English-language vowel changes before historic /l/

In the history of English phonology, there have been many diachronic sound changes affecting vowels, especially involving phonemic splits and mergers. A number of these changes are specific to vowels which occur before /l/.

Historical diphthongization before /l/

Diphthongization occurred since Early Modern English in certain -al- and -ol- sequences before coronal or velar consonants, or at the end of a word or morpheme. In these sequences, /al/ became /awl/ and then /ɑul/, while /ɔl/ became /ɔwl/ and then /ɔul/. Both of these merged with existing diphthongs: /ɑu/ as in law and /ɔu/ as in throw.

At the end of a word or morpheme, this produced all, ball, call, fall, gall, hall, mall, small, squall, stall, pall, tall, thrall, wall, control, droll, extol, knoll, poll (meaning a survey of people,) roll, scroll, stroll, swollen, toll, and troll. The word shall did not follow this trend, and remains /ʃæl/ today.

Before coronal consonants, this produced Alderney, alter, bald, balderdash, false, falter, halt, malt, palsy, salt, Wald, Walter, bold, cold, fold, gold, hold, molten, mould/mold, old, shoulder (earlier sholder), smolder, told, and wold (in the sense of "tract of land"). As with shall, the word shalt did not follow this trend, and remains /ʃælt/ today.

Before /k/, this produced balk, caulk/calk, chalk, Dundalk, falcon, stalk, talk, walk, folk, Polk, and yolk.

This L-vocalization established a pattern that would influence the spelling pronunciations of some relatively more recent loanwords like Balt, Malta, waltz, Yalta, and polder. It also influenced English spelling reform efforts, explaining the American English mold and molt vs. the traditional mould and moult.

Certain words of more recent origin or coining, however, do not have the change and retain short vowels, including Al, alcohol, bal, Cal, calcium, gal, Hal, mal-, pal, Sal, talc, Val, doll, Moll, and Poll (a nickname for a parrot.)

Historical L-vocalization

In most circumstances, the changes stopped there. But in -alk and -olk words, the /l/ disappeared entirely in most accents (with the notable exception of Hiberno-English). This change caused /ɑulk/ to become /ɑuk/, and /ɔulk/ to become /ɔuk/. Even outside Ireland, some of these words have more than one pronunciation that retains the /l/ sound, especially in American English where spelling pronunciations caused partial or full reversal of L-vocalization in a handful of cases:

• caulk/calk can be /ˈkɔːlk/ or /ˈkɔːk/.
• falcon can be /ˈfælkən/, /ˈfɔːlkən/ or /ˈfɔːkən/.
• yolk can be /ˈjoʊlk/ or /ˈjoʊk/. yoke as /ˈjoʊk/ is only conditionally homophonous.

Words like fault and vault did not undergo L-vocalization, but rather L-restoration, having previously been L-vocalized independently in Old French and lacking the /l/ in Middle English, but having it restored by Early Modern English. The word falcon existed simultaneously as homonyms fauco(u)n and falcon in Middle English. The word moult/molt never originally had /l/ to begin with, instead deriving from Middle English mout and related etymologically to mutate; the /l/ joined the word intrusively.

The Great Vowel Shift changed the diphthongs to their present pronunciations, with /ɑu/ becoming the monophthong /ɔː/, and /ɔu/ raising to /oʊ/.

The loss of /l/ in words spelt with -alf, -alm, -alve and -olm did not involve L-vocalization in the same sense, but rather the elision of the consonant and usually the compensatory lengthening of the vowel.

Variation between /ɔːl/ and /ɒl/ in salt and similar words

Some words such as salt that traditionally had /ɔːl/ for most RP speakers have alternative pronunciations with /ɒl/ that are used more frequently by younger British English speakers. This variation between /ɔːl/ and /ɒl/ occurs primarily before voiceless consonants, as in salt, false and alter, although it may also occur less commonly in words such as scald and bald where the /l/ comes before a voiced consonant.^[1] In England, this laxing before /l/ was traditionally associated with the north but has in recent decades become more widespread, including among younger speakers of RP.^{[citation needed]}

Modern L-vocalization

More extensive L-vocalization is a notable feature of certain dialects of English, including Cockney, Estuary English, New York English, New Zealand English, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia English, in which an /l/ sound occurring at the end of a word or before a consonant is pronounced as some sort of close back vocoid, e.g., [w], [o] or [ʊ]. The resulting sound may not always be rounded. The precise phonetic quality varies. It can be heard occasionally in the dialect of the English East Midlands, where words ending in -old can be pronounced /oʊd/. KM Petyt (1985) noted this feature in the traditional dialect of West Yorkshire but said it has died out.^[2] However, in recent decades l-vocalization has been spreading outwards from London and the south east,^[3][4] John C Wells argued that it is probable that it will become the standard pronunciation in England over the next one hundred years,^[5] an idea which Petyt criticised in a book review.^[6]

In Cockney, Estuary English and New Zealand English, l-vocalization can be accompanied by phonemic mergers of vowels before the vocalized /l/, so that real, reel and rill, which are distinct in most dialects of English, are homophones as [ɹɪw].

Graham Shorrocks noted extensive L-vocalisation in the dialect of Bolton, Greater Manchester and commented, "many, perhaps, associate such a quality more with Southern dialects, than with Lancashire/Greater Manchester."^[7]

In the accent of Bristol, syllabic /l/ can be vocalized to /o/, resulting in pronunciations like /ˈbɒto/ (for bottle). By hypercorrection, however, some words originally ending in /o/ were given an /l/: the original name of the town was Bristow, but this has been altered by hypercorrection to Bristol.^[8]

African-American English (AAE) dialects may have L-vocalization as well. However, in these dialects, it may be omitted altogether (e.g. fool becomes [fuː]. Some English speakers from San Francisco - particularly those of Asian ancestry - also vocalize or omit /l/.^[9]

Salary–celery merger

The salary–celery merger is a conditioned merger of /æ/ (as in bat) and /ɛ/ (as in bet) when they occur before /l/, thus making salary and celery homophones.^{[10][11][12][13]} The merger is not well studied. It is referred to in various sociolinguistic publications, but usually only as a small section of the larger change undergone by vowels preceding /l/ in articles about l-vocalization.

This merger has been detected in the English spoken in New Zealand and in parts of the Australian state of Victoria, including the capital Melbourne.^[14][15] The merger is also found in the Norfuk dialect spoken on Norfolk Island.^[13] The salary-celery merger is also characteristic of Chicano English in Los Angeles and has been attested in the Chicano English of northern New Mexico and Albuquerque as well.^[16][17][18]/ɛ/ is also often lowered before /l/ in El Paso, but not all speakers show a merger.^[19] In varieties with the merger, salary and celery are both pronounced /sæləri/.^[11]

The study presented by Cox and Palethorpe at a 2003 conference tested just one group of speakers from Victoria: 13 fifteen-year-old girls from a Catholic girls' school in Wangaratta. Their pronunciations were compared with those of school girl groups in the towns of Temora, Junee and Wagga Wagga in New South Wales. In the study conducted by Cox and Palethorpe, the group in Wangaratta exhibited the merger while speakers in Temora, Junee and Wagga Wagga did not.^[11]

Deborah Loakes from Melbourne University has suggested that the salary-celery merger is restricted to Melbourne and southern Victoria, not being found in northern border towns such as Albury-Wodonga or Mildura.^[14]

In the 2003 study Cox and Palethorpe note that the merger appears to only involve lowering of /e/ before /l/, with the reverse not occurring, stating that "There is no evidence in this data of raised /æ/ before /l/ as in 'Elbert' for 'Albert', a phenomenon that has been popularly suggested for Victorians."^[11]

Horsfield (2001) investigates the effects of postvocalic /l/ on the preceding vowels in New Zealand English; her investigation covers all of the New Zealand English vowels and is not specifically tailored to studying mergers and neutralizations, but rather the broader change that occurs across the vowels. She has suggested that further research involving minimal pairs like telly and tally, celery and salary should be done before any firm conclusions are drawn.

A pilot study of the merger was done, which yielded perception and production data from a few New Zealand speakers. The results of the pilot survey suggested that although the merger was not found in the speech of all participants, those who produced a distinction between /æl/ and /el/ also accurately perceived a difference between them; those who merged /æl/ and /el/ were less able to accurately perceive the distinction. The finding has been interesting to some linguists because it concurs with the recent understanding that losing a distinction between two sounds involves losing the ability to produce it as well as to perceive it (Gordon 2002). However, due to the very small number of people participating in the study the results are not conclusive.

Homophonous pairs

/æl/	/ɛl/	IPA	Notes
Allan	Ellen	ælən
bally	belly	bæli
dally	Delhi	dæli
dally	deli	dæli
fallow	fellow	fæloʊ
Hal	hell	hæl
mallow	mellow	mæloʊ
Sal	cel	sæl
Sal	cell	sæl
Sal	sell	sæl
salary	celery	sæləri
shall	shell	ʃæl

Fill–feel merger

 

The areas marked in red are where the fill–feel merger is most consistently present in the local accent. Map based on Labov, Ash, and Boberg (2006: 71).^[20]

The fill–feel merger is a conditioned merger of the vowels /ɪ/ and /iː/ before /l/ that occurs in some accents. In Europe, it is commonly found in Estuary English. Otherwise it is typical of certain accents of American English. The heaviest concentration of the merger is found in, but not necessarily confined to, Southern American English: in North Carolina, eastern Tennessee, northern Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana (but not New Orleans), and west-central Texas (Labov, Ash, and Boberg 2006: 69-73). This merger, like many other features of Southern American English, can also be found in AAE.

Homophonous pairs

/ɪl/	/iːl/	IPA	Notes
dill	deal	dɪl
fill	feel	fɪl
filled	field	fɪld
hill	heal	hɪl
hill	heel	hɪl
hill	he'll	hɪl
ill	eel	ɪl
Jill	geal	dʒɪl
kill	keel	kɪl
mill	meal	mɪl
nil	kneel	nɪl
nil	Neil	nɪl
Phil	feel	fɪl
pill	peel	pɪl
rill	real	rɪl
rill	reel	rɪl
shill	she'll	ʃɪl
shilled	shield	ʃɪld
sill	ceil	sɪl
sill	seal	sɪl
silly	Seely	sɪli
still	steal	stɪl
still	steel	stɪl
till	teal	tɪl
will	we'll	wɪl
will	wheel	wɪl	With wine-whine merger.
willed	wheeled	wɪld	With wine-whine merger.
willed	wield	wɪld

Fell–fail merger

The same two regions show a closely related merger, namely the fell–fail merger of /ɛ/ and /eɪ/ before /l/ that occurs in some varieties of Southern American English making fell and fail homophones. In addition to North Carolina and Texas, these mergers are found sporadically in other Southern states and in the Midwest and West.^[21][22]

Homophonous pairs

/ɛl/	/eɪl/	IPA	Notes
bell	bail	bɛl
bell	bale	bɛl
belle	bail	bɛl
belle	bale	bɛl
cell, cel	sail	sɛl
cell, cel	sale	sɛl
dell	dale	dɛl
fell	fail	fɛl
gel	gaol, jail	dʒɛl
held	hailed	hɛld
hell	hail	hɛl
hell	hale	hɛl
knell	nail	nɛl
Mel	mail	mɛl
Mel	male	mɛl
meld	mailed	mɛld
Nell	nail	nɛl
quell	quail	kwɛl
sell	sail	sɛl
sell	sale	sɛl
shell	shale	ʃɛl
swell	swale	swɛl
tell	tail	tɛl
tell	tale	tɛl
weld	wailed	wɛld
well	wail	wɛl
well	wale	wɛl
wells	wales	wɛlz
wells	Wales	wɛlz
well	whale	wɛl	With wine-whine merger.
wells	wails	wɛlz
wells	whales	wɛlz	With wine-whine merger.
yell	Yale	jɛl

Full–fool merger

The full–fool merger is a conditioned merger of /ʊ/ and /uː/ before /l/, making pairs like pull/pool and full/fool homophones. The main concentration of the pull–pool merger is in Western Pennsylvania English, centered around Pittsburgh. The merger is less consistently but still noticeably present in some speakers of surrounding Midland American English.^[23] The Atlas of North American English also reports this merger, or near-merger, scattered sporadically throughout Western American English, with particular prevalence in some speakers of urban Utahn, Californian, and New Mexican English.^[24] Accents with L-vocalization, such as New Zealand English, Estuary English and Cockney, may also have the full–fool merger in most cases, but when a suffix beginning with a vowel is appended, the distinction returns: Hence 'pull' and 'pool' are [pʊo], but 'pulling' is /ˈpʊlɪŋ/ whereas 'pooling' remains /ˈpuːlɪŋ/.^[25]

The fill–feel merger and full–fool merger are not unified in American English; they are found in different parts of the country, and very few people show both mergers.^[26]

Hull–hole merger

The hull–hole merger is a conditioned merger of /ʌ/ and /oʊ/ before /l/ occurring for some speakers of English English with l-vocalization. As a result, "hull" and "hole" are homophones as [hɔʊ]. The merger is also mentioned by Labov, Ash, and Boberg (2006: 72) as a merger before /l/ in North American English that might require further study. The latter merger can also involve /ʊ/ or /ə/ before /l/.

Homophonous pairs

/ʌl/	/oʊl/	/ʊl/	/əl/	IPA	Notes
adult	a dolt			əˈdVlt	Adult as /əˈdʌlt/.
	bold	bulled		bVld
	bowl	bull		bVl
	bowled	bulled		bVld
culled	cold			kVld
cull	coal			kVl
cull	cole			kVl
cult	colt			kVlt
dull	dole			dVl
	foal	full		fVl
	foaled	fulled		fVld
	fold	fulled		fVld
gull	goal			ɡVl
hull	hole			hVl
hull	whole			hVl
hulled	hold			hVld
hulled	holed			hVld
mull	mole			mVl
mulled	mold			mVld
mulled	mould			mVld
null	gnoll			nVl
null	knoll			nVl
	pole	pull		pVl
	poll	pull		pVl
	Seminole		seminal	ˈsɛmɪnVl
skulled	scold			skVld
sull	sole			sVl
sull	soul			sVl
sulled	sold			sVld
sulled	soled			sVld
sulled	souled			sVld

Goat split

The goat split is a process that has affected London dialects and Estuary English.^[27][28] In the first phase of the split, the diphthong of goat /əʊ/ developed an allophone [ɒʊ] before "dark" (nonprevocalic) /l/. Thus goal no longer had the same vowel as goat ([ɡɒʊɫ] vs. [ɡəʊʔ]).^[27] In the second phase, the diphthong [ɒʊ] spread to other forms of affected words. For example, the realization of rolling changed from [ˈɹəʊlɪŋ] to [ˈɹɒʊlɪŋ] on the model of roll [ɹɒʊɫ]. This led to the creation of a minimal pair for some speakers: wholly /ˈhɒʊli/ vs. holy /ˈhəʊli/ and thus to phonemicization of the split. The change from /əʊ/ to /ɒʊ/ in derived forms is not fully consistent; for instance, in cockney, polar is pronounced with the /əʊ/ of goat even though it is derived from pole /ˈpɒʊl/.

In broad Cockney, the phonetic difference between the two phonemes may be rather small and they may be distinguished by nothing more than the openness of the first element, so that goat is pronounced [ɡɐɤʔ] whereas goal is pronounced [ɡaɤ].^[27]

Doll–dole merger

The doll–dole merger is a conditioned merger, for some Londoners, of /ɒ/ and /əʊ/ before word-final /l/, which may be caused by the Goat split and the subsequent merger of /ɒʊ/ with /ɒ/.^[29] As a result, doll and dole may become homophones.^[30] If the /l/ is morpheme-final, as in doll-dole, the underlying vowel is still distinguished in derived forms such as dolling/doling.^[30]

Where the /l/ is not word-final, however, the distinction is not recoverable. That may lead to sold having the same vowel sound as solve as well as hypercorrections such as /səʊlv/ for solve (RP /sɒlv/).^[30] There do not appear to be any minimal pairs in this environment since RP /ɒl/ and /əʊl/ are in more-or-less complementary distribution in stressed syllables, with /ɒl/ before /f/ and /v/ (e.g. golf, dolphin, solve, revolve) and /əʊl/ elsewhere (e.g. bolt, polka, gold, soldier, holster).

Goose split

Similar to the Goat split, the Goose split is a process affecting some Southeastern English dialects, where the Goose vowel, which is typically [ʉw], backs to [ʊw] before /l/. Also like the Goat split, the Goose split often affects related words, leading to minimal pairs, e.g. ruler (a king or queen) [rʊwlə] with backing vs. ruler (a measuring device) [rʉwlə], or cooler [kʊwlə] vs. the name Kula [kʉwlə]. A similar backing change has occurred in many North American dialects,^[31][32] but this has remained allophonic.

Fool–fall merger

For some English speakers in the UK, the vowels of goose and thought may be merged before dark syllable-final /l/, which may be caused by the Goose split and the subsequent merger of /ʊw/ with /o:/.^[29] This neutralization has been found to exist for clusters of speakers in the southern UK, especially for speakers from areas of the south coast and the Greater London area.^[33]

Vile–vial merger

The vile–vial merger is where the words in the vile set ending with /-ˈaɪl/ (bile, file, guile, I'll, Kyle, Lyle, mile, Nile, pile, rile, smile, stile, style, tile, vile, while, wile) rhyme with words in the vial set ending with /-ˈaɪəl/ (decrial, denial, dial, espial, Niall, phial, trial, vial, viol).^[34] This merger involves the dephonemicization of schwa that occurs after a vowel and before /l/, causing the vowel-/l/ sequence to be pronounced as either one or two syllables.

This merger may also be encountered with other vowel rhymes too, including:

• /-ˈeɪl/ (gaol, sale, tail, etc.) and /-ˈeɪəl/ (betrayal, Jael), usually skewing towards two syllables.
• /-ˈɔɪl/ (coil, soil, etc.) and /-ˈɔɪəl/ (loyal, royal), usually skewing towards two syllables.
• /-ˈiːl/ (ceil, feel, steal, etc.) and /-ˈiːəl/ (real), usually skewing towards two syllables.
• /-ˈɔːl/ (all, drawl, haul, etc.) and /-ˈɔːəl/ (withdrawal), usually skewing towards one syllable.
• /-ˈoʊl/ (bowl, coal, hole, roll, soul, etc.) and /-ˈoʊəl/ (Joel, Noel), usually skewing towards one syllable.
• /-ˈuːl/ (cool, ghoul, mewl, rule, you'll, etc.) and /-ˈuːəl/ (cruel, dual, duel, fuel, gruel, jewel), usually skewing towards one syllable.
• /-ˈaʊl/ (owl, scowl, etc.) and /-ˈaʊəl/ (bowel, dowel, Powell, towel, trowel, vowel), inconsistently skewing towards either one or two syllables. Some words may wander across this boundary even in some non-merging accents, such as owl with /-ˈaʊəl/, and bowel with /-ˈaʊl/.
• In some rhotic accents, /-ˈɜrl/ (girl, hurl, pearl, etc.) and /-ˈɜrəl/ (referral), usually skewing towards two syllables. This historically happened to the word squirrel, which was previously /ˈskwɪrəl/ (and still is in certain accents), but it actually became one syllable /ˈskwɜrl/ in General American today. But some accents with one-syllable squirrel later broke it again into two syllables, but as /ˈskwɜrəl/.
• In some rhotic father–bother merged accents, /-ˈɑrl/ (Carl, marl, etc.) and /-ˈɑrəl/ (coral, moral), usually skewing towards two syllables.

For many speakers, the vowels in cake, meet, vote and moot can become centering diphthongs before /l/, leading to pronunciations like [teəl], [tiəl], [toəl] and [tuəl] for tail, teal, toll and tool.

Merger of non-prevocalic /ʊl/, /ʉːl/, /əl/, /oːl/ with /oː/

In Cockney, non-prevocalic /ʊl/ (as in bull), /ʉːl/ (as in pool), /əl/ (as in bottle) and /oːl/ (as in call) can all merge with the /oː/ of thought, thus reintroducing the phoneme in the word-final position where, according to one analysis, only /ɔə/ can occur (see thought split): /ˈboː, ˈpoː, ˈbɒtoː, ˈkoː/. The last three words can contrast with the open variety of THOUGHT (which is not distinct from NORTH and FORCE and often also encompasses CURE - see cure-force merger), as in core, bore and paw: /ˈkɔə, ˈbɔə, ˈpɔə/, also in pairs such as stalled /ˈstoːd/ - stored /ˈstɔəd/.

The merger of /əl/, /oːl/ and /oː/ is the most usual and leads to musical being homophonous with music hall as /ˈmjʉːzɪkoː/. Cockney speakers usually regard both syllables of awful as rhyming: /ˈoːfoː/.^[35]

The merger of /oːl/ with /oː/ has been reported to occur in New Zealand English, which does not feature the thought split (leading to a larger number of potential homophones).^[36]

In the following list, the only homophonous pairs that are included are those involving /oː/ and /oːl/. As the merger is restricted to non-rhotic accents with close THOUGHT, /oː/ in the fifth and sixth columns is assumed to cover not only THOUGHT but also NORTH and FORCE. In the case of cockney, the sixth column does not participate in the merger.

Potentially homophonous pairs

/ʊl/	/ʉːl/	/əl/	/oːl/	Morpheme-internal /oː/	Morpheme-final /oː/ (Cockney /ɔə/)	IPA	Notes
		—	all	—	awe	ˈoː
		—	all	—	or	ˈoː	With the strong form of or.
		—	all	—	ore	ˈoː
		—	alls		ores	ˈoːz
		—	alls		ors	ˈoːz
		—	alls	Hawes	whores	ˈoːz	With h-dropping.
		—	Alt	hawk		ˈoːʔ	With h-dropping and glottal replacement of both /t/ and /k/.
		—	Alt	hork		ˈoːʔ	With h-dropping and glottal replacement of both /t/ and /k/.
		—	Alt	ort		ˈoːt
		—	Alt	orc		ˈoːʔ	With glottal replacement of both /t/ and /k/.
		—	Auld	ord	awed	ˈoːd
bull	Boole	—	ball	—	boar	ˈboː
bull	Boole	—	ball	—	bore	ˈboː
bulled		—	bald	bawd	bored	ˈboːd
bulled		—	bald	board	bored	ˈboːd
bulled		—	balled	bawd	bored	ˈboːd
bulled		—	balled	board	bored	ˈboːd
bulls	Booles	—	balls		boars	ˈboːz
bulls	Booles	—	balls		bores	ˈboːz
	cool	—	call	—	core	ˈkoː
	coolled	—	called	cord		ˈkoːd
	cools	—	calls	cause	cores	ˈkoːz
	drool	—	drawl	—	draw	ˈdroː
	drooled	—	drawled		drawed	ˈdroːd
	drools	—	drawls		draws	ˈdroːz
		—	false	force		ˈfoːs
		—	fault	fork		ˈfoːʔ	With glottal replacement of both /t/ and /k/.
		—	fault	fort		ˈfoːt
		—	fault	fought		ˈfoːt
		—	fault	thought		ˈfoːt	With th-fronting.
		—	faults	forks		ˈfoːʔs	With glottal replacement of both /t/ and /k/.
		—	faults	forts		ˈfoːts
		—	faults	thoughts		ˈfoːts	With th-fronting.
full	fool	—	fall	—	for	ˈfoː	With the strong form of for
full	fool	—	fall	—	fore	ˈfoː
full	fool	—	fall	—	four	ˈfoː
full	fool	—	fall	—	thaw	ˈfoː	With th-fronting.
fulled	foolled	—		ford		ˈfoːd
fulled	foolled	—		ford	thawed	ˈfoːd	With th-fronting.
fulls	fools	—	falls		fours	ˈfoːz
		—	Galt	gork		ˈɡoːʔ	With glottal replacement of both /t/ and /k/.
		—	Galt	gorp		ˈɡoːʔ	With glottal replacement of both /t/ and /p/.
		—	gault	gorp		ˈɡoːʔ	With glottal replacement of both /t/ and /p/.
		—	hall	—	whore	ˈhoː
		—	halls	Hawes	whores	ˈhoːz
		—	halt	hawk		ˈoːʔ	With glottal replacement of both /t/ and /k/. Normally with h-dropping.
		—	halt	hork		ˈoːʔ	With glottal replacement of both /t/ and /k/. Normally with h-dropping.
		—	halt	ort		ˈoːt	With h-dropping.
		—	halt	orc		ˈoːʔ	With h-dropping and glottal replacement of both /t/ and /k/.
		—	halting	Hawking		ˈoːʔɪn	With glottal replacement of both /t/ and /k/. Normally with h-dropping and g-dropping.
		—	halting	horking		ˈoːʔɪn	With glottal replacement of both /t/ and /k/. Normally with h-dropping and g-dropping.
		—	halts	hawks		ˈoːʔs	With glottal replacement of both /t/ and /k/. Normally with h-dropping.
		—	halts	horks		ˈoːʔs	With glottal replacement of both /t/ and /k/. Normally with h-dropping.
		—	halts	orts		ˈoːts	With h-dropping.
		—	halts	orcs		ˈoːʔs	With h-dropping and glottal replacement of both /t/ and /k/.
		—	hard call	—	hardcore	ˈhɑːdkoː	Homophony depends on where the stress falls in hard call.
help full	help fool	helpful	help fall	—	help for	ˈhɛopfoː	With emphatic stress on help in the phrases and with the strong form of for (as in What do you need my help for?)
help full	help fool	helpful	help fall	—	help four	ˈhɛopfoː	With emphatic stress on help in the phrases.
	in stool	—	install	—	in store	ɪnˈstoː
	in stool	—	install	—	in-store	ɪnˈstoː
	in stools	—	installs		in stores	ɪnˈstoːz
		—	mall	—	more	ˈmoː
		—	malt	mort		ˈmoːt
		musical	music hall	—		ˈmjʉːzɪkoː	With h-dropping.
pull	pool	—	Paul	—	paw	ˈpoː
pull	pool	—	Paul	—	poor	ˈpoː	With the cure-force merger.
pull	pool	—	Paul	—	pore	ˈpoː
pull	pool	—	Paul	—	pour	ˈpoː	With the cure-force merger.
pulled	pooled	—			pawed	ˈpoːd
pulled	pooled	—			poured	ˈpoːd	With the cure-force merger.
pulls	pools	—	Pauls	pause	paws	ˈpoːz
pulls	pools	—	Pauls	pause	pores	ˈpoːz
pulls	pools	—	Pauls	pause	pours	ˈpoːz	With the cure-force merger.
pulls	pools	—	Paul's	pause	paws	ˈpoːz
pulls	pools	—	Paul's	pause	pores	ˈpoːz
	recool	—	recall	—		riːˈkoː	Recall is also pronounced with initial /rɪ-/ and /rə-/
	recooled	—	recalled	record (v.)		riːˈkoːd	Recalled and record are also pronounced with initial /rɪ-/ and /rə-/
		—	salt	Sauk		ˈsoːʔ	With glottal replacement of both /t/ and /k/. In contemporary RP salt often has /ɒl/: /ˈsɒlt/
		—	salt	sort		ˈsoːt	In contemporary RP salt often has /ɒl/: /ˈsɒlt/
		—	salt	sought		ˈsoːt	In contemporary RP salt often has /ɒl/: /ˈsɒlt/
		—	salted	sorted		ˈsoːtɪd	In contemporary RP salted often has /ɒl/: /ˈsɒltɪd/
		—	salting	sorting		ˈsoːtɪŋ	In contemporary RP salting often has /ɒl/: /ˈsɒltɪŋ/
		—	salts	Sauks		ˈsoːʔs	With glottal replacement of both /t/ and /k/. In contemporary RP salts often has /ɒl/: /ˈsɒlts/
		—	salts	sorts		ˈsoːts	In contemporary RP salts often has /ɒl/: /ˈsɒlts/
		—	Saul	—	saw	ˈsoː
		—	Saul	—	sore	ˈsoː
	school	—		—	score	ˈskoː
	schooled	—	scald		scored	ˈskoːd
	stool	—	stall	—	store	ˈstoː
	stooled	—	stalled		stored	ˈstoːd
	stools	—	stalls		stores	ˈstoːz
	tool	—	tall	—	tore	ˈtoː
	tool	—	tall	—	tour	ˈtoː	With the cure-force merger.
		—	true-false	true force		ˌtrʉːˈfoːs
will full	will fool	willful	will fall	—		ˈwɪofoː	With emphatic stress on will in the phrases.
wolf		—		wharf		ˈwoːf
wolf		—		Wharfe		ˈwoːf
wolf		—		Whorf		ˈwoːf
wool		—	wall	—	war	ˈwoː
		—	Walt	walk		ˈwoːʔ	With glottal replacement of both /t/ and /k/.
		—	Walt	warp		ˈwoːʔ	With glottal replacement of both /t/ and /p/.
		—	Walt	wart		ˈwoːt
wools		—	walls		wars	ˈwoːz

There is a large amount of potential homophones involving adjectives with the suffix -able and phrases consisting of a related verb, the indefinite article and the nouns bull, ball and boar. However, they require not only emphatically stressing the verb but also no glottal stop before the indefinite article (e.g. afford a bull/ball/boar cannot be pronounced as [əˌfoːdəˈboː], [əˌfoːdʔəˈboː] nor [əˈfoːdʔəboː]), which makes the homophony between the phrases and the adjectives ending in -able less likely than the homophony between the phrases themselves for speakers who have the merger. Again, phrases involving the noun boar are distinct for speakers with the thought split regardless of stress: [əˌfoːdəˈbɔə, əˌfoːdʔəˈbɔə, əˈfoːdʔəbɔə, əˈfoːdəbɔə] ('afford a boar').

Other mergers

Labov, Ash, and Boberg (2006:73) mention four mergers before /l/ that may be under way in some accents of North American English, and which require more study:^[37]

• /ʊl/ and /oʊl/ (bull vs bowl)
• /ʌl/ and /ɔːl/ (hull vs hall)
• /ʊl/ and /ʌl/ (bull vs hull) (effectively undoing the foot-strut split before /l/)
• /ʌl/ and /oʊl/ (hull vs bowl)

See also

• Phonological history of the English language
• Phonological history of English vowels
• English-language vowel changes before historic r

References

1. Wells, John (2010). "scolding water" (February 16). John Wells’s phonetic blog. Retrieved 2016-01-31.
2. KM Petyt, Dialect & Accent in Industrial West Yorkshire, John Benjamins Publishing Company, page 219
3. Asher, R.E., Simpson, J.M.Y. (1993). The Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics. Pergamon. p. 4043. ISBN 978-0080359434
4. Kortmann, Bernd et al. (2004). A Handbook of Varieties of English. Mouton de Gruyter. p. 196. ISBN 978-3110175325.
5. Wells (1982), p. 259.
6. Petyt, KM (1982). "Reviews: JC Wells: Accents of English". Journal of the International Phonetic Association. Cambridge. 12 (2): 104–112. doi:10.1017/S0025100300002516. S2CID 146349564. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
7. Shorrocks, Graham (1999). A Grammar of the Dialect of the Bolton Area. Pt. 2: Morphology and syntax. Bamberger Beiträge zur englischen Sprachwissenschaft; Bd. 42. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang. p. 255. ISBN 3-631-34661-1. (based on the author's thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Sheffield, 1981)
8. Harper, Douglas. "Bristol". Online Etymology Dictionary.
9. L Hall-Lew & RL Starr, Beyond the 2nd generation: English use among Chinese Americans in the San Francisco Bay Area, English Today: The International Review of the English Language, Vol. 26, Issue 3, pp. 12-19. [1]
10. Cox, F.; Palethorpe, S. (2001). "The Changing Face of Australian Vowels". In Blair, D.B.; Collins, P (eds.). Varieties of English Around the World: English in Australia. John Benjamins Publishing, Amsterdam. pp. 17–44.
11. Cox, F. M.; Palethorpe, S. (2004). "The border effect: Vowel differences across the NSW–Victorian Border". Proceedings of the 2003 Conference of the Australian Linguistic Society: 1–14.
12. Palethorpe, Sallyanne; Cox, Felicity (2003). (PDF). International Seminars on Speech Production. ISBN 1-86408-871-0. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-03-07.
13. Ingram, John. Norfolk Island-Pitcairn English (Pitkern Norfolk) 2009-02-25 at the Wayback Machine, University of Queensland, 2006
14. Are Melburnians mangling the language?
15. The /el/-/æl/ Sound Change in Australian English: A Preliminary Perception Experiment, Deborah Loakes, John Hajek and Janet Fletcher, University of Melbourne
16. Penfield, Joyce (1985). Chicano English: an ethnic contact dialect. Amsterdam: J. Benjamins Pub. Co. p. 45. ISBN 9789027248657.
17. Hernández, Pilar (1993). "Vowel shift in Northern New Mexico Chicano English". Mester. 22 (2): 227–234. doi:10.5070/M3222014266.
18. Brumbaugh, Susan (2017). Anglo and Hispanic Vowel Variation in New Mexican English (PhD). University of New Mexico. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
19. Williams, Lance Levi (2010). /ӕ/ and /e/ in El Paso English (MA). University of Texas at El Paso.
20. "Map 4". Ling.upenn.edu. Retrieved 2011-03-02.
21. "Map 7". Ling.upenn.edu. Retrieved 2011-03-02.
22. . www.ling.upenn.edu. Archived from the original on 28 October 2006. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
23. "Map 5". Ling.upenn.edu. Retrieved 2011-03-02.
24. Labov, Ash & Boberg (2006:70) harvcoltxt error: no target: CITEREFLabovAshBoberg2006 (help)
25. "Transcribing Estuary English". Phon.ucl.ac.uk. Retrieved 2011-03-02.
26. "Map 6". Ling.upenn.edu. Retrieved 2011-03-02.
27. Wells (1982), pp. 312–313
28. Altendorf, Ulrike (2003). Estuary English: Levelling at the Interface of RP and South-Eastern British English. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag. p. 34. ISBN 3-8233-6022-1.
29. Lindsey, Geoff (11 September 2016). "People fool in love (extended mix)". Speech Talk Blog. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
30. Wells (1982), p. 317
31. "Is there a hidden [y] vowel sound in /u:/? - English Vision". englishvision.me. 2022-04-18. Retrieved 2022-09-26.
32. William Labov: The Changing Patterns of Philadelphia English, retrieved 2022-09-26
33. MacKenzie, Laurel; Bailey, George; Turton, Danielle (2016). "Who pronounces 'fool' and 'fall' the same?". Our Dialects: Mapping variation in English in the UK. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
34. According to Dictionary.com, dial, trial and vial all specify variable /-ˈaɪəl/ or /-ˈaɪl/ pronunciations, while words like bile and style only specify /-ˈaɪl/ pronunciations.
35. Wells (1982).
36. Gordon & Maclagan (2004), pp. 611–612.
37. Labov, William, Sharon Ash, and Charles Boberg (2006). The Atlas of North American English. Berlin: Mouton-de Gruyter. ISBN 3-11-016746-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

Bibliography

• Gordon, Elizabeth; Maclagan, Margaret (2004), "Regional and social differences in New Zealand: phonology", in Schneider, Edgar W.; Burridge, Kate; Kortmann, Bernd; Mesthrie, Rajend; Upton, Clive (eds.), A handbook of varieties of English, vol. 1: Phonology, Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 603–613, doi:10.1515/9783110197181-039, ISBN 3-11-017532-0
• Horsfield, Rachel (2001). The Changing Vowels of New Zealand English (Thesis). University of Otago.
• Wells, John C. (1982). Accents of English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521246484.