long o

In my dialect of english, long <o> is always diphthongized to /7U/ unless it is before l, or r. Is this any different for other dialects of english?

I also pronounce it that way - my normal realization of /o/ is [7U]. When it's followed by /l/ in the same syllable, it becomes [oU], and "or" words for me use [O@`].

Just a little piece of advice: slashes are used for phonemes (distinctive sounds of speech), whereas brackets are used for phones (the actual sounds that are produced).

<<Is this any different for other dialects of english?>>

I think this realization of /o/ is quite common in many North American dialects. For example, two Americans on this website ( http://wiki.firespeaker.org/Proto_English_Vowels ) transcribed their /o/ as [7U]. This seems to be the most common realization of /o/ here in Massachusetts; and for what it's worth - of course my perception could be biased - I think I've heard a lot of people on TV use [7U].

I mean, "phonemes (distinctive units of speech)".

Around here, /o/ is generally just [o], aside from its breaking after coronals as [8o], it's becoming [oU] as /ol/ due to l-vocalization, and its being pronounced as [7] when very unstressed in certain words such as "okay". However, some idiolects here do involve the pronunciation of /o/ as [8}] or even occasionally [9Y], which are quite diphthongal in nature in addition to being centralized or even fronted, but are never unrounded; I myself on occasion will use such pronunciations, but I tend to use more conservative rounded back monophthong realizations most of the time (unlike some people, such as my sister, who use such realizations relatively often).

My /o/ seems to be [o] in closed syllables, and [oU] in open ones. I use a different form, something like [uo] occasionally, but I haven't figured out all the rules around it yet.

/6/ becomes /o/ before [L\] so for instance "dull" is [doL\]. "hull" and "hole" sound identical when I pronounce them.

I pronounce "dull" and "hull" with [V5] (compare "hole", which uses [oU5]). My /V/ phoneme undergoes no noticeable allophony there.

Note that "holy" and "slowly" don't rhyme for me. "holy" being [hoL\i] while "slowly" is [sl7Uli].

The same applies for me. I pronounce "holy" as ["hoU5.i], but "slowly" as ["sl7U.li].

This also happens with [i] - compare "really" ["r\i5.i] and "freely" ["fr\i.li].

It's interesting how much allophonic variation /l/ produces in English. I have a whole group of low and/or back vowels that are merged or near-merged before /l/. These are more formal or citation forms:

code [kod]
cold [koUd]
called [kQUd]
culled [kOUd]

I tend to produce the last three as [OU] in less formal speech. 'Code' and 'cold' tend to be pretty close in higher registers, but I don't think they ever merge, except maybe in open syllables.
Does anyone else pronounce 'really' with [I]? For me, it's ["r\I.li].

<<This also happens with [i] - compare "really" ["r\i5.i] and "freely" ["fr\i.li].>>

I pronounce those as [r\IL\.i] and [fr\i.li]. /i/ and /I/ merge before /l/ for me so I don't have /i/ before /l/ outside of morpheme boundries.

I pronounce "dull" as ["dV:M] and "hull" as ["hV:M], while I pronounce "hole" as ["ho:U]. But at the same time, I pronounce "gulf" as ["gQUf], "bulb" ["bQ:Ub], and "multiply" as ["mQUt_hIpL\a:I]. However, I have not found a general pattern except that historical /V/ has often shifted to [Q] before /l/ followed by an obstruent, which is most commonly fortis but many be lenis, as in the word "bomb".

My "holy" ["ho:L\i:] or ["ho:Ui:] and "slowly" ["sL\o:L\i] or ["sL\o:Ui:] rhyme as well, but I do have variation between "really " ["RI:Mi:] or ["Ri:Mi:] and "freely" ["fr\i:L\i:] or sometimes ["fri:Mi:] in that I am far more likely to preserve [L\] in "freely" than in "really", where I practically always have [M] present instead.

>>It's interesting how much allophonic variation /l/ produces in English. I have a whole group of low and/or back vowels that are merged or near-merged before /l/. These are more formal or citation forms:

code [kod]
cold [koUd]
called [kQUd]
culled [kOUd]

I tend to produce the last three as [OU] in less formal speech. 'Code' and 'cold' tend to be pretty close in higher registers, but I don't think they ever merge, except maybe in open syllables.<<

I myself have:

code [k_ho:d]
cold [k_ho:Ud]
called [k_hQ:Ud]
culled [k_hV:Md]

However, I do not have any merger of the last three cases at all. Rather, what I have is "code" and "cold" being very close in informal speech even though they never properly merge, as [o] does not contrast well with [oU] here.

>>Does anyone else pronounce 'really' with [I]? For me, it's ["r\I.li].<<

I often do so in everyday speech, except when I stress "really", where they I will still use [i].