Re: Re[6]: [tied] Re: PIE initial *a

--- Andrew Jarrette <anjarrette@...> wrote:

>
>
> "Brian M. Scott" <BMScott@...> wrote:
>

. . .

>
> I would say that most, but not almost all, U.S.
> speakers have /a/, low central, in <father> and
> <pot> . I think it is more accurate to say that
> many speakers have rather /A/, low back (not
> central), which is also the vowel that Canadians
> have (excluding those Canadians who have instead
> /A./). And as I've said before, many U.S. speakers
> realize /æ/ actually as /Ea/ or close to that,
> varying to /E:/, in _all_ positions (while many
> have this pronunciation only before before nasals,
> or, in parts of the Northeast, before voiceless
> fricatives), while some (and most Canadians) realize
> it as /a/ or close to it (except before nasals and
> /r/) if /a/ is taken to be low front (as officially
> in IPA), not low central. These would be the same
> who realize <pot>, <father>, <caught> as /A/, low
> back, rather than low central. I base my use of /a/
> rather than /æ/ on comparison with French, which I
> hear all the time here in Ottawa, Canada.
> Just my opinion.
> Andrew
>

/Ea/ or /e@/ is common is common but I think it's
regional or class-based (which is often rooted in
regional speech)
/Ea/ strikes me as Great Lakes or Northern US
and /e@/ as S. Midwestern, W Appalachian, Upper South
--I've heard it in people from VA, NC, KY, TN, MO,
southern IL, southern IN