| Symbol |
Lexical set |
RP |
traditional GenAm |
merged GenAm/Canada |
GenAus |
Notes
|
| ă |
trap |
/æ/ |
/æ/; [ɛə̯] before a nasal |
/æ/ |
|
| ăr |
(marry) (before a vowel) |
/æɹ/ |
/æɹ/ |
/ɛɹ/ |
? |
|
| ă* |
bath |
/ɑː/ |
/æ/; [ɛə̯] before a nasal (may not occur) |
? |
|
| ā |
face |
/eɪ/ |
/eɪ/ |
? |
|
| ä |
palm (not a good name), father |
/ɑː/ |
/ɑ/ (words like palm vary by speaker and need special handling) |
? |
|
| är, ar |
(starry) (before a vowel) |
/ɑːɹ/ |
/ɑɹ/ |
? |
|
| är |
start (not before a vowel) |
/ɑː/ |
? |
|
| âr |
(Mary) (before a vowel) |
/ɛəɹ/ or /ɛːɹ/? |
/eəɹ/ or /eɹ/? |
/ɛɹ/ |
? |
|
| âr, er |
square (not before a vowel) |
/ɛː/ |
? |
|
| ĕ |
dress |
/ɛ/ (or /e/?) |
/ɛ/ |
/e/ |
|
| ĕr |
(merry) (before a vowel) |
/ɛɹ/ |
/ɛɹ/ |
? |
|
| er |
merger of merry/marry/Mary (before a vowel) |
— |
— |
/ɛɹ/ |
? |
|
| ē |
fleece |
/iː/ |
/i/ |
? |
|
| -ē (absolutely word-final) |
happy |
/i/ |
/i/ |
? |
|
| ə |
comma |
/ə/ |
/ə/ |
/ə/ |
|
| ər |
letter |
/ə/ |
/ɚ/ |
? |
|
| ĭ |
kit |
/ɪ/ |
/ɪ/ |
/ɪ/ |
|
| ĭr |
(mirror) (before a vowel) |
/ɪɹ/ |
/ɪɹ/ |
? |
|
| ī |
price |
/aɪ/ |
/aɪ/ or /ʌɪ/ (auto-determined) |
? |
|
| ī+ |
(spider) (price set with Canadian raising forced) |
/aɪ/ |
/ʌɪ/ |
? |
|
| ī- |
(?) (price set with non-Canadian raising forced) |
/aɪ/ |
/aɪ/ |
? |
|
| îr |
(nearer) (before a vowel) |
/ɪəɹ/ or /ɪːɹ/? |
/ɪəɹ/ |
/ɪɹ/ |
? |
|
| îr, ir |
near (not before a vowel) |
/ɪː/ |
/ɪəɹ/ |
/ɪəɹ/ or /ɪɹ/? |
? |
|
| ir |
merger of mirror/nearer (before a vowel) |
— |
— |
/ɪɹ/ |
? |
|
| ŏ |
lot |
/ɒ/ |
/ɑ/ |
? |
|
| ŏ* |
cloth |
/ɒ/ |
/ɔ/ |
/ɑ/ |
? |
|
| ô |
thought |
/ɔː/ |
/ɔ/ |
/ɑ/ |
? |
|
| ŏr |
(orange?) (before a vowel) |
/ɒɹ/ |
/oɹ/ (but /ɑɹ/ in a small set of words in the US only, not Canada, which need to be split by dialect: borrow, sorry, sorrow, tomorrow, morrow; also regionally /ɑɹ/ in most or all words of the set) |
? |
|
| ör |
(Laura / laura) (north before a vowel) |
/ɔːɹ/ or /ɔəɹ/? (at the time this distinction existed in RP, I think /ɔə/ was still used) |
/oɹ/ (historical /ɔɹ/) |
? |
|
| ör |
north (not before a vowel) |
/ɔː/ or /ɔə/? (at the time this distinction existed in RP, I think /ɔə/ was still used) |
? |
|
| ôr |
merger of north/force (aka horse/hoarse) (before a vowel) |
/ɔːɹ/? |
/oɹ/ (/ɔɹ/ is not very accurate) |
? |
|
| ôr |
merger of north/force (aka horse/hoarse) (not before a vowel) |
/ɔː/ |
? |
|
| o |
merger of lot/cloth/thought (aka cot/caught/khat) |
— |
— |
/ɑ/ |
— |
|
| or |
merger of north/force/orange (aka horse/hoarse/horror) |
— |
/oɹ/ (but see above for exceptions) |
— |
|
| ō |
goat |
/əʊ/ |
/oʊ/ |
? |
|
| ōr |
(hoary?) (force before a vowel) |
/oəɹ/ |
/oɹ/ (historical /oɹ ~ oʊɹ/) |
? |
|
| ōr |
force (not before a vowel) |
/oə/ |
? |
|
| o͝o, ŏŏ |
foot |
/ʊ/ |
/ʊ/ |
? |
|
| o͝or, ŏŏr |
tour (before a vowel) |
/ʊəɹ/ (conservative RP), /ɔːɹ/ (modern RP) |
/ʊɹ/ |
/ʊɹ/, /oɹ/ or /ɚ/ (depending on the word and speaker) |
? |
|
| o͝or, ŏŏr |
tour (not before a vowel) |
/ʊə/ (conservative RP), /ɔː/ (modern RP) |
? |
|
| o͞o, ōō |
goose |
/uː/ (not an accurate phonetic rendering) |
/u/ (not an accurate phonetic rendering except before /l/) |
? |
|
| ŭ |
strut |
/ʌ/ or maybe better /ɐ/ |
? |
|
| ŭr |
(hurry) (before a vowel) |
/ʌɹ/ or maybe better /ɐɹ/ |
/ɚ/ |
? |
|
| ûr |
(furry) (before a vowel) |
/ɜːɹ/ |
/ɚ/ |
? |
|
| ûr, ur |
nurse (not before a vowel) |
/ɜː/ |
? |
|
| ur |
merger of hurry/furry (before a vowel) |
— |
— |
/ɚ/ |
— |
|
| ū |
(cute) (after a labial or velar) |
/juː/ (not an accurate phonetic rendering) |
/ju/ (not an accurate phonetic rendering except before /l/) |
? |
|
| ū |
(tune) (after /t/, /d/, /s/, /z/) |
/juː/ (conservative RP), /tʃuː/~/dʒuː/~/ʃuː/~/ʒuː/ (with yod-coalescence) |
/u/ (not an accurate phonetic rendering except before /l/; in older Canada, /ju/ may be found) |
? |
|
| ū |
(new) (after /n/) |
/juː/ |
/u/ (except e.g. in New York and older Canada where /ju/ may be found) |
? |
|
| ū |
(lute) (after /l/, /θ/, /ð/) |
/juː/ (conservative RP), /uː/ (modern RP) |
/u/ |
? |
|
| ū |
(chew or rule) (after postalveolar consonants, /r/, /j/ and stop + /l/) |
/uː/ (only different in Welsh English) |
/u/ |
? |
|
