What are the regional variations in the pronunciation of the word "on" in the United States?
Pronunciation of "on" in United States
Here in Eastern New England we pronounce it [ɒ:n] as a result of having the cot-caught merger without the father-bother merger. In much of the country, from Southeast New England and New York to the Inland North, it's pronounced as either [ɑ:n] or [a:n] - that is, with the historical diaphoneme /ɒ/, unaffected by the lot-cloth split. In much of the country, including the South and most (?) of the Midlands, it's pronounced with the historical diaphoneme /ɔ:/, affected by the lot-cloth split, realized as [ɒ:n], [ɔ:n], or in areas with Southern diphthongization, something like [ɑʊn]. (In the song "Man in Black", Johnny Cash even rhymes "on" with "tone", using - I think - some exaggerated diphthongization.) I'm not sure about Philadelphia: just recently I've heard Philadelphian Chris Matthews use what sounded like [ɔ:n].
In areas of North America with the low-back merger, including Canada, the West, and Southwestern Pennsylvania, all these vowel phonemes are neutralized into one, so "on" as pronounced as [ɑ:n] or [ɒ:n] (or even [a:n] in low-back merged areas affected by the Northern Cities Vowel Shift).
In areas of North America with the low-back merger, including Canada, the West, and Southwestern Pennsylvania, all these vowel phonemes are neutralized into one, so "on" as pronounced as [ɑ:n] or [ɒ:n] (or even [a:n] in low-back merged areas affected by the Northern Cities Vowel Shift).
ON and -ONG words (song, wrong, long...) have very variable pronunciation...In low back merged areas, they follow the normal/usual merged vowel realization, so it's [ɑ:n, sɑ:ŋ, rɑ:ŋ, lɑ:ŋ] in western parts of the US, and some other merged areas of the Midwest (like Erie,PA and
Minneapolis) and [ɒ:n, sɒ:ŋ, rɒ:ŋ, lɒ:ŋ] in central PA and parts of New England. In Canada, there is so much variation, both [ɑ:n, sɑ:ŋ, rɑ:ŋ, lɑ:ŋ] and [ɒ:n, sɒ:ŋ, rɒ:ŋ, lɒ:ŋ] are used.
NYC has [ɑ] in ON, but [ɔ] (closed o) in song, wrong, long...
In some accents (Queens) o is song, wrong, long is very closed: [o], and sometimes nasalized: [sõ:ŋ] (It does sound strange, but it's how Fran Fine, the Nanny pronounces it ;) )
Most African Americans who don't have the local accent of the area they live in have Queens-type [o] in ''song, wrong, long'', and they use it even in ''on''
RP has ɒ in ''on, song, wrong, long'' and, at times, it can sound like [ɑ] to my ear, definitely, less strange than closed [o] of some BackEast realizations of these words.
Minneapolis) and [ɒ:n, sɒ:ŋ, rɒ:ŋ, lɒ:ŋ] in central PA and parts of New England. In Canada, there is so much variation, both [ɑ:n, sɑ:ŋ, rɑ:ŋ, lɑ:ŋ] and [ɒ:n, sɒ:ŋ, rɒ:ŋ, lɒ:ŋ] are used.
NYC has [ɑ] in ON, but [ɔ] (closed o) in song, wrong, long...
In some accents (Queens) o is song, wrong, long is very closed: [o], and sometimes nasalized: [sõ:ŋ] (It does sound strange, but it's how Fran Fine, the Nanny pronounces it ;) )
Most African Americans who don't have the local accent of the area they live in have Queens-type [o] in ''song, wrong, long'', and they use it even in ''on''
RP has ɒ in ''on, song, wrong, long'' and, at times, it can sound like [ɑ] to my ear, definitely, less strange than closed [o] of some BackEast realizations of these words.
I use /A/ for "on" but /Q/ for "wrong" "song" etc. I'm in a low-back merged area (SoCal)
>>In areas of North America with the low-back merger, including Canada, the West, and Southwestern Pennsylvania, all these vowel phonemes are neutralized into one, so "on" as pronounced as [ɑ:n] or [ɒ:n] (or even [a:n] in low-back merged areas affected by the Northern Cities Vowel Shift<<
By "low-back merger" I assume you mean just the father-bother merger and not the cot-caught merger, as most of the NCVS-influenced area lacks the cot-caught merger, and [ˈãːn] in NCVS-influenced areas does not require the cot-caught merger; the dialect here unambiguously lacks it, yet consistently has [ˈãːn] for "on".
By "low-back merger" I assume you mean just the father-bother merger and not the cot-caught merger, as most of the NCVS-influenced area lacks the cot-caught merger, and [ˈãːn] in NCVS-influenced areas does not require the cot-caught merger; the dialect here unambiguously lacks it, yet consistently has [ˈãːn] for "on".
<<By "low-back merger" I assume you mean just the father-bother merger and not the cot-caught merger, as most of the NCVS-influenced area lacks the cot-caught merger, and [ˈãːn] in NCVS-influenced areas does not require the cot-caught merger; the dialect here unambiguously lacks it, yet consistently has [ˈãːn] for "on".>>
No, by "low-back merger" I mean a full father-bother and cot-caught merger. I didn't say that [a:n] was *exclusive* to low-back merged dialects - just a few sentences earlier I said that [ɑ:n]/[a:n] was found throughout the Inland North, so I had already covered the NCVS dialects without the low-back merger.
No, by "low-back merger" I mean a full father-bother and cot-caught merger. I didn't say that [a:n] was *exclusive* to low-back merged dialects - just a few sentences earlier I said that [ɑ:n]/[a:n] was found throughout the Inland North, so I had already covered the NCVS dialects without the low-back merger.
''I use /A/ for "on" but /Q/ for "wrong" "song" etc. I'm in a low-back merged area (SoCal)''
That's strange. You have a so called Southern-influenced Californian accent.
Are you from Bakersfield? In LA and Long Beach most people don't have /Q/ vowel at all, so they use /A/ in ''on, wrong, song''....
Furthermore, California is not 100 % low back merged, it's around 75% if I remember correctly, many people from unmerged parts of US found their home in Cali.So, it's not uncommon to see/hear a BackEast or Midwest newscasters on local news. (I have a friend from NYC who has /A/ in ''gone'' and ''water'', which is not typical there).
One more thing, some guys from California have /Q/ in ''call, long''
but /A/ in ''caller, longer''. Go figure. Californian girls seem to be more consistent, preferring /A/ even in ''call, long'' (not Valley Girls ;) but the normal Cali women )
That's strange. You have a so called Southern-influenced Californian accent.
Are you from Bakersfield? In LA and Long Beach most people don't have /Q/ vowel at all, so they use /A/ in ''on, wrong, song''....
Furthermore, California is not 100 % low back merged, it's around 75% if I remember correctly, many people from unmerged parts of US found their home in Cali.So, it's not uncommon to see/hear a BackEast or Midwest newscasters on local news. (I have a friend from NYC who has /A/ in ''gone'' and ''water'', which is not typical there).
One more thing, some guys from California have /Q/ in ''call, long''
but /A/ in ''caller, longer''. Go figure. Californian girls seem to be more consistent, preferring /A/ even in ''call, long'' (not Valley Girls ;) but the normal Cali women )
From California's Martika MTV VJ time ''Her song is called'' , with /A/ in both ''song'' and ''called'' (at 1:24)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=GjFya7ILNH0
a very nice ''pure'' Cali accent, btw ;)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=GjFya7ILNH0
a very nice ''pure'' Cali accent, btw ;)
>>That's strange. You have a so called Southern-influenced Californian accent.
Are you from Bakersfield? In LA and Long Beach most people don't have /Q/ vowel at all, so they use /A/ in ''on, wrong, song''....
Furthermore, California is not 100 % low back merged, it's around 75% if I remember correctly, many people from unmerged parts of US found their home in Cali.So, it's not uncommon to see/hear a BackEast or Midwest newscasters on local news. (I have a friend from NYC who has /A/ in ''gone'' and ''water'', which is not typical there).
One more thing, some guys from California have /Q/ in ''call, long''
but /A/ in ''caller, longer''. Go figure. Californian girls seem to be more consistent, preferring /A/ even in ''call, long'' (not Valley Girls ;) but the normal Cali women )<<
Nope, not from Bakersfield. But all my /A/s become /Q/ before /5/ or /l/ and /N/, CVS maybe?
Are you from Bakersfield? In LA and Long Beach most people don't have /Q/ vowel at all, so they use /A/ in ''on, wrong, song''....
Furthermore, California is not 100 % low back merged, it's around 75% if I remember correctly, many people from unmerged parts of US found their home in Cali.So, it's not uncommon to see/hear a BackEast or Midwest newscasters on local news. (I have a friend from NYC who has /A/ in ''gone'' and ''water'', which is not typical there).
One more thing, some guys from California have /Q/ in ''call, long''
but /A/ in ''caller, longer''. Go figure. Californian girls seem to be more consistent, preferring /A/ even in ''call, long'' (not Valley Girls ;) but the normal Cali women )<<
Nope, not from Bakersfield. But all my /A/s become /Q/ before /5/ or /l/ and /N/, CVS maybe?
>>Nope, not from Bakersfield. But all my /A/s become /Q/ before /5/ or /l/ and /N/, CVS maybe?<<
The matter is that it is not uncommon to have allophonic [ɒ] for /ɑ/ before /l/ even in dialects with the cot-caught merger. Furthermore, having allophonic [ɒ] for /ɑ/ before /ŋ/ it not surprising, considering that /ɑ/ is rather lacking in very many non-cot-caught NAE dialects before /ŋ/ due to historical /ɒ/ having merged with /ɔː/ rather than /ɑː/ in such positions due to the lot-cloth split and historical /ɑː/ being rare to nonexistant before /ŋ/.
The matter is that it is not uncommon to have allophonic [ɒ] for /ɑ/ before /l/ even in dialects with the cot-caught merger. Furthermore, having allophonic [ɒ] for /ɑ/ before /ŋ/ it not surprising, considering that /ɑ/ is rather lacking in very many non-cot-caught NAE dialects before /ŋ/ due to historical /ɒ/ having merged with /ɔː/ rather than /ɑː/ in such positions due to the lot-cloth split and historical /ɑː/ being rare to nonexistant before /ŋ/.
>>The matter is that it is not uncommon to have allophonic [ɒ] for /ɑ/ before /l/ even in dialects with the cot-caught merger. Furthermore, having allophonic [ɒ] for /ɑ/ before /ŋ/ it not surprising, considering that /ɑ/ is rather lacking in very many non-cot-caught NAE dialects before /ŋ/ due to historical /ɒ/ having merged with /ɔː/ rather than /ɑː/ in such positions due to the lot-cloth split and historical /ɑː/ being rare to nonexistant before /ŋ/.<<
Then it's not strange? I thought it wasn't, most people I know speak like that... and what's with the southern influenced Californian accent? I don't sound southern...
Then it's not strange? I thought it wasn't, most people I know speak like that... and what's with the southern influenced Californian accent? I don't sound southern...
I'm watching the Academy awards ceremony and it seems that the s/ɑ/ng pronunciation is preferred by Westerners and s/ɒ/ng by Easterners and Southerners...Amy Adams sang "Happy Working Song" from Enchanted, and she used /ɑ/ and /ɒ/ (in ''song'') interchangeably.
As for L-coloring, it can affect many vowels, so: doll, involve, pulse, culture, wolf, call (in West US) can change their original local vowel to /ɒ/, but people, normally, hear it as an allophone, not as a phoneme, not many people from the West Coast would say ''doll doesn't rhyme with fall'' (for New Yorkers these words don't rhyme: doll has /ɑ/, while fall has /ɒ/.
I don't know why linguists ignore these phenomena (L-coloring and /ɑ/~/ɒ/ in -ong words). They are too obsessed with sorry-tomorrow and Florida-orange realizations...California used to have only /ɑ/ in sorry,
but /ɒ/ is becoming increasingly frequent, especially in the Bay Area.
As for L-coloring, it can affect many vowels, so: doll, involve, pulse, culture, wolf, call (in West US) can change their original local vowel to /ɒ/, but people, normally, hear it as an allophone, not as a phoneme, not many people from the West Coast would say ''doll doesn't rhyme with fall'' (for New Yorkers these words don't rhyme: doll has /ɑ/, while fall has /ɒ/.
I don't know why linguists ignore these phenomena (L-coloring and /ɑ/~/ɒ/ in -ong words). They are too obsessed with sorry-tomorrow and Florida-orange realizations...California used to have only /ɑ/ in sorry,
but /ɒ/ is becoming increasingly frequent, especially in the Bay Area.
''most people I know speak like that...''
You don't sound like this? http://youtube.com/watch?v=GjFya7ILNH0
Well, I guess, there are many Californian accents...
You don't sound like this? http://youtube.com/watch?v=GjFya7ILNH0
Well, I guess, there are many Californian accents...