PALM Set

Guest   Wed Feb 20, 2008 4:32 am GMT
This may have been done in the past, but I was wondering how everyone who reads this board pronounces the words in the PALM set. More specifically: do you pronounce the "L" in calm, palm, balm, psalm, etc. I have been trying to draw an isogloss where "L" is generally used, but I have received a number of responses that do not seem to indicate a specific pattern. This is primarily geared at North American speakers, as the L-less pronunciation seems to be somewhat universal on the other side of the Atlantic (except for perhaps the West Country and maybe Scotland). I believe it is also universal in Australia and New Zealand.

I grew up in the Great Lakes/Inland North region, and I have never used the L. Therefore, my "palm" would be something close to [pam].
Lazar   Wed Feb 20, 2008 4:44 am GMT
I'm from Central Massachusetts, and I pronounce "palm" as [ˈpʰɑ:m], and the rest similarly. As far as I know, the pronunciation with /l/ isn't found in the Northeast.
Travis   Wed Feb 20, 2008 11:58 am GMT
At least around here, there are three different sorts of pronunciation of words in the PALM set. The first is the original non-spelling pronunciation, which in the case of "palm" would be [ˈpʰãːm]. The second is the normal spelling pronunciation, which in the case of "palm" would be [ˈpʰɒ̃ːʊ̯̃m]. However, there is a third set of pronunciations, which is fundamentally derived from the spelling pronunciation of the PALM set but which is modified by the influence of the original pronunciation of the PALM set; in the case of "palm" this would be [ˈpʰɒ̃ːm]. The original non-spelling pronunciations are relatively rare in the dialect here overall, only being particularly common in the case of "calm" [ˈkʰãːm] even though the spelling pronunciation [ˈkʰɒ̃ːʊ̯̃m] is also quite common (especially amongst younger people). On the other hand, for certain words spelling pronunciations modified by non-spelling pronunciations are common, as in the case of "palm".
pbpjr246   Wed Feb 20, 2008 12:19 pm GMT
Jacksonville, FL here. I do pronounce the /l/.
Jim   Thu Feb 21, 2008 3:33 am GMT
I'm from Sydney, Aust. & say you're pretty much right in your belief that /l/-lessness is universal in Australia and New Zealand.
Lo   Sun Feb 24, 2008 3:53 am GMT
it's /pAm/ for me but the spelling pronunciation /pAlm/ or even /pQlm/ isn't all that weird here in SoCal.
A lot these words use the spelling pronunciation nowadays, like calm, balm, Psalm, etc.