Vowels KIT

Realizations of KIT vary. In the Southern shift, KIT may be tensed and raised to [i], usually with an inglide, i.e., [iə] . This process is most common in heavily stressed syllables. Under weak stress, a value of  is usual. The tensing/raising is uncommon in some regions, such as Texas. In older Southern speech, centralized forms, i.e.,  , were common in certain words, such as sister, thistle, and ribbon, in which a schwa was present in the following syllable.