How can I eliminate my cot-caught merger?

G   Thu Oct 06, 2005 9:20 pm GMT
<<Exactly. You can find "c-c" merged people all thruout North America. Almost the entire West has it, almost all Canadians have it, many Midwestern and some Eastern dialects have it, Florida has it, as well as many other pockets even in areas where the merger isn't as common. It's clear that it's not associated with any one region as it may be found all over the place and>>

Yeah, there are transitional speakers all across the country according to a certain map I saw.
Lazar   Thu Oct 06, 2005 9:21 pm GMT
And remember *also* that the 40-50% figure only applies to the US. If you factor in Canadians, then it is quite conceivable that a majority of North Americans could have the merger.
Kirk   Thu Oct 06, 2005 9:22 pm GMT
<<The same can be said about people who don't have the cot-caught merger that live in places that have it.>>

Exactly. I'm from California and I think that people without the "cot-caught" merger sound like they're from somewhere else. And that's because they are. There's no problem with that. I certainly wouldn't try and acquire a "c-c' nonmerged accent if I moved to a nonmerging area (plus, I'd probably suck at imitating it--even if I try hard I really can't pull off a "c-c" nonmerged American accent because it's too unnatural for me)-besides, as I've said before, few people really pay attention to such things. They're more likely to notice other features of speech besides the "c-c" merger.
SpaceFlight   Thu Oct 06, 2005 9:25 pm GMT
<<I certainly wouldn't try and acquire a "c-c' nonmerged accent if I moved to a nonmerging area.>>

Neither would I.
SpaceFlight   Thu Oct 06, 2005 9:32 pm GMT
<<And remember that Hollywood is located in the heart of c-c unmerged territory.>>

I think you meant the c-c merged territory.
Lazar   Thu Oct 06, 2005 9:34 pm GMT
<<I think you meant the c-c merged territory.>>

Sorry! Yeah, that's what I meant.
Ryan   Thu Oct 06, 2005 10:42 pm GMT
Cot-caught merger is a neutral American accent. Actually, the most neutral newscaster accent has them only slightly unmerged. Unmerging them too much will definitely give you a non-neutral accent.
Sam   Fri Oct 07, 2005 12:47 am GMT
>>Cot-caught merger is a neutral American accent. Actually, the most neutral newscaster accent has them only slightly unmerged. Unmerging them too much will definitely give you a non-neutral accent.<<
Interesting! How do I make them sound slightly unmerged? Which words are supposed to have 'ah', and which have 'aw'?
SpaceFlight   Fri Oct 07, 2005 12:51 am GMT
<<Interesting! How do I make them sound slightly unmerged? Which words are supposed to have 'ah', and which have 'aw'?>>

As has been said before, you don't need to.
Sam   Fri Oct 07, 2005 12:53 am GMT
>>As has been said before, you don't need to.<<
But it would sound more neutral to say them this way, so it doesn't sound funny to people with the merger, and without the merger.
Kirk   Fri Oct 07, 2005 1:05 am GMT
<<But it would sound more neutral to say them this way, so it doesn't sound funny to people with the merger, and without the merger.>>

You'll always sound "funny" to someone, as everyone has an accent. Even if you successfully acquire a "c-c" nonmerged accent, you might run the risk of sounding "funny" (if you're so worried about that) to merged people. Your accent is fine and you don't need to modify it.
Al   Fri Oct 07, 2005 1:28 am GMT
<<But it would sound more neutral to say them this way, so it doesn't sound funny to people with the merger, and without the merger.>>

Cot-caught merged people don't sound funny to me, even though I don't have the merger. Anyway, Kirk is right. Your accent is fine as it is.
Sam   Fri Oct 07, 2005 3:28 am GMT
>>
You'll always sound "funny" to someone, as everyone has an accent. Even if you successfully acquire a "c-c" nonmerged accent, you might run the risk of sounding "funny" (if you're so worried about that) to merged people. Your accent is fine and you don't need to modify it.<<
What about if I use the merged version when speaking to people with the merger, and the non-merged version when speaking to non-merged people?
Mona   Fri Oct 07, 2005 12:05 pm GMT
When we take a look at non-merged regions: you have East and South (eastern and southern) accents sound too regional; and parts of Midwest (Great Lake Cities with their shift which is also not that ''neutral'')
Mxsmanic   Fri Oct 07, 2005 4:13 pm GMT
I notice that nobody has answered the original question.

The difference between the 'ah' sound in "father" and the 'aw' sound in "caught" is that the latter sound is pronounced with the lips more rounded. That's all. This latter vowel occurs in words like

taut
thought
bought
law
thaw
jaw
caught
taught
Maude
lawn

The former vowel occurs in words like

father
cot
slot
not
jot
bond
mom
bother

and so on.

Some people pronounced the 'aw' sound with the tongue just slightly higher than it is for 'ah', too.