"Root"

Johnathan Mark   Fri Feb 24, 2006 1:58 am GMT
Does the word "root" rhyme with "foot" or with "boot" in your dialect? Also, where are you from? I am from rural Minnesota, and I think that, the pronunciation of "root" like "foot" (roof and room have similar vowels--native Minnesotans can you think of anymore examples?) is the most distinctive part of the Minnesota accent, although it is commonly said to be the "oh" in "Minnesohta." Anybody?
Guest   Fri Feb 24, 2006 2:05 am GMT
I'm from California and "root" and "boot" rhyme for me; "foot" doesn't. My Grampa from New York rhymes "root" with "foot", though.
Uriel   Fri Feb 24, 2006 2:15 am GMT
Root rhymes with boot, for me. New Mexico.
Mike   Fri Feb 24, 2006 3:05 am GMT
"Root" rhymes with "boot" for me. "foot" has a different vowel. Georgia.
american nic   Fri Feb 24, 2006 4:27 am GMT
I'm also from Minnesota, and I rhyme it with 'foot'. I, however, say roof to rhyme with root and foot.
Johnathan Mark   Fri Feb 24, 2006 4:32 am GMT
I meant that roof and room have a similar vowel to the one in root and foot for me. Sorry for not being clear.
Travis   Fri Feb 24, 2006 11:47 am GMT
Here in southeastern Wisconsin, both "root" and "roof" may be pronounced with either [U] or [u] generally interchangeably. However, thethe former is generally favored in more informal speech and the latter is generally favored in more formal speech here. On the other hand, "foot" invariably has [U] while "boot" always has [u] here in all registers.

One note, Brennus, do you seriously include "foot" in the same class of words as "root" and "roof" here, with alternation between [U] and [u] applying to it? From what I know, not only do both GAE and RP have /U/ alone for "foot", but I also have never heard or heard of it having /u/ eitheer, so consequently, I am a good bit curious as to whether your dialect truly has [u] in the pronunciation of it, especially considering your overall credibility or lack thereof when it comes to linguistic-type matters.
Lazar   Fri Feb 24, 2006 3:10 pm GMT
I pronounce "root" as [rut], rhyming with "boot" [but], but not with "foot" [fUt].
Jim   Fri Feb 24, 2006 4:39 pm GMT
Me (AusE)
"root", "boot" & "roof" with /}:/ (what Travis calls [u] ... pretty much) &
"foot" with /U/.

An interesting point here is that there are those for whom there is no distinction on a phonemic level. Wells calls it the FOOT-GOOSE merger (or was that the GOOSE-FOOT merger?).
Lazar   Fri Feb 24, 2006 5:10 pm GMT
<<An interesting point here is that there are those for whom there is no distinction on a phonemic level. Wells calls it the FOOT-GOOSE merger (or was that the GOOSE-FOOT merger?).>>

I've read that that can occur in Scotland, along with other distinctive mergers like the father-gather merger and the cot-caught merger.
Tiffany   Fri Feb 24, 2006 11:28 pm GMT
<<Well, yes. We now have many Hispanics in the U.S. and I have heard them pronounce it with a long oo sound.>>

Are you saying that Hispanic-Americans that speak English natively pronounced [fut]? Never heard that one. Where I come, the Cuban-Americans that speak English natively tend to pick up the prevalent English accent in the area, in this case, GAE. All say [fUt]. Only non-native English speakers from Cuba (ie. with foreign accents) pronounce "foot" as [fut].

My two cents: I don't think we should be taking into account the pronunciations of non-native English speakers when someone asks for the correct pronunciation in English of words. Italians have trouble distinguishing "bitch" and "beach" and thus pronounce them the same. Should we know say they are homophones in English?
Tiffany   Fri Feb 24, 2006 11:29 pm GMT
Typos:
"Where I come,"
is:
"Where I come from,"

"Should we know say they"
to:
"Should we now say they"
Lazar   Fri Feb 24, 2006 11:41 pm GMT
<<Well, yes. We now have many Hispanics in the U.S. and I have heard them pronounce it with a long oo sound. I'm sure that this was also the pronunciation of the word in Middle English too and perhaps a little beyond the Middle English period.>>

I have to side with Travis on this one. "Foot" is not a member of the lexical group ("root", "roof", "broom", etc.) that exhibits cross-dialectal /u/-/U/ variability. The pronunciation of non-native speakers and the history of sound changes from Middle English are completely irrelevant.
Mike   Fri Feb 24, 2006 11:50 pm GMT
<<I have to side with Travis on this one. "Foot" is not a member of the lexical group ("root", "roof", "broom", etc.) that exhibits cross-dialectal /u/-/U/ variability. The pronunciation of non-native speakers and the history of sound changes from Middle English are completely irrelevant.>>

Yeah, it certainly isn't. The pattern of those words with cross-dialectal /u/-/U/ variability seems to be the fact that they have an "r" before the "oo". Though that's no proof, as "proof" doesn't have the cross-dialectal variability. Have you ever noticed that?
Lazar   Fri Feb 24, 2006 11:57 pm GMT
<<The pattern of those words with cross-dialectal /u/-/U/ variability seems to be the fact that they have an "r" before the "oo". Though that's no proof, as "proof" doesn't have the cross-dialectal variability. Have you ever noticed that?>>

No, I actually hadn't noticed that. It does seem as if it might have been the preceding /r/ that caused the variability for those words. Interesting...