Re: IPA for the Vowel in "good"

David Peterson wrote:
>Do they contrast, maybe, in <putting> vs. <pudding> ? >>
>
>    No, no, no, you see the vowel depends wholly on the consonant before
it.
>In "put" I've got /U/, as well as in both "putting" and "pudding", both
>pronounced /'p_hU.RiN/ (where /R/ is a flap).  So, I think, then, there
can't
>be a minimal pair.  It's just /U/>[bilabial]_ (I do have /U_c/ in "foot")
and
>/U_c/ otherwise.
>    Hee, hee...  Yeah, I've got a minimal pair: /hUd/="hood" and
>/hU_cd/="heard" (NYC accent).  ;)
(That NYC form, IMHO, is at best fast speech/unstressed; it's more likely to
be [h3:d] or [h@:d], lower and definitely more central, I think, than your
[U_c]. I at least can't make your min.pr. convincingly. )


I suspect your vowel in "good" is due not so much to the unrounding as to
its heading into central vowel territory.  (Whatever symbol would be used
for the vowel in the "barred-i" column, except in the same row as [I], that
is--
      high tense:   [ i    i-    u
      high lax:        I    I-?  U ] )

Add to that the fact that /U/ has very limited distribution in English.
Take the list of Engl. consonants and generate all the monosyllables #(C)/U/
C#.  I come up with around 30.  No CUg (except 2syl. booger, bogeyman;
ancient slang "boog", a  syn for the N-word that I heard once or twice 50
years ago, in highschool)
no CUnasal, no CUp (except "oops");
3 or 4 CUt (if  /rUt/ not /rut/ 'root');  2 or 3 CUs (puss, wuss?, schuss?)
and so on.
It occurs most often before /-k/ and /-d/ (and for me, more rounded before
/k/ than before /d/; initial C's also matter), and of the 9 CUd words*, 2
are uncommon (/pUd/, rood); 2 others are nouns (wood, hood) and not likely
to occur in an unstressed environment (apparently you have /hUd/).  The
remainder are the verbs would, should, could (maybe stood)-- which have
reduced vowel variants in fast speech or unstressed position:
    Mother:  You really should "shd" call Aunt Tillie.
    You:  Yes, I _should_ /SUd/.

    A:  Would "wd" you open that window, please?
    B:  I _would_ /wUd/ if I _could_ /kUd/; but it's nailed shut.

My guess would be that your "good" undergoes the same variation......?  A
good example of how sound change is not categorical, but proceeds from
specific words/environments/frequency.

*not counting 2-syl. pudding, goodness, noodnik/nudnik

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