Diphthongs

SQUARE

Monophthongal realizations of SQUARE, predominantly in rhotic dialects, vary between a half open [ε:], relatively widespread in North America, Africa and Asia (in South-East Asia even more open qualities can be heard), and a half close [e:] type, to be found in some dialects of BrE (notably ScE and IrE), AmE, CarE and also in Africa, Asia, and Fiji. Diphthongal realizations, typically in non-rhotic dialects and gliding to schwa, mostly start from one of these two positions, but one can also hear variants with even higher (e.g. [iE] in JamC and BrC, and also NZE) or lower (e.g. [æə] in SAmE of BahE) onsets or more central realizations (e.g. [з:] in central-western areas of England). In NZE, the vowels of NEAR and SQUARE are merging among younger speakers, in a position which is essentially intermediate, possibly a little closer to NEAR.