Mary/merry and horse/hoarse: Mergers in Southern American English

Phonetic mergers in American English have been studied throughout the last half century. Previous research has contributed social and phonetic explanations to the understanding of front and back vowel mergers before /l/, front vowel mergers before nasals and phonetically unconditioned back vowel mergers. Using data from the Linguistic Atlas of the Gulf States (LAGS) and the Linguistic Atlas of the Middle and South Atlantic States (LAMSAS), this thesis examines the spread of the front vowel mergers in Mary and merry and the back vowel mergers in horse and hoarse. The two complementary sources of data allow for a social and phonetic approach to the examination of the merger.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of North Texas

Year dc:date

2004

Author dc:creator

• Ehrhardt, Brooke

Contributors dc:contributor

• Cukor-Avila, Patricia
• Ross, John Robert, 1938-
• Bailey, Guy

• English language -- Southern States -- Phonetics.
• English language -- Southern States -- Vowels.
• horse/hoarse
• vowel merger
• Southern American English
• LAGS
• Mary/merry

Statement dc:rights

• Public
• Copyright
• Ehrhardt, Brooke
• Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved.

Language dc:language

English

Identifier

oclc: 55658378
https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc4523/
ark: ark:/67531/metadc4523

OAI identifier oai:identifier

info:ark/67531/metadc4523