"Ah" and "Ahm"

Hopeful   Tue Nov 22, 2005 5:59 pm GMT
I have heard so many people pronounce I as "ah" and I´m as "ahm"!
Is it only in American English or in British English too? (or other accents?)
has it got somehting to do with vowels, accents or slang languages?
Rick Johnson   Tue Nov 22, 2005 7:24 pm GMT
I think its actually rare to hear "I'm" pronounced correctly by any English speaker in any country, at least in everyday conversation.
Hopeful   Tue Nov 22, 2005 9:37 pm GMT
I don´t think "ahm" is incorrect
It´s difficult to say "eye-m" all the time
I have also heard "mah" instead of my
Ryan   Tue Nov 22, 2005 11:27 pm GMT
That pronunciation is in the American South dialect.
Travis   Tue Nov 22, 2005 11:43 pm GMT
"I" as "ah" and "I'm" as "ahm" are not common here in Wisconsin, but the normal pronunciation of "I'll" in everyday speech here is /aIl/ -> [a:5], due to /aI/ being realized as [a] before /l/ and /w/ in informal speech here (even though such may not necessarily be always consistent in speech forms between specifically informal and specifically formal registers).
JJM   Wed Nov 23, 2005 7:46 am GMT
"I don´t think 'ahm' is incorrect"

You are correct! The judgment that "ahm" is "I'm" incorrectly pronounced is a purely subjective opinion.

It's nothing more than a regional accent.
Kirk   Wed Nov 23, 2005 8:26 am GMT
<<I don´t think "ahm" is incorrect>>

You're right, it's perfectly valid. It's a regional pronunciation from the American South :)

<<It´s difficult to say "eye-m" all the time>>

Well, not for me--I only say it "eye-m" (which is [aIm] in X-SAMPA). However, like Travis (and many other English speakers), I do experience monophthongization in "I'll" ([A5] in my case as compared to Travis' [a:5] but the idea is the same). This is a specific instance which has long happened in English--I've read it shows up in British English too (same with monophthongization of "our"). In normal speech I can use [aI5] or [A5] but I'd say [A5] is typically more common.

<<I have also heard "mah" instead of my>>

Like "ahm," that is a regional pronunciation found in the American South.
Travis   Wed Nov 23, 2005 8:53 am GMT
Note, though, that I will pronounce "I" as "ah" (specifically as [a]) when "I" precedes words starting in /l/ or /w/, as this is not limited to the word "I'll", unlike with the case of "our", in my dialect, but rather has been generized in informal speech into an overall phonological rule, albeit one that is "turned off" very often (almost invariably for cases other than "I'll) in formal and "careful" speech.
Guy   Wed Nov 23, 2005 12:20 pm GMT
Travis,
So for you, is "I want" pronounced as /awAnt/? and "I like" as /alaik/?