Monophthongs and diphthongs DRESS and TRAP (BACK)

The TRAP and DRESS vowels are not phonemically distinct and tend also to be phonetically identical, i.e. a slightly raised [ε], leading to examples such as those in (4) above and: than and then > [d^hεn], sand and send > [sεnd], gas and guess > [gεs]. Siegel (1991) has also noted that Fiji Hindi also regularly substitutes [ε] for [æ] in English loanwords.