Phonological history of English diphthongs

English diphthongs have undergone many changes since the Old and Middle English periods. The sound changes discussed here involved at least one phoneme which historically was a diphthong.

Old English

Further information: Old English phonology and Phonological history of Old English

Old English diphthongs could be short or long. Both kinds arose from sound changes occurring in Old English itself, although the long forms sometimes also developed from Proto-Germanic diphthongs. They were mostly of the height-harmonic type (both elements at the same height) with the second element further back than the first. The set of diphthongs that occurred depended on dialect (and their exact pronunciation is in any case uncertain). Typical diphthongs are considered to have been as follows:

• high, fully backing, /iu/ /iːu/, spelt ⟨io⟩ (found in Anglian dialects, but merged into /eo/ /eːo/ in Late West Saxon)
• high, narrower, possibly /iy/ /iːy/ or /ie/ /iːe/, spelt ⟨ie⟩ (found in Late West Saxon)
• mid, /eo/ /eːo/, spelt ⟨eo⟩
• low, /æɑ/ /æːɑ/, spelt ⟨ea⟩

As with monophthongs, the length of the diphthongs was not indicated in spelling, but in modern editions of OE texts the long forms are often written with a macron: ⟨īo⟩, ⟨īe⟩, ⟨ēo⟩, ⟨ēa⟩.

In the transition from Old to Middle English, all of these diphthongs generally merged with monophthongs.

Middle English

Further information: Middle English phonology

Development of new diphthongs

Although the Old English diphthongs merged into monophthongs, Middle English began to develop a new set of diphthongs. Many of these came about through vocalization of the palatal approximant /j/ (usually from an earlier /ʝ/) or the labio-velar approximant /w/ (sometimes from an earlier voiced velar fricative [ɣ]), when they followed a vowel. For example:

• OE dæg ("day") and weg ("way") (where the /ɡ/ had been palatalized to /j/) became [daj] and [wɛj]
• OE clawu ("claw") and lagu ("law") became [klaw] and [law]

Diphthongs also arose as a result of vowel breaking before /h/ (which had allophones [x] and [ç] in this position – for the subsequent disappearance of these sounds, see h-loss). For example:

• OE streht ("straight") became [strɛjçt]
• OE þoht ("thought") became [θɒwxt]

The diphthongs that developed by these processes also came to be used in many loanwords, particularly those from Old French. For a table showing the development of the Middle English diphthongs, see Middle English phonology (diphthong equivalents).

Vein–vain merger

Early Middle English had two separate diphthongs /ɛj/ and /aj/. The vowel /ɛj/ was typically represented orthographically with "ei" or "ey", and the vowel /aj/ was typically represented orthographically with "ai" or ay". These came to be merged, perhaps by the fourteenth century.^[1] The merger is reflected in all dialects of present-day English.

In early Middle English, before the merger, way and day, which came from Old English weġ and dæġ had /ej/ and /aj/ respectively. Similarly, vein and vain (borrowings from French) were pronounced differently as /vejn/ and /vajn/. After the merger, vein and vain were homophones, and way and day rhymed.

The merged vowel was a diphthong, something like /ɛj/ or /æj/. Later (around the 1800s) this diphthong would merge in most dialects with the monophthong of words like pane in the pane–pain merger.

Late Middle English

The English of southeastern England around 1400 had seven diphthongs,^[2] of which three ended in /j/:

• /ʊj/ as in boil, destroy, coin, join
• /ɛj/ as in nail, day, whey (the product of the vein–vain merger)
• /ɔj/ as in joy, noise, royal, coy

and four ended in /w/:

• /ɪw/ as in view, new, due, use, lute, suit, adieu (the product of a merger of earlier /iw/ and /ew/, and incorporating French loans that originally had /y/)
• /ɛw/ as in few, dew, ewe, shrewd, neuter, beauty
• /ɔw/ as in low, soul
• /ɑw/ as in cause, law, salt, change, chamber, psalm, half, dance, aunt.

Typical spellings are as in the examples above. The spellings eu and ew are both /ɪw/ and /ɛw/, and the spellings oi and oy are used for both /ɔj/ and /ʊj/. The most common words with ew pronounced /ɛw/ were dew, few, hew, lewd, mew, newt, pewter, sew, shew (show), shrew, shrewd and strew. Words in which /ʊj/ was commonly used included boil, coin, destroy, join, moist, point, poison, soil, spoil, Troy, turmoil and voice, although there was significant variation.^[2]

Modern English

16th century

By the mid-16th century, the Great Vowel Shift had created two new diphthongs out of the former long close monophthongs /iː/ and /uː/ of Middle English. The diphthongs were /əɪ/ as in tide, and /əʊ/ as in house.^[3] Thus, the English of south-eastern England could then have had nine diphthongs.

By the late 16th century, the inventory of diphthongs had been reduced as a result of several developments, all of which took place in the mid-to-late 16th century:^[4]

• /ɛw/ merged into /ɪw/ and so dew and due became homophones.
• /ɛj/ (from the vein–vain merger) became monophthongized and merged with the /ɛː/ of words like name (which before the Great Vowel Shift had been long /aː/). For more information, see pane–pain merger, below.
  • For a time, many speakers had an /ɛː/ monophthong in pain distinct from an /æː/ monophthong in pane.^[5]
• /ɑw/, as in cause, became monophthongized to /ɒː/, later raising to modern /ɔː/.^[5]
• /ɔw/, as in low, was monophthongized to /ɔː/. That would later rise to /oː/, which merged with the vowel of toe^{[dubious ]}; see toe–tow merger, below.

That left /ɪu/, /ɔɪ/, /ʊɪ/, /əɪ/ and /əʊ/ as the diphthongs of south-eastern England.

17th century

By the late 17th century, these further developments had taken place in the dialect of south-eastern England:^[4]

• The falling diphthong /ɪw/ of due and dew changed to a rising diphthong, which became the sequence [juː]. The change did not occur in all dialects, however; see Yod-dropping.
• The diphthongs /əɪ/ and /əʊ/ of tide and house widened to /aɪ/ and /aʊ/, respectively.
• The diphthong /ʊɪ/ merged into /əɪ/~/aɪ/. Contemporary literature had frequent rhymes such as Mind–join'd in Congreve, join–line in Pope, child–spoil'd in Swift, toils–smiles in Dryden. The present-day pronunciations with /ɔɪ/ in the oi words result from regional variants, which had always had /ɔɪ/, rather than /ʊɪ/, perhaps because of influence by the spelling.^[6]

The changes above caused only the diphthongs /aɪ/, /aʊ/ and /ɔɪ/ to remain.

Later developments

In the 18th century or later, the monophthongs /eː/ and /oː/ (the products of the pane–pain and toe–tow mergers) became diphthongal in Standard English. That produced the vowels /eɪ/ and /oʊ/. In RP, the starting point of the latter diphthong has now become more centralized and is commonly written /əʊ/.

RP has also developed centering diphthongs /ɪə/, /eə/, /ʊə/, as a result of breaking before /r/ and the loss of /r/ when it is not followed by another vowel (see English-language vowel changes before historic /r/). They occur in words like near, square and cure.

Present-day RP is thus normally analyzed as having eight diphthongs: the five closing diphthongs /eɪ/, /əʊ/, /aɪ/, /aʊ/, /ɔɪ/ (of face, goat, price, mouth and choice) and the three centering diphthongs /ɪə/, /eə/, /ʊə/. General American does not have the centering diphthongs (at least, not as independent phonemes). For more information, see English phonology (vowels).

Variation in present-day English

Coil–curl merger

Main article: Rhoticity in English § Coil–curl merger

The coil–curl or oil–earl merger is a vowel merger that historically occurred in some non-rhotic dialects of American English, making both /ə/ and /ɔɪ/ become /əɪ/. This is strongly associated with New York City English and New Orleans English, but only the latter has any modern presence of the feature.

Cot–coat merger

The cot–coat merger is a phenomenon exhibited by some speakers of Zulu English in which the phonemes /ɒ/ and /oʊ/ are not distinguished, making "cot" and "coat" homophones. Zulu English often also has a cot-caught merger, so that sets like "cot", "caught" and "coat" can be homophones.^[7]

This merger can also be found in some broad Central Belt Scottish English accents. The merger of both sounds into /o/ is standard in Central Scots.

Line–loin merger

The line–loin merger is a merger between the diphthongs /aɪ/ and /ɔɪ/ that occurs in some accents of Southern English English, Hiberno-English, Newfoundland English, and Caribbean English. Pairs like line and loin, bile and boil, imply and employ are homophones in merging accents.^[8]

Homophonous pairs

/aɪ/	/ɔɪ/	IPA
aisle	oil	ˈɑɪl
ally	alloy	ˈælɑɪ
bile	boil	ˈbɑɪl
buy	boy	ˈbɑɪ
by	boy	ˈbɑɪ
bye	boy	ˈbɑɪ
buy	buoy	ˈbɑɪ
by	buoy	ˈbɑɪ
bye	buoy	ˈbɑɪ
divide	devoid	dɪˈvɑɪd
dried	droid	ˈdrɑɪd
file	foil	ˈfɑɪl
fire	foyer	ˈfɑɪə(r)^[Note 1]
grind	groined	ˈɡrɑɪnd
guy	goy	ˈɡɑɪ
heist	hoist	ˈhɑɪst
hi	hoy	ˈhɑɪ
high	hoy	ˈhɑɪ
I	oi	ˈɑɪ
I	oy	ˈɑɪ
I'll	oil	ˈɑɪl
imply	employ	ɪmˈplɑɪ
isle	oil	ˈɑɪl
Jain	join	ˈdʒɑɪn
Kai	coy	ˈkɑɪ
Kai	koi	ˈkɑɪ
kine	coin	ˈkɑɪn
Kyle	coil	ˈkɑɪl
liar	lawyer	ˈlɑɪə(r)
lied	Lloyd	ˈlɑɪd
line	loin	ˈlɑɪn
Lyle	loyal	ˈlɑɪəl^[Note 2]
lyre	lawyer	ˈlɑɪə(r)
mile	moil	ˈmɑɪl
nighs	noise	ˈnɑɪz
Nile	noil	ˈnɑɪl
pie	poi	ˈpɑɪ
pies	poise	ˈpɑɪz
pint	point	ˈpɑɪnt
ply	ploy	ˈplɑɪ
psi	soy	ˈsɑɪ
quite	quoit	ˈkwɑɪt
ride	roid	ˈrɑɪd
rile	roil	ˈrɑɪl
rile	royal	ˈrɑɪəl^[Note 2]
rye	Roy	ˈrɑɪ
sigh	soy	ˈsɑɪ
sire	sawyer	ˈsɑɪə(r)
sire	soya	ˈsɑɪə^[Note 3]
Thai	toy	ˈtɑɪ
tide	toyed	ˈtɑɪd
tie	toy	ˈtɑɪ
tile	toil	ˈtɑɪl
try	Troy	ˈtrɑɪ
vice	voice	ˈvɑɪs
vied	void	ˈvɑɪd
wry	Roy	ˈrɑɪ

Long mid mergers

Pane–pain merger

The earliest stage of Early Modern English had a contrast between the long mid monophthongs /eː, oː/ (as in pane and toe respectively) and the diphthongs /ɛj, ɔw/ (as in pain and tow respectively). In the vast majority of Modern English accents these have been merged, so that the pairs pane–pain and toe–tow are homophones. These mergers are grouped together by Wells^[9] as the long mid mergers. All accents with the pane-pain merger have the toe-tow merger and vice versa.

The usual outcome of the merger is /ej/ and /ow/, with some dialects having /eː/ and /oː/. However, a few regional dialects maintain the distinction: East Anglia, south Wales, and in older Northern England, Scottish, Newfoundland, and Maine accents. As late as 1800s England, the distinction was still very widespread; the main areas with the merger were in the northern Home Counties and parts of the Midlands.^[10]

In accents that preserve the distinction, the diphthong phoneme /ej/ is usually represented by the spellings ai, ay, ei, and ey as in pain, day, reign, or they; with /ow/ is being the spellings ou, ow, or ol as in soul, tow, bolt, or roll. The monophthong phoneme /eː/ is usually represented by ane, -ange, ae, aCV, ea, and borrowed é and e as in pane, baking, range, Mae, wear, café, and Santa Fe; while /oː/ is usually represented by oa, oe, or oCV as in boat, toe, home, or over.

The distinction is most often preserved in East Anglian accents, especially in Norfolk. Peter Trudgill^[11] discusses this distinction, and states that "...until very recently, all Norfolk English speakers consistently and automatically maintained the nose-knows distinction... In the 1940s and 1950s, it was therefore a totally unremarkable feature of Norfolk English shared by all speakers, and therefore of no salience whatsoever." In a recent investigation into the English of the Fens,^[12] young people in west Norfolk were found to be maintaining the toe-tow distinction, with back [ʊw] or [ɤʊ] in the toe set and central [ɐʉ] in the tow set. This has tow but not toe showing the influence of Estuary English. However, Trudgill also describes a disappearance of the pane-pain distinction in Norfolk: "This disappearance was being effected by the gradual and variable transfer of lexical items from the set of /eː/ to the set of /æɪ/ as part of dedialectalisation process, the end-point of which will soon be (a few speakers even today maintain a vestigial and variable distinction) the complete merger of the two lexical sets under /æɪ/ — the completion of a slow process of lexical diffusion.".^[11]

Walters (2001)^[13] reports the survival of the distinction in the Welsh English spoken in the Rhondda Valley, with [eː] in the pane words and [ɛj] in the pain words. Likewise, the Rhondda Valley, has [oː] in the toe words and [ow] in the tow words.

Pane-pain pairs

/eː/	/ej/	IPA
ade	aid	ˈeɪd
ale	ail	ˈeɪl
ate	eight	ˈeɪt^[Note 4]
bale	bail	ˈbeɪl
bade	bayed	ˈbeɪd
blare	Blair	ˈbleə(r)
blaze	Blaise	ˈbleɪz
cane	Cain	ˈkeɪn
clade	clayed	ˈkleɪd
Clare	Claire	ˈkleə(r)
bate	bait	ˈbeɪt
Daly	daily	ˈdeɪli
Dane	deign	ˈdeɪn^[Note 4]
daze	days	ˈdeɪz
e'er	air	ˈeə(r)
e'er	heir	ˈeə(r)
ere	air	ˈeə(r)
ere	heir	ˈeə(r)
fane	fain	ˈfeɪn
fare	fair	ˈfeə(r)
faze	fays	ˈfeɪz
flare	flair	ˈfleə(r)
gale	Gail	ˈɡeɪl
gate	gait	ˈɡeɪt
gaze	gays	ˈɡeɪz
glave	glaive	ˈɡleɪv^[Note 5]
grade	grayed	ˈɡreɪd
graze	grays	ˈɡreɪz
hale	hail	ˈheɪl
hare	hair	ˈheə(r)
haze	hays	ˈheɪz
haze	heys	ˈheɪz
lade	laid	ˈleɪd
lane	lain	ˈleɪn
laze	lays	ˈleɪz
made	maid	ˈmeɪd
Mae	May	ˈmeɪ
male	mail	ˈmeɪl
mane	main	ˈmeɪn
maze	maize	ˈmeɪz
maze	Mays	ˈmeɪz
page	Paige	ˈpeɪdʒ
pale	pail	ˈpeɪl
pane	pain	ˈpeɪn
pare	pair	ˈpeə(r)
pear	pair	ˈpeə(r)
phase	fays	ˈfeɪz
phrase	frays	ˈfreɪz
plane	plain	ˈpleɪn
plate	plait	ˈpleɪt
Rae	ray	ˈreɪ
raze	raise	ˈreɪz
raze	rays	ˈreɪz
razor	raiser	ˈreɪzə(r)
re	ray	ˈreɪ
sale	sail	ˈseɪl
sane	sain	ˈseɪn
sane	seine	ˈseɪn
sane	Seine	ˈseɪn
spade	spayed	ˈspeɪd
stare	stair	ˈsteə(r)
suede	swayed	ˈsweɪd
tale	tail	ˈteɪl
there	their	ˈðeə(r)
there	they're	ˈðeə(r)
trade	trayed	ˈtreɪd
vale	vail	ˈveɪl
vale	veil	ˈveɪl
vane	vain	ˈveɪn
vane	vein	ˈveɪn
wade	weighed	ˈweɪd^[Note 4]
wale	wail	ˈweɪl
wales	wails	ˈweɪlz
Wales	wails	ˈweɪlz
wane	wain	ˈweɪn
wane	Wayne	ˈweɪn
waste	waist	ˈweɪst
wave	waive	ˈweɪv
waver	waiver	ˈweɪv
whale	wail	ˈweɪl^[Note 6]

Toe-tow pairs

/oː/	/ou/	IPA
Bo	bow	ˈboʊ
bode	bowed	ˈboʊd
borne	bourn(e)	ˈboə(r)n
borne	Bourne	ˈboə(r)n
coaled	cold	ˈkoʊld
coarse	course	ˈkoə(r)s
do (note)	dough	ˈdoʊ
doe	dough	ˈdoʊ
doze	doughs	ˈdoʊz
floe	flow	ˈfloʊ
foaled	fold	ˈfoʊld
fore	four	ˈfoə(r)
forth	fourth	ˈfoə(r)θ
fro	frow	ˈfroʊ
froe	frow	ˈfroʊ
froze	frows	ˈfroʊz
groan	grown	ˈɡroʊn
holed	hold	ˈhoʊld
moan	mown	ˈmoʊn
mode	mowed	ˈmoʊd
Moe	mow	ˈmoʊ
no	know	ˈnoʊ
nose	knows	ˈnoʊz
O	owe	ˈoʊ
ode	owed	ˈoʊd
oh	owe	ˈoʊ
pole	poll	ˈpoʊl
pore	pour	ˈpoə(r)
road	rowed	ˈroʊd
rode	rowed	ˈroʊd
roe	row	ˈroʊ
role	roll	ˈroʊl
rose	rows	ˈroʊz
shone	shewn	ˈʃoʊn
shone	shown	ˈʃoʊn
so	sew	ˈsoʊ
so	sow	ˈsoʊ
sole	soul	ˈsoʊl
soled	sold	ˈsoʊld
soled	souled	ˈsoʊld
throe	throw	ˈθroʊ
throne	thrown	ˈθroʊn
toad	towed	ˈtoʊd
toe	tow	ˈtoʊ
toed	towed	ˈtoʊd
tole	toll	ˈtoʊl

Mare–mayor merger

The mare–mayor merger occurs in many varieties of British English, in the Philadelphia dialect, and the Baltimore dialect. The process has bisyllabic /eɪ.ə/ pronounced as the centering diphthong /eə/ in many words. Such varieties pronounce mayor as /ˈmeə(r)/, homophonous with mare.

North American English accents with the merger allow it to affect also sequences without /r/ since some words with the /eɪ.ə/ sequence merge with /eə/, which is associated with æ-tensing. Particularly in the case of /eə/ derived from /æ/, such words are frequently hypercorrected with /æ/. The best-known examples are mayonnaise (/ˈmeəneɪz~ˈmæneɪz/), crayon /ˈkreən~ˈkræn/, and Graham (/ˈɡreəm~ˈɡræm/, a homophone of gram).

Homophonous pairs

/eə/	/eɪə/	IPA
bare	Bayer	ˈbeə(r)^[Note 7]
flare	flayer	ˈfleə(r)
flair	flayer	ˈfleə(r)
gram, gramme	Graham	ˈɡreəm^[Note 8]
lair	layer	ˈleə(r)
mare	mayor	ˈmeə(r)
pair	payer	ˈpeə(r)
pare	payer	ˈpeə(r)
pear	payer	ˈpeə(r)
prayer	prayer	ˈpreə(r)
stare	stayer	ˈsteə(r)
sware	swayer	ˈsweə(r)
swear	swayer	ˈsweə(r)
there	they're	ˈðeə(r)

Pride–proud merger

The pride–proud merger is a merger of the diphthongs /aɪ/ and /aʊ/ before voiced consonants into monophthongal /a/ occurring for some speakers of African American Vernacular English; making pride and proud, dine and down, find and found, etc. homophones. Some speakers with this merger, may also have the rod–ride merger hence having a three–way merger of /ɑ/, /aɪ/ and /aʊ/ before voiced consonants, making pride, prod, and proud and find, found and fond homophones.^[14]

Homophonous pairs

/aɪ/	/aʊ/	IPA	Notes
bi	bough	ˈba
bi	bow	ˈba
bide	bowed	ˈbad
bight	bout	ˈbat
bite	bout	ˈbat
brine	brown	ˈbran
buy	bough	ˈba
buy	bow	ˈba
by	bough	ˈba
by	bow	ˈba
bye	bough	ˈba
bye	bow	ˈba
chai	chow	ˈtʃa
Clyde	cloud	ˈklad
dine	down	ˈdan
dire	dour	ˈda(ə)r
dyne	down	ˈdan
file	foul	ˈfal
file	fowl	ˈfal
find	found	ˈfand
fined	found	ˈfand
flight	flout	ˈflat
Giles	jowls	ˈdʒalz
hi	how	ˈha
high	how	ˈha
hind	hound	ˈhand
I	ow	ˈa
I'll	owl	ˈal
ire	hour	ˈa(ə)r
ire	our	ˈa(ə)r
isle	owl	ˈal
Kai	cow	ˈka
Kyle	cowl	ˈkal
liar	lour	ˈla(ə)r
lice	louse	ˈlas
lied	loud	ˈlad
light	lout	ˈlat
lite	lout	ˈlat
lyre	lour	ˈla(ə)r
lyse	louse	ˈlas
mice	mouse	ˈmas
mind	mound	ˈmand
mined	mound	ˈmand
nigh	now	ˈna
nine	noun	ˈnan
Nye	now	ˈna
phial	foul	ˈfa(ə)l	With vile-vial merger.
phial	fowl	ˈfa(ə)l	With vile-vial merger.
ply	plow; plough	ˈpla
pride	proud	ˈprad
pried	proud	ˈprad
pries	prows	ˈpraz
prise	prows	ˈpraz
prize	prows	ˈpraz
pry	prow	ˈpra
pyre	power	ˈpa(ə)r
ride	rowed	ˈrad
right	rout	ˈrat
right	route	ˈrat
rind	round	ˈrand]
rise	rouse	ˈraz
rise	rows	ˈraz
rite	rout	ˈrat
rite	route	ˈrat
rye	row	ˈra
ryes	rouse	ˈraz
sai	sow	ˈsa
sigh	sow	ˈsa
signed	sound	ˈsand]
sire	sour	ˈsa(ə)r
size	sows	ˈsaz
sly	slough	ˈsla
thy	thou	ˈða
tie	tau	ˈta
tight	tout	ˈtat
tine	town	ˈtan
trite	trout	ˈtat
Ty	tau	ˈta
vie	vow	ˈva
why	wow	ˈwa	With wine-whine merger.
wise	wows	ˈwaz
Y; wye	wow	ˈwa

Rod–ride merger

The rod–ride merger is a merger of /ɑ/ and /aɪ/ occurring for some speakers of Southern American English and African American Vernacular English, in which rod and ride are merged as /rad/.^[14] Some other speakers may keep the contrast, so that rod is /rɑd/ and ride is /rad/.

Homophonous pairs

/ɑ/	/aɪ/	IPA	Notes
ah	eye	ˈa
ah	I	ˈa
baa	buy	ˈba
baa	by	ˈba
baa	bye	ˈba
blot	blight	ˈblat
bock	bike	ˈbak
bod	bide	ˈbad
bot	bight	ˈbat
bot	bite	ˈbat
box	bikes	ˈbaks
con	kine	ˈkan
cot	kite	ˈkat
doc	dike	ˈdak
dock	dike	ˈdak
dom	dime	ˈdam
Dom	dime	ˈdam
don	dine	ˈdan
Don	dine	ˈdan
fa	fie	ˈfa
far	fire	ˈfar
grom	grime	ˈgram
ha	high	ˈha
hock	hike	ˈhak
hot	height	ˈhat
jar	gyre	ˈdʒar
job	gibe, jibe	ˈdʒab
knot	knight	ˈnat
knot	night	ˈnat
la	lie	ˈla
la	lye	ˈla
lock	like	ˈlak
lot	light, lite	ˈlat
lox	likes	ˈlaks
ma	my	ˈma
mar	mire	ˈmar
mock	mic	ˈmak
mock	Mike	ˈmak
mom	mime	ˈmam
motte	might	ˈmat
motte	mite	ˈmat
nah	nigh	ˈna
nah	Nye	ˈna
not	knight	ˈnat
not	night	ˈnat
odd	ide	ˈad
odds	ides	ˈadz
ox	Ike's	ˈaks
pa	pi	ˈpa
pa	pie	ˈpa
par	pyre	ˈpar
pock	pike	ˈpak
pod	pied	ˈpad
plod	plied	ˈplad
plot	plight	ˈplat
pop	pipe	ˈpap
pox	pikes	ˈpaks
prod	pride	ˈprad
prod	pried	ˈprad
prom	prime	ˈpram
rah	rye	ˈra
roc	Reich	ˈrak
rock	Reich	ˈrak
rod	ride	ˈrad
ROM	rime	ˈram
ROM	rhyme	ˈram
rot	right	ˈrat
rot	rite	ˈrat
scrod	scried	ˈskrad
shah	shy	ˈʃa
shod	shied	ˈʃad
slot	sleight	ˈslat
slot	slight	ˈslat
sock	psych	ˈsak
sod	side	ˈsad
sod	sighed	ˈsad
sot	sight	ˈsat
spa	spy	ˈspa
spar	spire	ˈspar
spot	spite	ˈspat
strop	stripe	ˈstrap
swan	swine	ˈswan
swap	swipe	ˈswap
ta	tie	ˈta
tar	tire, tyre	ˈtar
tod	tide	ˈtad
tod	tied	ˈtad
Todd	tide	ˈtad
Todd	tied	ˈtad
tom	time	ˈtam
tom	thyme	ˈtam
Tom	time	ˈtam
Tom	thyme	ˈtam
top	type	ˈtap
tot	tight	ˈtat
trod	tried	ˈtrad
trot	trite	ˈtrat
wad	why'd	ˈwad	With wine-whine merger.
wad	wide	ˈwad
watt	white	ˈwat	With wine-whine merger.
watt	wight	ˈwat

Smoothing of /aɪ.ə/

Smoothing of /aɪ.ə/ is a process that occurs in many varieties of British English where bisyllabic /aɪ.ə/ becomes the triphthong /aɪə/ in certain words with /aɪ.ə/. As a result, "scientific" is pronounced /saɪənˈtɪf.ɪk/ with three syllables and "science" is pronounced /ˈsa(ɪ)əns/ with one syllable.^[15]

See also

• Phonological history of English
• Phonological history of English vowels
• Trisyllabic laxing
• Great Vowel Shift

Notes

1. Foyer may also be pronounced /ˈfɑɪeɪ/ or /ˈfwɑːjeɪ/.
2. With vile–vial merger
3. Non-rhotic accents
4. With wait–weight merger
5. Homonyms
6. With wine–whine merger
7. North American English pronunciation of Bayer
8. With æ-tensing

References

1. Wells (1982), p. 192
2. Barber (1997), pp. 112–116
3. Barber (1997), p. 108
4. Barber (1997), pp. 108, 116
5. Mazarin, André (2020-01-01). "The developmental progression of English vowel systems, 1500–1800: Evidence from grammarians". Ampersand. 7: 100058. doi:10.1016/j.amper.2020.100058. ISSN 2215-0390. S2CID 212820754.
6. Barber (1997), pp. 115–116
7. . Archived from the original on May 17, 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-17.
8. Wells (1982), pp. 208–210
9. Wells (1982), pp. 192–194, 337, 357, 384–385, 498
10. Britain (2001)
11. . Friends of Norfolk Dialect. Archived from the original on 2008-02-22. Retrieved 2019-02-13.
12. Britain (2002)
13. Walters (2001)
14. Wells (1982), p. 557
15. Wells, John "Whatever happened to received pronunciation?" Wells: Whatever happened to received pronunciation? Author's webpage; accessed 19 April 2011.

Bibliography

• Barber, Charles Laurence (1997). Early modern English (2nd ed.). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 0-7486-0835-4.
• Britain, David (2001). "Where did it all start? Dialect contact, the 'Founder Principle' and the so-called ⟨-own⟩ split in New Zealand English". Transactions of the Philological Society. 99 (1): 1–27. doi:10.1111/1467-968X.00072.
• Britain, David (2002). "Surviving 'Estuary English': innovation diffusion, koineisation and local dialect differentiation in the English Fenland". Essex Research Reports in Linguistics. 41: 74–103.
• Labov, William (1966). Social stratification of English in New York City. Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics. ISBN 0-87281-149-2.
• Labov, William; Ash, Sharon; Boberg, Charles (2006). Atlas of North American English: Phonetics, Phonology and Sound Change: a Multimedia Reference Tool. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 9783110167467.
• Wells, John C. (1982). Accents of English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-24225-8.
• Walters, J. Roderick (2001). "English in Wales and a 'Welsh Valleys' accent". World English. 20 (3): 285–304. doi:10.1111/1467-971X.00216.
• Thomas, Erik R. (2006). (PDF). Walter de Gruyter. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-12-22. Retrieved 2015-08-26. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)