Diphthongs

MOUTH

Most North American dialects (though not CanE and AAVE, and not generally SAmE) have a low to high-back glide [aʊ/ɑʊ]  in these words. The T&TCs, Baj, Gullah and ChcE have a main variant with a raised and backed onset, e.g. [Λu/ɔʊ] , which is also possible in CanE, Nfl dE, and JamC/JamE. The process of so-called “Canadian Raising” (also with PRICE, though perceived more stereotypically in MOUTH words) implies that the onset is raised to schwa only before voiceless consonants; in addition to CanE and Nfl dE, this occurs in InlNE and WMwE, SAmE and BahE dialects. In NEngE, also Nfl dE, T&TC, and AAVE raising to [əʊ] can be observed without such phonetic conditioning. A pronunciation with a fronted onset is the main realization of this vowel in rural SAmE (less so, and recessive, in urban SAmE), AAVE, and BahE, and an alternative possibility in WMwE, PhilE, NYCE, and Nfl dE. Older Southerners may have a “drawled” triphthongal realization, [æεɒ​] . Monophthongizations of this vowel are quite rare, but a low monophthong [a:] uniquely characterizes the speech of Pittsburgh and some of western Pennsylvania and can also be found in CajE, and a raised back variant, e.g. [o:], occurs in TobC and, without quantity distinctions, SurC.