pin-pen merger
I have the pin-pen merger ([E] becomes [I] before nasals).
<a> before nasals also does something, it becomes something like [EjI_^].
Does anybody know if this is an affect of the pin-pen merger?
I also have /I/ > /i/ before /N/, is this part of the merger?
Also, who else has this (awesome) merger?
Don't they do those things in California English?
Well I pronounce when and win as [wIn], and windy and Wendy as [wIndy], but I'm not quite sure whether or not its the pin-pen merger, or something else, as pin and pen are distinct for me.
I think you're mixing two different things, Tavorian. The pin-pen merger only affects [E] as far as I know, but most North American dialects have a different allophone of /{/ before nasals. I think what you're referring to is the 'Southern drawl', which turns the front lax vowels into triphthongs in certain situations (generally before voiced stops, nasals, and /s/). The way I've usually seen it transcribed is [{j@]
had [h{j@d]
pass [p{j@s]
hand [h{j@nd] or [h{j@~d]
This triphthongisation also occurs on /E/ and /I/, so:
head [hej@d]
bid [bij@d]
Is this accurate for your accent?
Isn't it [{:j@] in a Southern accent?
<<The pin-pen merger only affects [E] as far as I know, but most North American dialects have a different allophone of /{/ before nasals. I think what you're referring to is the 'Southern drawl', which turns the front lax vowels into triphthongs in certain situations (generally before voiced stops, nasals, and /s/). The way I've usually seen it transcribed is [{j@]
had [h{j@d]
pass [p{j@s]
hand [h{j@nd] or [h{j@~d]
This triphthongisation also occurs on /E/ and /I/, so:
head [hej@d]
bid [bij@d]
Is this accurate for your accent?>>
No. I only have the allophone [EjI_^] before nasal consonants, so "tan" is [tEjI_^n] while "had" is [h{d]. I don't have the Southern drawl.