Editing General American English (section)

===Vowel tenseness===
{{IPA|/i, u, eɪ, oʊ, ɑ, ɔ/}} are considered to compose a [[natural class]] of [[Tenseness|tense]] pure vowels ([[monophthongs]]) in General American. All of the tense vowels except {{IPA|/ɑ/}} and {{IPA|/ɔ/}} can have either monophthongal or diphthongal pronunciations (i.e. {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|i}}, {{IPAplink|u}}, {{IPAplink|e}}, {{IPAplink|o̞|ö̞}}]}} vs {{IPA|[i̞i, u̞u, eɪ, ö̞ʊ]}}). The diphthongs are the most usual realizations of {{IPA|/eɪ/}} and {{IPA|/oʊ/}} (as in ''stay'' {{Audio-IPA|En-us-stay.ogg|[steɪ]|help=no}} and ''row'' {{Audio-IPA|En-us-row.ogg|[ɹö̞ʊ]|help=no}}, hereafter transcribed without the diacritics), which is reflected in the way they are transcribed. Monophthongal realizations are also possible, most commonly in unstressed syllables; here are audio examples for ''potato'' {{Audio-IPA|En-us-potato.ogg|[pʰəˈtʰeɪɾö̞]|help=no}} and ''window'' {{Audio-IPA|En-us-window.ogg|[ˈwɪndö̞]|help=no}}. In the case of {{IPA|/i/}} and {{IPA|/u/}}, the monophthongal pronunciations ({{IPA|[iˑ, uˑ]}}) are in [[free variation]] with diphthongs ({{IPA|[ɪ̞i~ɪ̈i, ʊ̞u~ʊ̈ʉ]}}).{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=487}} As indicated in above phonetic transcriptions, {{IPA|/u/}} is subject to the same variation (also when monophthongal: {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|u}} ~ {{IPAplink|ʉ}}]}}),{{sfnp|Wells|1982|pp=476, 487}} but its mean phonetic value is usually somewhat less central than in modern Received Pronunciation (RP).{{sfnp|Jones|2011|p=IX}} {{IPA|/ɑ/}} varies between back {{IPAblink|ɑ}} and central {{IPAblink|ɑ̈}}.{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=476}}

====Assigning of tense vowels to loanwords====
The class of tense pure vowels manifests in how GA speakers treat recent [[loanword]]s, particularly borrowed in the last century or two, since in the majority of cases stressed syllables of foreign words are assigned one of these six vowels, regardless of whether the original pronunciation has a tense or a lax vowel. An example of this phenomenon is the Spanish word ''[[macho]]'', Middle Eastern (for instance Turkish) word ''[[kebab]]'', and German name ''[[Hans (name)|Hans]]'', which are all pronounced in GA with the tense {{IPA|/ɑ/}}, the {{sc2|PALM/LOT}} vowel, rather than lax {{IPA|/æ/}}, the {{sc2|TRAP}} vowel, as in Britain's [[Received Pronunciation]] (which approximates the original languages' pronunciation {{IPA|/a/}} in using a lax vowel).{{sfnp|Lindsey|1990}}

====Pre-nasal {{sc2|TRAP}} tensing====
{{main|/æ/ raising}}
For most speakers, the [[Traditional English short vowel|short ''a'']] sound {{IPA|/æ/}} as in {{sc2|TRAP}} or {{sc2|BATH}}, which is not normally a tense vowel, is pronounced with tensing&mdash;the [[raising (phonetics)|tongue raised]], followed by a centering [[diphthong|glide]]&mdash;whenever occurring before a [[nasal stop|nasal consonant]] (that is, before {{IPA|/m/}}, {{IPA|/n/}} and, for many speakers, {{IPA|/ŋ/}}).<ref>Boberg, Charles (Spring 2001). "Phonological Status of Western New England". ''American Speech'', Volume 76, Number 1. pp. 3–29 (Article). Duke University Press. p. 11: "The vowel {{IPA|/æ/}} is generally tensed and raised [...] only before nasals, a raising environment for most speakers of North American English".</ref> This sound may be broadly phonetically transcribed as {{IPA|[ɛə]}} (as in {{Audio|En-us-Anne2.ogg|''Anne''|help=no}} and {{Audio|En-us-am.ogg|''am''|help=no}}), or, based on one's own [[idiolect|unique accent]] or regional accent, variously as {{IPA|[eə]}} or {{IPA|[ɪə]}}. In the following audio clip, the first pronunciation is the tensed one for the word ''camp'', much more common in American English than the second, which is more typical of British English {{Pronunciation|En-US camp (raised vs. unraised).ogg|listen|(|help=no}}. Linguists have variously called this "short ''a'' raising", "short ''a'' tensing", "pre-nasal /æ/ tensing", etc. 

{{/æ/ raising in North American English|hidden=yes}}

====Tense vowels before L====
Before dark {{serif|''l''}} in a [[syllable coda]], {{IPA|/i, u/}} and sometimes also {{IPA|/eɪ, oʊ/}} are realized as centering diphthongs {{IPA|[iə, uə, eə, oə]}}. Therefore, words such as ''peel'' {{IPA|/pil/}} and ''fool'' {{IPA|/ful/}} are often pronounced {{IPA|[pʰiəɫ]}} and {{IPA|[fuəɫ]}}.{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=487}}