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Academic Paper

Title:	On the status of low back vowels in Kentucky English: More evidence
Author:	Terry Lynn Irons
Email:	click here to access email
Institution:	Morehead State University
Linguistic Field:	Phonology; Sociolinguistics
Subject Language:	English
Abstract:	In an effort to provide greater understanding of the mechanisms of the diffusion of the low back vowel merger in American English, this study presents a detailed acoustic analysis of low back vowel systems in the speech of 114 native nonurban Kentucky speakers of English. The study reveals unexpected instances of merger in areas of the state that cannot be explained by current theories of merger. In this respect, it argues that these instances of low back vowel merger, while they may be an expansion of an existing merger, result from a distinct mechanism of merger, that is, merger by glide loss. It is predicted that as elements of traditional Southern phonology recede, similar merger will be widespread across the South.

	This article appears in Language Variation and Change Vol. 19, Issue 2, which you can read on Cambridge's site or on LINGUIST .

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