bold bald merger

Kendra   Mon Jun 11, 2007 4:17 pm GMT
Hi. Is there such a thing as BOLD BALD MERGER?
Some speakers pronounce both words as /bQld/.
Is it a widespread phenomenon?

In my accent: BOLD is [boUld]*, BALD is [bAld]...

(*in fact, in my accent [oU] has shifted and it's pronounced between [oU] and [@u])
Guest   Mon Jun 11, 2007 4:19 pm GMT
The Bold And The Beautiful vs
The Bald And The Beautiful [so funny! ;)]
Lazar   Mon Jun 11, 2007 5:08 pm GMT
I've never heard of a bald-bold merger. In Estuary, as far as I know, the distinction is preserved with something like:

bald ["bOUd]
bold ["bQUd]

In my own speech, those words are:

bald ["bQ:5d]
bold ["boU5d]

<<*in fact, in my accent [oU] has shifted and it's pronounced between [oU] and [@u]>>

In my accent, the phoneme /o/ has two very different allophones. Generally, I pronounce with an unrounded onset, for example in "code" ["k_h7Ud]. But when it comes before tautosyllabic /l/, I pronounce it with a rounded onset, for example in "cold" ["k_hoU5d].
Guest   Mon Jun 11, 2007 6:43 pm GMT
<<In my accent, the phoneme /o/ has two very different allophones. Generally, I pronounce with an unrounded onset, for example in "code" ["k_h7Ud]. But when it comes before tautosyllabic /l/, I pronounce it with a rounded onset, for example in "cold" ["k_hoU5d].>>

Isn't that tautosyllabic /l/ pronunciation of "long o" actually [O@]? At least I have [O@] for it, hence [kO@5d] whereas "code" is more like [k7Ud].
Lazar   Mon Jun 11, 2007 7:02 pm GMT
<<Isn't that tautosyllabic /l/ pronunciation of "long o" actually [O@]?>>

No, [O@] sounds unnatural to me there. (More than anything else, it sounds to me like "called" pronounced in a New York accent.) [O@`] is what I use in "cord"; but the vowel that I have in "cold" starts higher, around [o], and it doesn't move toward a central position.
Josh Lalonde   Mon Jun 11, 2007 8:21 pm GMT
I don't have a complete merger of these sounds, but I do have a variable overlap between them. It seems to occur most often morpheme-finally, meaning that 'called' and 'cold' are sometimes pronounced the same or nearly the same [kOUd], while 'bald' and 'bold' usually are not. This lowering of /o/ before /l/ presumably occurs to avoid merger with /o/, but at the risk of merging with /Ql/.
code [kod]
cold [koUd] or [kOUd]
called [cOUd] or [kQUd] or [kOd]
culled [kVUd] or [kOUd]
bald [bQUd]
bold [boUd] or [bOUd]
So there is the possibility of a three-way cold-called-culled merger.
Travis   Mon Jun 11, 2007 8:29 pm GMT
I myself have:

code [k_ho:d]
cold [k_ho:Ud]
called [k_hQ:Ud]
culled [k_hV:Md]
bald [bQ:Ud]
bold [bo:Ud]

Note that my [o:U] and [Q:U] are rather distinct and are unlikely to merge. On the other hand, there is often little distinction between [o] and [o:U], raising the possibility for a two-way code-cold merger.
Guest   Mon Jun 11, 2007 11:51 pm GMT
<<No, [O@] sounds unnatural to me there. (More than anything else, it sounds to me like "called" pronounced in a New York accent.) [O@`] is what I use in "cord"; but the vowel that I have in "cold" starts higher, around [o], and it doesn't move toward a central position.>>

That's interesting. Now that I think about it, I think I actually have [o] is my pre-l "long o" sound, but it's not [oU], there's no glide, unlike for my vowel in "code" which is [7U]. For "ail" however, I have a pre-l version of "long a" which is [e@] or [E@] and contrasts with the [eI] sound I have in "aid".
Paul   Mon Jun 11, 2007 11:58 pm GMT
I have [Ur\] in my dialect in "footer" which I pronounce [fUr\]. Likewise, I only have that sequence in one word, but it's a different word.
bold bald bulb   Tue Jun 12, 2007 1:09 am GMT
I pronounce 'bold' identically to 'bald' and to rhyme with 'old' /OUld/. It's also the same vowel in 'bulb', 'bulking', 'bulging', etc....

Yes, "The Bold And The Beautiful" could be "The Bald And The Beautiful".

But this is quite common around here, though I do hear some people rhyme 'bald' with 'ball' /bo:l/.
Travis   Tue Jun 12, 2007 1:46 am GMT
>>I have [Ur\] in my dialect in "footer" which I pronounce [fUr\]. Likewise, I only have that sequence in one word, but it's a different word.<<

Just where are you from, as you have some pronunciations that are quite nonstandard that I myself am very familiar with, to say the very least? (For the record, I am from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.)

And yes, I am apt to pronounce "footer" as ["fUR=:] or ["fU:R] in my everyday speech.
JHJ   Tue Jun 12, 2007 10:43 am GMT
I have this merger. RP /@Ul/ and /Ql/ are merged word-finally or before a consonant other than /j/, and /O:l/ tends to join them when followed by a consonant other than a suffixed /d/ or /z/. The merged vowel is a shortish mid back rounded monophthong, and the /l/ is not vocalised:
"dole"="doll" [do5]
"bald"="bold" [bo5d]
"salt" [so5t], "false" [fo5s]
but
"holly" [hQlI] != "holy" [ho:5I]
"volume" [vQljum]
"call" [kO:5], "called" [kO:5d], "calls" [kO:5z]
Paul   Tue Jun 12, 2007 10:49 am GMT
<<I have [Ur\] in my dialect in "footer" which I pronounce [fUr\]. Likewise, I only have that sequence in one word, but it's a different word.>>

I posted this in the wrong thread. Sorry.
Lilly   Tue Jun 12, 2007 2:29 pm GMT
BALD/BOLD merger is part of so-called World English (most speakers of English as a foreign language pronounce these words same)
Lazar   Tue Jun 12, 2007 7:10 pm GMT
<<BALD/BOLD merger is part of so-called World English (most speakers of English as a foreign language pronounce these words same)>>

Are you sure of that? I'm under the impression that it would be common for non-native speakers to distinguish them with something like:

bald ["bOld]
bold ["bold]

I've read that in African English, for example, it's common to merge the LOT and THOUGHT classes with [O], versus [o] for the GOAT class (similar to Scottish English).