Editing General American English (section)

===={{sc2|LOT}}–{{sc2|THOUGHT}} merger in transition====
{{main|cot–caught merger}}
The vowel in a word like {{sc2|LOT}} {{IPA|/ɑ/}} versus the vowel in {{sc2|THOUGHT}} {{IPA|/ɔ/}} are undergoing a merger, the ''cot–caught'' merger, in many parts of North America, but not in certain regions. American speakers with a completed merger pronounce the two historically separate vowels with the same sound (especially in the [[American West|West]], [[Great Plains]] region, northern [[New England]], [[West Virginia]] and [[western Pennsylvania]]), but other speakers have no trace of a merger at all (especially middle-aged or older speakers in the [[American South|South]], the [[Great Lakes region]], southern New England, and the [[Philadelphia English|Philadelphia&ndash;Baltimore]] and [[New York metropolitan area]]s) and so pronounce each vowel with distinct sounds {{Pronunciation|Cot-caught distinction.ogg|listen||help=no}}.{{sfnp|Labov|Ash|Boberg|2006|p=61}} Among speakers who distinguish between the two, the vowel of ''cot'' is often a [[central vowel|central]] {{IPAblink|ɑ̈|audio=y}} or slightly-advanced [[back vowel|back]] {{IPA|[ɑ̟]}}, while {{IPA|/ɔ/}} is pronounced with more rounded lips and phonetically higher in the mouth, close to {{IPAblink|ɒ|audio=y}} or {{IPAblink|ɔ|audio=y}}.{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=476}} Among speakers who do not distinguish between them, thus producing a ''cot–caught'' merger, {{IPA|/ɑ/}} usually remains a back vowel, {{IPAblink|ɑ|audio=y}}, sometimes showing lip rounding as {{IPA|[ɒ]}}. Therefore, even mainstream Americans vary greatly with this speech feature, with possibilities ranging from a full merger to no merger at all. In the West, for instance, {{Sc2|PALM}}, {{Sc2|LOT}}, {{Sc2|CLOTH}}, and {{Sc2|THOUGHT}} are all typically pronounced the same, falling under one phoneme. A transitional stage of the merger is also common in scatterings throughout the United States, most consistently in 1990s and early 2000s research in the [[Midland American English|American Midlands]] lying between the historical dialect regions of the North and the South. Meanwhile, younger Americans, in general, tend to be transitioning toward the merger. According to a 2003 dialect survey carried out across the country, about 61% of participants perceived themselves as keeping the two vowels distinct and 39% do not.<ref>Vaux, Bert; Golder, Scott (2003). "[http://www4.uwm.edu/FLL/linguistics/dialect/staticmaps/q_28.html Do you pronounce 'cot' and 'çaught' the same?]" The Harvard Dialect Survey. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Linguistics Department.</ref> A 2009 follow-up survey put the percentages at 58% non-merging speakers and 41% merging.<ref>Vaux, Bert; Jøhndal, Marius L. (2009). "[http://survey.johndal.com/results/268/ Do you pronounce "cot" and "caught" the same?]" ''Cambridge Online Survey of World Englishes''. Cambridge: Cambridge University.</ref>