Brian M. Scott wrote:
> I don't find this at all surprising: in my experience U.S.
> /æ/ is often distinctly higher than [æ], though not so high
> as [E], /E/ is similarly shifted, in some cases as far as
> [I].
Since /æ/ is tensed and lengthened, and develops a centring glide in
many varieties of US English, it may produce a diphthong whose
starting-point is actually as high as [I]. Cf. the anecdotes (quoted by
Labov) on the homophony of <Ann> and <Ian>, etc. In the Northern Cities
Shift, in particular, tense /æ/ becomes higher than /E/, which instead
of rising undergoes centralisation, so that outsiders mishear <better>
as "butter".
Piotr