Re: The fourteen vowels of English?

On Sat, Sep 04, 2004 at 11:47:14AM -0400, John Cowan wrote:
> However, 'pour' [pOr\] and 'poor' [pur\] remain firmly separate,
> and I don't know of any rhotic dialect that merges them.
<raises hand>

My 'lect is firmly rhotic, but I don't have [ur\].  Anywhere.  The
closest I get is the bisyllable [uwr\=], as in "sewer", "doer", etc.
For me, "pour", "poor", and "pore" are perfect homophones - likewise
"more"/"moor"/"Moor".  And words like "secure", "Sure" have [r\=] (or
[@r\], if you prefer.  In fact, they rhyme with "prefer").

I believe this to be a Southern thing, quite possibly a specifically
Hillbilly thing (my parents are from West Virginia); it is in any case
one of a handful of regional artifacts in what is generally perceived to
be a fairly neutral accent.  (Another: pronouncing "umbrella" with
the emphasis on the first syllable.)

-Marcos