear	beer	ˈbeː	In fully non-rhotic varieties.
	bays	bares	beers	ˈbeːz
	bays	bears	beers	ˈbeːz
	day	dare	dear	ˈdeː	In fully non-rhotic varieties.
	days	dares	dears	ˈdeːz
	days	theirs	dears	ˈdeːz	With th-stopping.
	days	there's	dears	ˈdeːz	With th-stopping.
face			fierce	ˈfeːs
fade		fared	feared	ˈfeːd
fade		faired	feared	ˈfeːd
	fay	fare	fear	ˈfeː	In fully non-rhotic varieties.
	fay	fair	fear	ˈfeː	In fully non-rhotic varieties.
	gay		gear	ˈɡeː	In fully non-rhotic varieties.
gaze	gays		gears	ˈɡeːz
	hay	hair	here	ˈheː	In fully non-rhotic varieties.
	hay	hare	here	ˈheː	In fully non-rhotic varieties.
haze	hays	airs	ears	ˈeːz	With h-dropping.
haze	hays	airs	here's	ˈeːz	With h-dropping.
haze	hays	hairs	ears	ˈeːz	With h-dropping.
haze	hays	hairs	here's	ˈheːz
haze	hays	hares	ears	ˈeːz	With h-dropping.
haze	hays	hares	here's	ˈheːz
haze	hays	heirs	ears	ˈeːz	With h-dropping.
haze	hays	heirs	here's	ˈeːz	With h-dropping.
	hey	hair	here	ˈheː	In fully non-rhotic varieties.
	hey	hare	here	ˈheː	In fully non-rhotic varieties.
jade			jeered	ˈdʒeːd
K	Kay	care	Keir	ˈkeː	In fully non-rhotic varieties.
K	Kay	care	kir	ˈkeː	In fully non-rhotic varieties.
	may	mare	mere	ˈmeː	In fully non-rhotic varieties.
maze	maize	mares	Mears	ˈmeːz
	nay		near	ˈneː	In fully non-rhotic varieties.
	nays		nears	ˈneːz
	paid	paired	peered	ˈpeːd
	pay	pair	peer	ˈpeː	In fully non-rhotic varieties.
	pay	pear	peer	ˈpeː	In fully non-rhotic varieties.
	pays	pairs	peers	ˈpeːz
	pays	pears	peers	ˈpeːz
	raid		reared	ˈreːd
	ray	rare	rear	ˈreː	In fully non-rhotic varieties.
raze	raise		rears	ˈreːz
raze	rays		rears	ˈreːz
shade		shared	sheered	ˈʃeːd
	shay	share	sheer	ˈʃeː	In fully non-rhotic varieties.
	shays	shares	sheers	ˈʃeːz
spade		spared	speared	ˈspeːd
stade	staid	stared	steered	ˈsteːd
stade	stayed	stared	steered	ˈsteːd
	stay	stare	steer	ˈsteː	In fully non-rhotic varieties.
	stays	stares	steers	ˈsteːz
	they	their		ˈðeː	In fully non-rhotic varieties.
	they	there		ˈðeː	In fully non-rhotic varieties.
	they	they're		ˈðeː	In fully non-rhotic varieties.
	way	wear	Wear	ˈweː	In fully non-rhotic varieties.
	way	wear	we're	ˈweː	In fully non-rhotic varieties.
	way	where	Wear	ˈweː	With the wine-whine merger, in fully non-rhotic varieties.
	way	where	we're	ˈweː	With the wine-whine merger, in fully non-rhotic varieties.
	ways	wears		ˈweːz
	ways	where's		ˈweːz	With the wine-whine merger.
	weigh	wear	Wear	ˈweː	In fully non-rhotic varieties.
	weigh	wear	we're	ˈweː	In fully non-rhotic varieties.
	weigh	where	Wear	ˈweː	With the wine-whine merger, in fully non-rhotic varieties.
	weigh	where	we're	ˈweː	With the wine-whine merger, in fully non-rhotic varieties.
wade	weighed	where'd		ˈweːd	With the wine-whine merger.
	weighs	wears		ˈweːz
	weighs	where's		ˈweːz	With the wine-whine merger.
	whey	wear	Wear	ˈweː	With the wine-whine merger, in fully non-rhotic varieties.
	whey	wear	we're	ˈweː	With the wine-whine merger, in fully non-rhotic varieties.
	whey	where	Wear	ˈweː	With the wine-whine merger, in fully non-rhotic varieties.
	whey	where	we're	ˈweː	With the wine-whine merger, in fully non-rhotic varieties.
vase			veers	ˈveːz

Father–farther and god–guard mergers

In Wells' terminology, the father–farther merger consists of the merger of the lexical sets PALM and START. It is found in the speech of the great majority of non-rhotic speakers, including those of England, Wales, the United States, the Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. It may be absent in some non-rhotic speakers in the Bahamas.[51]

Minimal pairs are rare in accents without the father-bother merger. In non-rhotic British English (especially the varieties without the trap-bath split) and, to a lesser extent, Australian English, /ɑː/ most commonly corresponds to /ɑːr/ in American English, therefore it is most commonly spelled with ⟨ar⟩. In most non-rhotic American English (that includes non-rhotic Rhode Island, New York City,[63] some Southern U.S.,[64] and some African-American accents),[65] the spelling ⟨o⟩ is equally common in non-word-final positions due to the aforementioned father-bother merger. Those accents have the god-guard merger (a merger of LOT and START) in addition to the father–farther merger, yielding a three-way homophony between calmer (when pronounced without /l/), comma and karma, though minimal triplets like this are scarce.

The middle column (which only contains words with a preconsonantal vowel) participates in the merger only in the case of North American accents. In other accents, those words have a distinct vowel /ɒ/.

Homophonous pairs

/ɑː/	/ɒ/ (in AmE)	/ɑːr/	IPA	Notes
ah	N/A	are	ˈɑː
ah	N/A	hour	ˈɑː	With smoothing.
ah	N/A	our	ˈɑː	With smoothing.
ah	N/A	R; ar	ˈɑː
alms		arms	ˈɑːmz
alms		harms	ˈɑːmz	With H-dropping.
Ana	honor	Arne	ˈɑːnə
aunt		aren't	ˈɑːnt	With the trap-bath split.
balmy		barmy	ˈbɑːmi
Bata		barter	ˈbɑːtə
bath		barf	ˈbɑːf	With the trap-bath split and th-fronting.
bath		Bart	ˈbɑːt	With the trap-bath split and th-stopping.
	bob; Bob	barb; Barb	ˈbɑːb
	bock	bark	ˈbɑːk
	bocks	barks	ˈbɑːks
	bocks	Berks	ˈbɑːks
	bod	bard	ˈbɑːd
	bod	barred	ˈbɑːd
	boff	barf	ˈbɑːf
	bot	Bart	ˈbɑːt
	box	barks	ˈbɑːks
	box	Berks	ˈbɑːks
calmer	comma	karma	ˈkɑːmə	Calmer can also be pronounced with /l/: /ˈkɑːlmə/.
calve		carve	ˈkɑːv	With the trap-bath split.
cast		karst	ˈkɑːst	With the trap-bath split.
caste		karst	ˈkɑːst	With the trap-bath split.
	cost	karst	ˈkɑːst
Chalmers		charmers	ˈtʃɑːməz
	clock	Clark; Clarke	ˈklɑːk
	clock	clerk	ˈklɑːk
	cob	carb	ˈkɑːb
	cod	card	ˈkɑːd
	collar	Carla	ˈkɑːlə
	collie	Carlie	ˈkɑːli
	cop	carp	ˈkɑːp
	cot	cart	ˈkɑːt
Dahmer		dharma	ˈdɑːmə
Dhaka	docker	darker	ˈdɑːkə	In American English. In the UK, Dhaka is /ˈdækə/.
	dock	dark	ˈdɑːk
	dollar	Darla	ˈdɑːlə
	dolling	darling	ˈdɑːlɪŋ
	don; Don	darn	ˈdɑːn
	dot	dart	ˈdɑːt
fa	N/A	far	ˈfɑː
fast		farced	ˈfɑːst	With the trap-bath split.
father		farther	ˈfɑːðə
Ghana	gonna	Garner	ˈɡɑːnə	With the strong form of gonna (which can be /ˈɡɔːnə/ or /ˈɡoʊɪŋ tuː/ instead).
	gob	garb	ˈɡɑːb
	gobble	garble	ˈɡɑːbəl
	god	garred	ˈɡɑːd
	god	guard	ˈɡɑːd
Hamm		harm	ˈhɑːm	In American English. In the UK, Hamm is /ˈhæm/.
	hock	hark	ˈhɑːk
	holly; Holly	Harley	ˈhɑːli
	hominy	harmony	ˈhɑːməni	With the weak vowel merger.
	hop	harp	ˈhɑːp
	hot	hart	ˈhɑːt
	hot	heart	ˈhɑːt
	hottie	hardy	ˈhɑːɾi	With intervocalic alveolar flapping.
	hottie	hearty	ˈhɑːɾi	Normally with intervocalic alveolar flapping.
	hough	hark	ˈhɑːk
	hovered	Harvard	ˈhɑːvəd
Jah	N/A	jar	ˈdʒɑː
Jahn		yarn	ˈjɑːn
Jan		yarn	ˈjɑːn	Jan can be /ˈjæn/ instead.
Ka	N/A	car	ˈkɑː
kava		carver	ˈkɑːvə
	knock	narc	ˈnɑːk
	knock	nark	ˈnɑːk
	knocks	narcs	ˈnɑːks
	knocks	narks	ˈnɑːks
	Knox	narcs	ˈnɑːks
	Knox	narks	ˈnɑːks
lava		larva	ˈlɑːvə
	lock	lark	ˈlɑːk
	Locke	lark	ˈlɑːk
	lodge	large	ˈlɑːdʒ
	lop	larp	ˈlɑːp
ma	N/A	mar	ˈmɑː
	mock	mark; Mark	ˈmɑːk
	mocks	marks; Mark's	ˈmɑːks
	mocks	Marx	ˈmɑːks
	mod	marred	ˈmɑːd
	modge	Marge	ˈmɑːdʒ
	moll; Moll	marl	ˈmɑːl
	molly; Molly	Marley	ˈmɑːli
	mosh	marsh	ˈmɑːʃ
	nock	narc	ˈnɑːk
	nock	nark	ˈnɑːk
	nocks	narcs	ˈnɑːks
	nocks	narks	ˈnɑːks
	Nox	narcs	ˈnɑːk
	Nox	narks	ˈnɑːk
	ox	arcs	ˈɑːks
	ox	arks	ˈɑːks
pa	N/A	par	ˈpɑː
Pali	polly; Polly	parley; Parley	ˈpɑːli
Palma		Parma	ˈpɑːmə
palmer; Palmer		Parma	ˈpɑːmə
passed		parsed	ˈpɑːst	With the trap-bath split.
past		parsed	ˈpɑːst	With the trap-bath split.
path		part	ˈpɑːt	With the trap-bath split and th-stopping.
	pock	park; Park	ˈpɑːk
	pocks	parks; Park's	ˈpɑːks
	pot	part	ˈpɑːt
	potch	parch	ˈpɑːtʃ
	potty	party	ˈpɑːɾi	Normally with intervocalic alveolar flapping.
	pox	parks; Park's	ˈpɑːks
	shod	shard	ˈʃɑːd
	shock	shark	ˈʃɑːk
	shop	sharp	ˈʃɑːp
	shopping	sharpen	ˈʃɑːpən	With the weak vowel merger and G-dropping.
ska	N/A	scar, SCAR	ˈskɑː
	sock	Sark	ˈsɑːk
	sod	Sard	ˈsɑːd
spa	N/A	spar, SPAR	ˈspɑː
	Spock	spark	ˈspɑːk
	spotter	Sparta	ˈspɑːɾə	Normally with intervocalic alveolar flapping.
Stata		starter	ˈstɑːtə
	stock	stark	ˈstɑːk
	tod	tard	ˈtɑːd
	tod	tarred	ˈtɑːd
	Todd	tard	ˈtɑːd
	Todd	tarred	ˈtɑːd
	top	tarp	ˈtɑːp
	tot	tart	ˈtɑːt
	yon	yarn	ˈjɑːn

Pawn–porn and caught–court mergers

In Wells' terminology, the pawn–porn merger consists of the merger of the lexical sets THOUGHT and NORTH. It is found in most of the same accents as the father–farther merger described above, but is absent from the Bahamas and Guyana.[51]

Labov et al. suggest that, in New York City English, this merger is present in perception not production. As in, although even locals perceive themselves using the same vowel in both cases, they tend to produce the NORTH/FORCE vowel higher and more retracted than the vowel of THOUGHT.[66]

Most speakers with the pawn-porn merger also have the same vowels in caught and court (a merger of THOUGHT and FORCE), yielding a three-way merger of awe-or-ore/oar (see horse-hoarse merger). These include the accents of Southern England, non-rhotic New York City speakers, Trinidad and the Southern hemisphere.

The lot-cloth split coupled with those mergers produces a few more homophones, such as boss–bourse. Specifically, the phonemic merger of the words often and orphan was a running gag in the Gilbert and Sullivan musical, The Pirates of Penzance.

In cockney and some Estuary English the merged THOUGHT-NORTH-FORCE vowel has split into what can be analyzed as two separate phonemes which Wells writes /oː/ and /ɔə/ - see THOUGHT split.

Homophonous pairs

/ɔː/	/ɔːr/	/oʊr/	IPA	Notes
alk	orc		ˈɔːk
auk	orc		ˈɔːk
aw	or	oar	ˈɔː
aw	or	ore	ˈɔː
awe	or	oar	ˈɔː
awe	or	ore	ˈɔː
awk	orc		ˈɔːk
balk	bork		ˈbɔːk
baud		board	ˈbɔːd
baud		bored	ˈbɔːd
bawd		board	ˈbɔːd
bawd		bored	ˈbɔːd
bawn	born	borne	ˈbɔːn
bawn	born	bourn(e)	ˈbɔːn
boss		bourse	ˈbɔːs	With the lot-cloth split.
caught		court	ˈkɔːt
caulk	cork		ˈkɔːk
caw		core	ˈkɔː
caw		corps	ˈkɔː
cawed	chord		ˈkɔːd
cawed	cord		ˈkɔːd
daw		door	ˈdɔː
draw	drawer		ˈdrɔː
flaw		floor	ˈflɔː
fought		fort	ˈfɔːt
gaud		gored	ˈɡɔːd
gnaw	nor		ˈnɔː
haw		whore	ˈhɔː
hawk	orc		ˈɔːk	With H-dropping.
hoss[67]	horse		ˈhɔːs	With the lot-cloth split.
laud	lord		ˈlɔːd
law		lore	ˈlɔː
lawed	lord		ˈlɔːd
lawn	lorn		ˈlɔːn
maw		more	ˈmɔː
maw		Moore	ˈmɔː
moss	Morse		ˈmɔːs	With the lot-cloth split.
off	Orff; orfe; orf		ˈɔːf	With the lot-cloth split.
often	orphan		ˈɔːfən	With the lot-cloth split. "Often" is pronounced with a sounded T by some speakers.
paw		pore	ˈpɔː
paw		pour	ˈpɔː
pawn	porn		ˈpɔːn
raw		roar	ˈrɔː
sauce		source	ˈsɔːs
saw		soar	ˈsɔː
saw		sore	ˈsɔː
sawed		soared	ˈsɔːd
sawed		sword	ˈsɔːd
Sean		shorn	ˈʃɔːn
shaw		shore	ˈʃɔː
Shawn		shorn	ˈʃɔːn
sought	sort		ˈsɔːt
stalk	stork		ˈstɔːk
talk	torque		ˈtɔːk
taught	tort		ˈtɔːt
taut	tort		ˈtɔːt
taw	tor	tore	ˈtɔː
thaw	Thor		ˈθɔː
yaw		yore	ˈjɔː
yaw		your	ˈjɔː	Your can be /ˈjʊə/ instead.

Paw–poor merger

In Wells' terminology, this consists of the merger of the lexical sets THOUGHT and CURE. It is found in those non-rhotic accents containing the caught–court merger that have also undergone the pour–poor merger. Wells lists it unequivocally only for the accent of Trinidad, but it is an option for non-rhotic speakers in England, Australia and New Zealand. Such speakers have a potential four-way merger taw–tor–tore–tour.[68]

Homophonous pairs

/ɔː/	/ʊər/	IPA	Notes
gaud	gourd	ˈɡɔːd
haw	whore	ˈhɔː
law	lure	ˈlɔː	With yod-dropping.
maw	moor	ˈmɔː
maw	Moore	ˈmɔː
paw	poor	ˈpɔː
shaw	sure	ˈʃɔː
taw	tour	ˈtɔː
tawny	tourney	ˈtɔːni
yaw	your	ˈjɔː
yaw	you're	ˈjɔː

Shot–short merger

In Wells' terminology, this consists of the merger of the lexical sets LOT and NORTH. It may be present in some Eastern New England accents[69][70] and Singapore English.

Homophonous pairs

/ɒ/	/ɒr/	IPA	Notes
bon	born	ˈbɒːn
box	borks	ˈbɒːks
cock	cork; Cork	ˈkɒːk
cocks	corks; Cork's	ˈkɒːks
cops	corpse	ˈkɒːps
cox	corks; Cork's	ˈkɒːks
cod	chord	ˈkɒːd
cod	cord	ˈkɒːd
con	corn	ˈkɒːn
dock	dork	ˈdɒːk
fox	forks	ˈfɒːks
dom	dorm	ˈdɒːm
mog	morgue	ˈmɒːɡ
mot	Mort	ˈmɒːt
not	north	ˈnɒːt	With Th-stopping.
odder	order	ˈɒːɾə	Normally with intervocalic alveolar flapping.
otter	order	ˈɒːɾə	With intervocalic alveolar flapping.
ox	orcs	ˈɒːks
pond	porned	ˈpɒːnd
pock	pork	ˈpɒːk
posh	Porsche	ˈpɒːʃ
pot	port	ˈpɒːt
scotch; Scotch	scorch	ˈskɒːtʃ
shoddy	shorty	ˈʃɒːɾi	With intervocalic alveolar flapping.
shot	short	ˈʃɒːt
snot	snort	ˈsnɒːt
sob	Sorb	ˈsɒːb
solder	sorter	ˈsɒːɾə	With intervocalic alveolar flapping.
sot	sort	ˈsɒːt
Spock	spork	ˈspɒːk
spot	sport	ˈspɒːt
stock	stork	ˈstɒːk
swan	sworn	ˈswɒːn
swat	swart	ˈswɒːt
tock	torque	ˈtɒːk
tot	tort	ˈtɒːt
tox	torques	ˈtɒːks
wabble	warble	ˈwɒːbəl
wad	ward	ˈwɒːd
wad	warred	ˈwɒːd
wan	warn	ˈwɒːn
wand	warned	ˈwɒːnd
wanna	Warner	ˈwɒːnə
watt	wart	ˈwɒːt
whap	warp	ˈwɒːp	With wine–whine merger.
what	wart	ˈwɒːt	With wine–whine merger.
whop	warp	ˈwɒːp	With wine–whine merger.
wobble	warble	ˈwɒːbəl
yock	York	ˈjɒːk

Show–sure merger

In Wells' terminology, this consists of the merger of the lexical sets GOAT and CURE. It may be present in those speakers who have both the dough–door merger described above, and also the pour–poor merger. These include some southern U.S. non-rhotic speakers, some speakers of African-American English and some speakers in Guyana.[51] It can be seen in the term "Fo Sho", an imitation of "for sure".

Homophonous pairs

/oʊ/	/ʊər/	IPA	Notes
beau	Boer	ˈboʊ
beau	boor	ˈboʊ
bow	Boer	ˈboʊ
bow	boor	ˈboʊ
goad	gourd	ˈɡoʊd
hoe	whore	ˈhoʊ
lo	lure	ˈloʊ	With yod-dropping.
low	lure	ˈloʊ	With yod-dropping.
Moe	moor	ˈmoʊ
Moe	Moore	ˈmoʊ
mode	moored	ˈmoʊd
mow	moor	ˈmoʊ
mow	Moore	ˈmoʊ
mowed	moored	ˈmoʊd
Po	poor	ˈpoʊ
Poe	poor	ˈpoʊ
roe	Ruhr	ˈroʊ
row	Ruhr	ˈroʊ
shew	sure	ˈʃoʊ
show	sure	ˈʃoʊ
toad	toured	ˈtoʊd
toe	tour	ˈtoʊ
toed	toured	ˈtoʊd
tow	tour	ˈtoʊ
towed	toured	ˈtoʊd
yo	your	ˈjoʊ
yo	you're	ˈjoʊ

Up-gliding NURSE

Up-gliding NURSE is a diphthongized vowel sound, [əɪ], used as the pronunciation of the NURSE phoneme /ɜ/. This up-gliding variant historically occurred in some non-rhotic dialects of American English and is particularly associated with the early twentieth-century (but now extinct or moribund) dialects of New York City, New Orleans, and Charleston,[71] likely developing in the prior century. In fact, in speakers born before World War I, this sound apparently predominated throughout older speech of the Southern United States, ranging from "South Carolina to Texas and north to eastern Arkansas and the southern edge of Kentucky."[72] This variant happened only before a consonant, so, for example, stir was never [stəɪ];[73] rather stir would have been pronounced [stɜ(r)].

Coil–curl merger

In some cases, particularly in New York City, the NURSE sound gliding from a schwa upwards even led to a phonemic merger of the vowel classes associated with the General American phonemes /ɔɪ/ as in CHOICE with the /ɜr/ of NURSE; thus, words like coil and curl, as well as voice and verse, were homophones. The merged vowel was typically a diphthong [əɪ], with a mid central starting point, rather than the back rounded starting point of /ɔɪ/ of CHOICE in most other accents of English. The merger is responsible for the "Brooklynese" stereotypes of bird sounding like boid and thirty-third sounding like toity-toid. This merger is known for the word soitanly, used often by the Three Stooges comedian Curly Howard as a variant of certainly in comedy shorts of the 1930s and 1940s. The songwriter Sam M. Lewis, a native New Yorker, rhymed returning with joining in the lyrics of the English-language version of Gloomy Sunday. Except for New Orleans English,[74][75][76] this merger did not occur in the South, despite up-gliding NURSE existing in some older Southern accents; instead, a distinction between the two phonemes was maintained due to a down-gliding CHOICE sound: something like [ɔɛ].

In 1966, according to a survey that was done by William Labov in New York City, 100% of the people over 60 used [əɪ] for bird. With each younger age group, however, the percentage got progressively lower: 59% of 50- to 59-year-olds, 33% of 40- to 49-year-olds, 24% of 20- to 39-year-olds, and finally, only 4% of people 8–19 years old used [əɪ]. Nearly all native New Yorkers born since 1950, even those whose speech is otherwise non-rhotic, now pronounce bird as [bɝd].[77] However, Labov reports this vowel to be slightly raised compared to other dialects.[78]

Homophonous pairs

/ɔɪ/	/ɜːr/	IPA	Notes
adjoin	adjourn	əˈdʒəɪn
boil	burl	ˈbəɪl
Boyd	bird	ˈbəɪd
Boyle	burl	ˈbəɪl
coil	curl	ˈkəɪl
coin	kern	ˈkəɪn
coitus	Curtis	ˈkəɪɾəs	With weak vowel merger, normally with intervocalic alveolar flapping.
foil	furl	ˈfəɪl
goitre; goiter	girder	ˈɡəɪɾər	With intervocalic alveolar flapping.
hoist	Hearst	ˈhəɪst
hoist	hurst; Hurst	ˈhəɪst
Hoyle	hurl	ˈhəɪl
loin	learn	ˈləɪn
oil	earl	ˈəɪl
poil	pearl	ˈpəɪl
poise	purrs	ˈpəɪz
toyed	turd	ˈtəɪd
voice	verse	ˈvəɪs
Voight	vert	ˈvəɪt

Effect of non-rhotic dialects on orthography

Certain words have spellings derived from non-rhotic dialects or renderings of foreign words through non-rhotic pronunciation. In rhotic dialects, spelling pronunciation has caused these words to be pronounced rhotically anyway. Examples include:

• Er, used in non-rhotic dialects to indicate a filled pause, which most rhotic dialects would instead convey with uh or eh.
• The game Parcheesi, from Indian Pachisi.
• British English slang words:
  • char for cha from the Mandarin Chinese pronunciation of Chinese: 茶 (= "tea" (the drink))
• In Rudyard Kipling's books:
  • dorg instead of dawg for a drawled pronunciation of dog.
  • Hindu god name Kama misspelled as Karma (which is a concept in several Asian religions, not a god).
  • Hindustani काग़ज़ / کاغذ kāghaz ("paper") spelled as kargaz.
• The donkey Eeyore in A.A. Milne's stories, whose name comes from the sound that donkeys make, commonly spelled hee-haw in American English.
• Burma and Myanmar for Burmese [bəmà] and [mjàmmà]
• Orlu for Igbo [ɔ̀lʊ́]
• Transliteration of Cantonese words and names, such as char siu (Chinese: 叉燒; Jyutping: caa¹ siu¹) and Wong Kar-wai (Chinese: 王家衞; Jyutping: Wong⁴ Gaa1wai⁶)
• The spelling of schoolmarm for school ma'am, which Americans pronounce with the rhotic consonant.
• The spelling Park for the Korean surname 박 (pronounced [pak]), which does not contain a liquid consonant in Korean.

See also

• English-language vowel changes before historic /r/

Notes

1. Other terms synonymous with "non-rhotic" include "/r/-deleting",[2] "r-dropping",[3] "r-vocalizing", and "r-less";[4] synonyms for "rhotic" include "/r/-pronouncing", "r-constricting", and "r-ful".[2][4]

References

1. Paul Skandera, Peter Burleigh, A Manual of English Phonetics and Phonology, Gunter Narr Verlag, 2011, p. 60.
2. Lass (1999), p. 114.
3. Wells (1982), p. 216. sfnp error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFWells1982 (help)
4. Labov, Ash, and Boberg (2006): 47.
5. Gick (1999:31), citing Kurath (1964)
6. Labov, Ash, and Boberg, 2006: pp. 47–48.
7. Lass (1999), p. 115.
8. Fisher (2001), p. 76.
9. Fisher (2001), p. 77.
10. Labov, Ash & Boberg (2006), pp. 5, 47.
11. Based on H. Orton, et al., Survey of English Dialects (1962–71). Some areas with partial rhoticity, such as parts of the East Riding of Yorkshire, are not shaded on this map.
12. Based on P. Trudgill, The Dialects of England.
13. Lass (1999), pp. 114–15.
14. Original French: "...dans plusieurs mots, l'r devant une consonne est fort adouci, presque muet, & rend un peu longue la voyale qui le precede". Lass (1999), p. 115.
15. Fisher (2001), p. 73.
16. Gordon, Elizabeth; Campbell, Lyle; Hay, Jennifer; Maclagan, Margaret; Sudbury, Peter; Trudgill, Andrea, eds. (2004). New Zealand English: Its Origins and Evolution. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 174.
17. Wells, Accents of English, 1:224-225.
18. Gimson, Alfred Charles (2014), Cruttenden, Alan (ed.), Gimson's Pronunciation of English (8th ed.), Routledge, pp. 119–120, ISBN 978-1-4441-8309-2
19. Shorter Oxford English Dictionary
20. Wells, J. C. (1995). Accents of English 1: An Introduction. Gateshead: Cambridge University Press. p. 201.
21. Wells, Accents of English, p. 490.
22. Wakelyn, Martin: "Rural dialects in England", in: Trudgill, Peter (1984): Language in the British Isles, p.77
23. Wells, J. C. (1982). Accents of English 3: Beyond the British Isles. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 629. ISBN 0-521-28541-0.
24. Mesthrie, Rajend; Kortmann, Bernd; Schneider, Edgar W., eds. (18 January 2008), "Pakistani English: phonology", Africa, South and Southeast Asia, Mouton de Gruyter, doi:10.1515/9783110208429.1.244, ISBN 9783110208429, retrieved 16 April 2019
25. Wells, Accents of English, pp. 76, 221
26. Schneider, Edgar (2008). Varieties of English: The Americas and the Caribbean. Walter de Gruyter. p. 396.
27. McClear, Sheila (2 June 2010). "Why the classic Noo Yawk accent is fading away". New York Post. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
28. Stuart-Smith, Jane (1999). "Glasgow: accent and voice quality". In Foulkes, Paul; Docherty, Gerard (eds.). Urban Voices. Arnold. p. 210. ISBN 0-340-70608-2.
29. Trudgill, Peter (1984). Language in the British Isles. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-28409-7.
30. Milla, Robert McColl (2012). English Historical Sociolinguistics. Edinburgh University Press. pp. 25–26. ISBN 978-0-7486-4181-9.
31. Trudgill, Peter (2010). Investigations in Sociohistorical Linguistics. Cambridge University Press.
32. Gick, Bryan. 1999. A gesture-based account of intrusive consonants in English Archived 12 April 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Phonology 16: 1, pp. 29–54. (pdf). Retrieved 12 November 2010.
33. Harris 2006: pp. 2–5.
34. Pollock et al., 1998.
35. Thomas, Erik R. "Rural white Southern accents" (PDF). p. 16. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
36. Trudgill, Peter (2000). "Sociohistorical linguistics and dialect survival: a note on another Nova Scotian enclave". In Magnus Leung (ed.). Language Structure and Variation. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell International. p. 197.
37. Hickey, Raymond (1999). "Dublin English: current changes and their motivations". In Foulkes, Paul; Docherty, Gerard (eds.). Urban Voices. Arnold. p. 272. ISBN 0-340-70608-2.
38. Demirezen, Mehmet (2012). "Which /r/ are you using as an English teacher? rhotic or non-rhotic?" (PDF). Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences. Elsevier. 46: 2659–2663. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.05.542. ISSN 1877-0428. OCLC 931520939.
39. Salbrina, S.; Deterding, D. (2010). "Rhoticity in Brunei English". English World-Wide. 31: 121–137.
40. Nur Raihan Mohamad (2017). "Rhoticity in Brunei English : A diachronic approach". Southeast Asia: A Multidisciplinary Journal. 17: 1–7.
41. Gupta, Anthea F.; Hiang, Tan Chor (January 1992). "Post-Vocalic /r/ in Singapore English" (PDF). York Papers in Linguistics. 16: 139–152. ISSN 0307-3238. OCLC 2199758.
42. Brinton, Lauren and Leslie Arnovick. The English Language: A Linguistic History. Oxford University Press: Canada, 2006
43. Bowerman (2004), p. 940.
44. Lass (2002), p. 121. sfnp error: no target: CITEREFLass2002 (help)
45. Sutton, Peter (1989). "Postvocalic R in an Australian English dialect". Australian Journal of Linguistics. 9 (1).
46. Clark, L., "Southland dialect study to shed light on language evolution," New Zealand Herald, 9 Dec 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
47. "5. – Speech and accent – Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand". Teara.govt.nz. 5 September 2013. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
48. Bauer & Warren (2004), p. 594. sfnp error: no target: CITEREFBauerWarren2004 (help)
49. Hogg, R.M., Blake, N.F., Burchfield, R., Lass, R., and Romaine, S., (eds.) (1992) The Cambridge history of the English language. (Volume 5) Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521264785 p. 387. Retrieved from Google Books.
50. Wells, John C. (1982). Accents of English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-22919-7., pp. 136–37, 203–6, 234, 245–47, 339–40, 400, 419, 443, 576
51. Wells (1982)
52. Wells (1982), p. 225
53. Upton, Clive; Eben Upton (2004). Oxford rhyming dictionary. Oxford University Press. p. 59. ISBN 0-19-280115-5.
54. Upton, Clive; Eben Upton (2004). Oxford rhyming dictionary. Oxford University Press. p. 60. ISBN 0-19-280115-5.
55. Devonish & Harry (2004), pp. 460, 463, 476. sfnp error: no target: CITEREFDevonishHarry2004 (help)
56. Trudgill (2004), pp. 170, 172.
57. Lass (1990), pp. 277–279.
58. Bowerman (2004), p. 938.
59. Collins & Mees (1990), pp. 92–93, 95–97.
60. Watt (2000), p. 72.
61. Watt & Allen (2003), pp. 268–269.
62. Beal (2004), pp. 123, 126.
63. Wells (1982), p. 504
64. Wells (1982), p. 544
65. Wells (1982), p. 577
66. Labov, Ash & Boberg (2006), p. 235
67. Dialectal variant of "horse"
68. Wells, p. 287
69. Wells, p. 520
70. Dillard, Joey Lee (1980). Perspectives on American English. The Hague; New York: Walter de Gruyter. p. 53. ISBN 90-279-3367-7.
71. Labov, Ash & Boberg (2006), p. 259
72. Thomas (2006), p. 8 harvp error: no target: CITEREFThomas2006 (help)
73. Wells (1982), pp. 508 ff harvp error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFWells1982 (help)
74. Labov, Ash & Boberg (2006), p. 260
75. Canatella, Ray (2011). The YAT Language of New Orleans. iUniverse. pp. 67, ... ISBN 978-1-4620-3295-2. MOYCHANDIZE – Translation: Merchandise. "Dat store seem to be selling nutin' but cheap moychandize"
76. Trawick-Smith, Ben (1 September 2011). "On the Hunt for the New Orleans Yat". Dialect Blog. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
77. Labov (1966) harvp error: no target: CITEREFLabov1966 (help)
78. Labov (1966), p. 216 harvp error: no target: CITEREFLabov1966 (help)

Bibliography

• Beal, Joan (2004), "English dialects in the North of England: phonology", in Schneider, Edgar W.; Burridge, Kate; Kortmann, Bernd; Mesthrie, Rajend; Upton, Clive (eds.), A handbook of varieties of English, 1: Phonology, Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 113–133, ISBN 3-11-017532-0
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