Editing General American English (section)

==Vowels==
[[File:General American monophthong chart.svg|thumb|upright=0.9|right|Monophthongs of General American without the ''cot–caught'' merger, from {{harvtxt|Wells|1982|p=486}}. {{IPA|[e]|cat=no}} and {{IPA|[o]}} are monophthongal allophones of {{IPA|/eɪ/}} and {{IPA|/oʊ/}}.]]
[[File:General American diphthong chart.svg|thumb|upright=0.9|right|Diphthongs of General American, from {{harvtxt|Wells|1982|p=486}}]]

The 2006 ''[[Atlas of North American English]]'' surmises that "if one were to recognize a type of [[North American English]] to be called 'General American'" according to data measurements of vowel pronunciations, "it would be the configuration formed by these three" accent regions: [[Standard Canadian English|(Standard) Canada]], the [[Western American English|American West]], and the [[Midland American English|American Midland]].<ref>{{Harvp|Labov|Ash|Boberg|2006|p=144}}</ref> The following charts present the vowels that converge across these three dialect regions to form an [[markedness|unmarked]] or generic American English sound system.

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Vowel phonemes in General American
! rowspan="2" |
! colspan="2" | [[Front vowel|Front]]
! colspan="2" | [[Central vowel|Central]]
! colspan="2" | [[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
! {{small|lax}}
! {{small|tense}}
! {{small|lax}}
! {{small|tense}}
! {{small|lax}}
! {{small|tense}}
|-
! [[Close vowel|Close]]
| {{IPA link|ɪ}} 
| [[Close front unrounded vowel|i]]
| 
|
| {{IPA link|ʊ}}
| [[Close back rounded vowel|u]]
|-
! [[Mid vowel|Mid]]
| {{IPA link|ɛ}}
| {{IPA link|e|eɪ}}
| {{IPA link|ə}}
|
| ({{IPA link|ʌ}})
| {{IPA link|o̞|oʊ}}
|-
! [[Open vowel|Open]]
| {{IPA link|æ}}
|
|
| {{IPA link|ɑ̈|ɑ}}
|
| ({{IPA link|ɒ|ɔ}})
|-
! [[Diphthong]]s
| colspan="6" | {{IPA|aɪ}} &nbsp; {{IPA|ɔɪ}} &nbsp; {{IPA|aʊ}}
|}

===Vowel length===
[[Vowel length]] is not [[phoneme|phonemic]] in General American, and therefore vowels such as {{IPA|/i/}} are customarily transcribed without the length mark.<ref>Some British sources, such as the ''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary'', use a unified symbol set with the length mark, {{IPA|ː}}, for both British and American English. Others, such as ''The Routledge Dictionary of Pronunciation for Current English'', do not use the length mark for American English only.</ref> Phonetically, the vowels of GA are short {{IPA|[ɪ, i, ʊ, u, eɪ, oʊ, ɛ, ʌ, ɔ, æ, ɑ, aɪ, ɔɪ, aʊ]}} when they precede the [[Fortis and lenis|fortis]] consonants {{IPA|/p, t, k, tʃ, f, θ, s, ʃ/}} within the same syllable and long {{IPA|[ɪː, iː, ʊː, uː, eːɪ, oːʊ, ɛː, ʌː, ɔː, æː, ɑː, aːɪ, ɔːɪ, aːʊ]}} elsewhere. (Listen to the minimal pair of {{audio|General American kit kid minimal pair.ogg|''kit'' and ''kid''|help=no}} {{IPA|[ˈkʰɪt, ˈkʰɪːd]}}.) All unstressed vowels are also shorter than the stressed ones, and the more unstressed syllables follow a stressed one, the shorter it is, so that {{IPA|/i/}} in ''l<u>ea</u>d'' is noticeably longer than in ''l<u>ea</u>dership''.{{sfnp|Wells|1982|pp=120, 480–481}}{{sfnp|Wells|2008}} (See [[Stress and vowel reduction in English]].)

===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}}

==={{Sc2|PALM}}, {{Sc2|LOT}}, {{Sc2|CLOTH}}, and {{Sc2|THOUGHT}} vowels===
====Unrounded {{Sc2|LOT}}====
The American phenomenon of the {{Sc2|LOT}} vowel (often spelled {{angbr|o}} in words like ''box, don, clock, notch, pot,'' etc.) being produced without [[rounded vowel|rounded lips]], like the {{Sc2|PALM}} vowel, allows the two vowels to unify as a single [[phoneme]]. A consequence is that some words, like ''father'' and ''bother'', rhyme for most Americans. This [[Phonological history of the low back vowels#Father–bother merger|''father-bother'' merger]] is widespread throughout the country, except in northeastern [[New England English]] (such as the [[Boston accent]]), the [[Western Pennsylvania English|Pittsburgh accent]], and variably in some older [[New York accent]]s, which may retain a rounded articulation of ''bother'', keeping it distinct from ''father''.{{sfn|Wells|1982|pp=136–37, 203–6, 234, 245–47, 339–40, 400, 419, 443, 576}}<!-- Wells 1982: 245–47 -->{{sfn|Labov|Ash|Boberg|2006|p=171}}

===={{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>

===={{sc2|LOT}}–{{sc2|CLOTH}} split====
American accents that have not undergone the [[cot-caught merger|''cot–caught'' merger]] (the [[lexical set]]s {{sc2|LOT}} and {{sc2|THOUGHT}}) have instead retained a [[Lot-cloth split|{{sc2|LOT}}–{{sc2|CLOTH}} split]]: a 17th-century distinction in which certain words (labeled as the {{sc2|CLOTH}} [[lexical set]]) separated away from the {{sc2|LOT}} set. The split, which has now reversed in most British English, simultaneously shifts this relatively recent {{sc2|CLOTH}} set into a merger with the {{sc2|THOUGHT}} (''caught'') set. Having taken place prior to the unrounding of the ''cot'' vowel, it results in lengthening and perhaps raising, merging the more recently separated vowel into the {{sc2|THOUGHT}} vowel in the following environments: before many instances of {{IPA|/f/}}, {{IPA|/θ/}}, and particularly {{IPA|/s/}} (as in ''Austria, cloth, cost, loss, off, often,'' etc.), a few instances before {{IPA|/ŋ/}} (as in ''strong, long, wrong''), and variably by region or speaker in ''gone'', ''on'', and certain other words.{{sfn|Wells|1982|pp=136–7, 203–4}}

==={{sc2|STRUT}} and {{sc2|COMM{{underline|A}}}} vowels===
The phonetic quality of {{IPA|/ʌ/}} ({{sc2|STRUT}}) varies in General American. It is often an ([[Relative articulation#Advanced|advanced]]) open-mid back unrounded vowel {{IPAblink|ʌ|ʌ̟}}: {{Pronunciation|En-us-uh.ogg|listen|(|help=no}}.{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=485}}{{sfnp|Roca|Johnson|1999|p=190}} Many Midland, Southern, African-American, and younger speakers nationwide pronounce it somewhat more centralized in the mouth.

Also, some scholars analyze {{IPA|[ʌ]}} to be an allophone of {{IPA|/ə/}} (the unstressed vowel in words like {{Sc2|COMM{{underline|A}}}}, ''banana'', ''oblige'', etc.), that surfaces when stressed, so {{IPA|/ʌ/}} and {{IPA|/ə/}} may be considered to be in [[complementary distribution]], comprising only one phoneme.{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=132}}

===={{Sc2|STRUT}} in special words====
The {{Sc2|STRUT}} vowel, rather than the one in {{sc2|LOT}} (as in Britain), is used in [[function words]] and certain other words like ''was, of, from, what, everybody, nobody, somebody, anybody'', and, for many speakers ''because'' and rarely even ''want'', when stressed.<ref>According to ''Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition''.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://dictionary.infoplease.com/want |title=Want: meaning and definitions|publisher=Dictionary.infoplease.com |access-date=May 29, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bartleby.com/61/55/W0025500.html |title=want. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.|publisher=Bartleby.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080109040108/http://www.bartleby.com/61/55/W0025500.html |archive-date=January 9, 2008 |access-date=May 29, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/want |title=Want – Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary|publisher=M-w.com |access-date=May 29, 2013}}</ref>

===Pre-voiceless {{sc2|PRICE}} raising===
Many speakers split the sound {{IPA|/aɪ/}} based on whether it occurs before a voiceless consonant or not. Thus, in ''rider'', it is pronounced {{IPA|[ä(ː)ɪ]}}, but in ''writer'', it is raised and potentially shortened to {{IPA|[ʌɪ]}} (because {{IPA|/t/}} is a voiceless consonant while {{IPA|/d/}} is not). Thus, words like ''bright, hike, price, wipe,'' etc. with a following voiceless consonant (such as {{IPA|/t, k, θ, s/}}) use a raised vowel sound compared to ''bride, high, prize, wide'', etc. Because of this sound change, the words ''rider'' and ''writer'' {{Pronunciation|En-us-rider-writer.ogg|listen|(|help=no}}, for instance, remain distinct from one another by virtue of their difference in height (and length) of the diphthong's starting point (unrelated to both the letters ''d'' and ''t'' being pronounced in these words as alveolar flaps {{IPA|[ɾ]}}). The sound change also applies across word boundaries, though the position of a word or phrase's stress may prevent the raising from taking place. For instance, a ''high school'' in the sense of "secondary school" is generally pronounced {{IPA|[ˈhɐɪskuɫ]}}; however, a ''high school'' in the literal sense of "a tall school" would be pronounced {{IPA|[ˌhaɪˈskuɫ]}}. The [[sound change]] began in the [[Northern American English|Northern]], [[New England English|New England]], and [[Mid-Atlantic American English|Mid-Atlantic]] regions of the country,{{sfn|Labov|Ash|Boberg|2006|loc=p. 114: "where Canadian raising has traditionally been reported: Canada, Eastern New England, Philadelphia, and the North"}} and is becoming more common across the nation.

Many speakers outside of General American areas in the [[Inland Northern American English|Inland North]], [[North Central American English|Upper Midwestern]], and [[Philadelphia English|Philadelphia dialect areas]] raise {{IPA|/aɪ/}} before voiced consonants in certain words as well, particularly {{IPA|[d]}}, {{IPA|[g]}} and {{IPA|[n]}}. Hence, words like ''tiny'', ''spider'', ''cider'', ''tiger'', ''dinosaur'', ''beside'', ''idle'' (but sometimes not ''idol''), and ''fire'' may contain a raised nucleus. The use of {{IPA|[ʌɪ]}}, rather than {{IPA|[aɪ]}}, in such words is unpredictable from the phonetic environment alone, but it may have to do with their acoustic similarity to other words with {{IPA|[ʌɪ]}} before a voiceless consonant, per the traditional Canadian-raising system. Some researchers have argued that there has been a [[phonemic split]] in those dialects, and the distribution of the two sounds is becoming more unpredictable among younger speakers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1087&context=curej|publisher=[[University of Pennsylvania]]|title=The Spread of Raising: Opacity, lexicalization, and diffusion|date=November 11, 2007|access-date=September 21, 2016|last=Freuhwald|first=Josef T.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Murphy |first1=Patrick Joseph |title=Listening to Writers and Riders: Partial Contrast and the Perception of Canadian Raising |journal=University of Toronto PhD Dissertation |date=2019 |pages=116–117 |url=https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/97604/3/Murphy_Patrick_J_201911_PhD_thesis.pdf |access-date=January 17, 2024}}</ref>

=== {{Sc2|KIT}} variation in final unstressed /ɪŋ/ ===
General American speakers typically realize final unstressed {{IPA|/ɪŋ/}}, like at the end of ''singing'', as {{IPA|[ɪŋ]}} or, in a particularly casual [[style (sociolinguistics)|style]], {{IPA|[ɪn]}}. However, many speakers from [[California English|California]], other [[Western American English|Western states]] including those in the [[Pacific Northwest English|Pacific Northwest]], and the [[North-Central American English|Upper Midwest]] realize final unstressed {{IPA|/ɪŋ/}} as {{IPA|[in]}} when {{IPA|/ɪ/}} ("short ''i''") is raised to become {{IPAblink|i}} ("long ''ee''") before the underlying {{IPA|/ŋ/}} is converted to {{IPA|[n]}}, so that ''coding'', for example, is pronounced {{IPA|[ˈkoʊdin]}}, homophonous with ''codeine''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Metcalf|first=Allan|title=How We Talk: American Regional English Today |date=2000|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|chapter=The Far West and beyond|isbn=0618043624|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SsMUCl5j8X4C&pg=PA143|page=143|quote=Another pronunciation even more widely heard among older teens and adults in California and throughout the West is 'een' for -''ing'', as in 'I'm think-een of go-een camp-een.'}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Hunter |first1=Marsha |last2=Johnson |first2=Brian K. |title=The Articulate Advocate: New Techniques of Persuasion for Trial Attorneys |date=2009 |publisher=Crown King Books |chapter=Articulators and Articulation |isbn=9780979689505 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-OQDBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA92|page=92|quote=Regional Accents ... A distinguishing characteristic of the Upper Midwestern accent is the tendency to turn the 'ing' sound into 'een,' with a cheerful 'Good morneen!'}}</ref>

===Weak vowel merger===
{{main|Weak vowel merger}}
The {{sc2|KIT}} vowel {{IPA|/ɪ/}} in unstressed syllables generally merges with the {{sc2|COMM{{underline|A}}}} vowel {{IPA|/ə/}}, so that the noun ''effect'' is pronounced like verb ''affect'', and ''abbot'' and ''rabbit'' rhyme. The quality of the merged vowel varies considerably based on the environment but is typically more open, like {{IPA|[ə]}}, in word-final or [[Open syllable|open-syllable]] word-initial positions (making ''salon'' {{IPA|[səˈɫɑn]}} and ''comma'' {{IPA|[ˈkʰɑmə]}}), but more close and often more fronted, like {{IPA|[ɪ~ɨ]}}, in other positions (making ''patted'' or ''padded'' {{IPA|[ˈpʰæɾɨd]}} and ''minus'' {{IPA|[ˈmaɪnɨs]}}).{{sfnp|Wells|2008|p=xxi}} (Despite phonetic variation within the latter vowel, the symbol {{angbr IPA|ɨ}} is used consistently on this page.){{refn|Though analyses may differ, the choice to use the symbol {{angbr IPA|ɨ}} here dates back to a tradition starting in the 1950s from linguist [[George L. Trager]] and others.<ref>Flemming & Johnson, 2007, pp. 83-4.</ref>}}

===Vowels before R===
====R-colored vowels====
The [[lexical set]]s {{sc2|NURSE}} and lett{{sc2|ER}} are merged as the sequence {{IPA|/ər/}}, a [[schwa]] vowel plus {{IPA|/r/}}, which can also be analyzed as a simple [[syllabic consonant|syllabic]] {{IPA|/r/}}, though often phonetically transcribed as the [[R-colored vowel|R-colored schwa]] {{IPAblink|ɚ|audio=y}}. Therefore, ''perturb'', pronounced {{IPA|/pəˈtɜːb/}} in British [[Received Pronunciation]] (RP), is {{IPA|/pərˈtərb/}} ([[Phonetic_transcription#Narrow versus broad; phonemic versus phonetic|phonetically]] {{Audio-IPA|En-us-perturb.ogg|[pɚˈtɚb]}}) in General American pronunciation. Similarly, the words ''forward'' and ''foreword'', which are phonologically distinguished in RP as {{IPA|/ˈfɔːwəd/}} and {{IPA|/ˈfɔːwɜːd/}}, are [[homophone|homophonous]] in GA: {{IPA|/ˈfɔrwərd/}} (or phonetically {{IPA|[ˈfɔɹwɚd]}}).{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=121}} Moreover, what is historically {{IPA|/ʌr/}}, as in ''hurry'', merges to {{IPA|/ər/}} in GA as well, so the historical phonemes {{IPA|/ʌ/}}, {{IPA|/ɜ/}}, and {{IPA|/ə/}} are all [[Phonemic merger|neutralized]] before {{IPA|/r/}}. Thus, unlike in most English dialects of England, {{IPA|/ɜ/}} is not a true phoneme in General American but merely a different notation of {{IPA|/ə/}} for when this phoneme precedes {{IPA|/r/}} and is stressed—a convention preserved in many sources to facilitate comparisons with other accents.{{sfnp|Wells|1982|pp=480–1}}

====Vowel mergers before R====
Most North American accents are characterized by the mergers of certain vowels when they occur before [[intervocalic]] {{IPA|/r/}}. The only exceptions exist primarily along the [[East_Coast_of_the_United_States|East Coast]].
*[[Mary-marry-merry merger|''Mary–marry–merry'' merger]] in transition: According to the 2003 dialect survey, nearly 57% of participants from around the country self-identified as merging the sounds {{IPA|/ær/}} (as in the first syllable of ''parish''), {{IPA|/ɛr/}} (as in the first syllable of ''perish''), and {{IPA|/ɛər/}} (as in ''pear'' or ''pair'').<ref>Vaux, Bert and Scott Golder (2003). "[http://www4.uwm.edu/FLL/linguistics/dialect/staticmaps/q_15.html How do you pronounce Mary / merry / marry?]" The Harvard Dialect Survey. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Linguistics Department.</ref> The merger is largely complete in most regions of the country, the major exceptions being much of the Atlantic Coast and southern [[Louisiana]].{{sfnp|Kortmann|Schneider|2004|p=295}}
*[[hurry-furry merger|''Hurry–furry'' merger]]: The pre-{{IPA|/r/}} vowels in words like ''hurry'' {{IPA|/ʌ/}} and ''furry'' {{IPA|/ɜ/}} are merged in most American accents to {{IPA|[ɚ]}} or a syllabic consonant {{IPA|[ɹ̩]}}. Roughly only 10% of American English speakers acknowledge the distinct ''hurry'' vowel before {{IPA|/r/}}, according to the same dialect survey aforementioned.<ref>Vaux, Bert and Scott Golder (2003). "[http://dialect.redlog.net/staticmaps/q_12.html fl''ou''rish] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150711123931/http://dialect.redlog.net/staticmaps/q_12.html |date=2015-07-11}}". The Harvard Dialect Survey. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Linguistics Department.</ref>
*[[Mirror–nearer merger|''Mirror–nearer'' merger]] in transition: The pre-{{IPA|/r/}} vowels in words like ''mirror'' {{IPA|/ɪ/}} and ''nearer'' {{IPA|/i/}} are merged or very similar in most American accents. The quality of the historic ''mirror'' vowel in the word ''miracle'' is quite variable.<ref>Vaux, Bert and Scott Golder (2003). "[http://www4.uwm.edu/FLL/linguistics/dialect/staticmaps/q_17.html the first vowel in "m''i''racle"]". The Harvard Dialect Survey. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Linguistics Department.</ref>
*Americans vary slightly in their pronunciations of [[R-colored vowel#Rhotacization|R-colored vowels]] such as those in {{IPA|/ɛər/}} and {{IPA|/ɪər/}}, which sometimes monophthongizes towards {{IPA|[ɛɹ]}} and {{IPA|[ɪɹ]}} or [[tenseness|tensing]] towards {{IPA|[eɪɹ]}} and {{IPA|[i(ə)ɹ]}} respectively. That causes pronunciations like {{IPA|[pʰeɪɹ]}} for ''pair''/''pear'' and {{IPA|[pʰiəɹ]}} for ''peer''/''pier''.{{sfn|Wells|1982|pp=481–482}} Also, {{IPA|/jʊər/}} is often reduced to {{IPA|[jɚ]}}, so that ''cure'', ''pure'', and ''mature'' may all end with the sound {{IPA|[ɚ]}}, thus rhyming with ''blur'' and ''sir''. The word ''sure'' is also part of the rhyming set as it is commonly pronounced {{IPA|[ʃɚ]}}.
* [[Horse–hoarse merger|''Horse–hoarse'' merger]]: This merger makes the vowels {{IPA|/ɔ/}} and {{IPA|/o/}} before {{IPA|/r/}} homophones, with homophonous pairs like ''horse/hoarse, corps/core, for/four, morning/mourning, war/wore,'' etc. homophones. Many older varieties of American English still keep the sets of words distinct, particularly in the extreme Northeast, the South (especially along the Gulf Coast), and the central Midlands,{{sfn|Labov|Ash|Boberg|2006|p=52}} but the merger is evidently spreading and younger Americans rarely show the distinction. This merger is also found in most modern varieties of [[British English]].
* [[Mergers of /ɒr-/ and /ɔːr-/|"Short ''o''" before ''r'' before a vowel]]: In typical North American accents (both U.S. and Canada), the historical sequence {{IPA|/ɒr/}} (a short ''o'' sound followed by ''r'' and then another vowel, as in ''orange'', ''forest'', ''moral'', and ''warrant'') is realized as {{IPA|[oɹ~ɔɹ]}}, thus further merging with the already-merged {{IPA|/ɔr/–/oʊr/}} ([[horse–hoarse merger|''horse''–''hoarse'']]) set. In the U.S., a small number of words (namely, ''tom{{under|orr}}ow, s{{under|orr}}y, s{{under|orr}}ow, b{{under|orr}}ow,'' and ''m{{under|orr}}ow'') usually contain the sound {{IPA|[ɑɹ]}} instead and thus merge with the {{IPA|/ɑr/}} set (thus, ''sorry'' and ''[[sari]]'' become homophones, both rhyming with ''starry'').{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=476}}
{{English -or- table|header=General American {{IPA|/ɑr/}} and {{IPA|/ɔr/}} followed by a vowel, compared with other dialects|hidden=yes}}

=== Lists of monophthongs, diphthongs, and R-colored vowels ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Pure vowels ([[monophthong]]s)
|-
! [[Help:IPA/English|Wikipedia's<br/> IPA<br/> diaphoneme]]
! [[John C. Wells|Wells's]] <br />GenAm <br/>phoneme
! GenAm <br/>realization
! Example <br/>words
|-
| colspan="2" rowspan="2" | {{IPA|/æ/}}
| {{IPAblink|æ}} {{Pronunciation|near-open front unrounded vowel.ogg|listen|(|help=no}}{{sfnp|Kretzschmar|2004|pp=263–4}}
| b'''a'''th, tr'''a'''p, y'''a'''k
|-
| {{IPA|[eə~ɛə]}}{{sfnp|Labov|Ash|Boberg|2006|p=180}}{{sfnp|Thomas|2004|p=315}}{{sfnp|Gordon|2004|p=340}}
| b'''a'''n, tr'''a'''m, s'''a'''nd (pre-nasal [[/æ/ tensing]])
|-
| {{IPA|/ɑː/}}
| rowspan="2" | {{IPA|/ɑ/}}
| rowspan="2" | {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|ɑ}}~{{IPAplink|ɑ̈}}]}} {{Pronunciation|En-us-ah.ogg|listen|(|help=no}}{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=476}}
| '''ah''', f'''a'''ther, sp'''a'''
|-
| rowspan="2" | {{IPA|/ɒ/}}
| b'''o'''ther, l'''o'''t, w'''a'''sp ([[Father bother merger|father–bother merger]])
|-
| rowspan="2" | {{IPA|/ɔ/}}
| rowspan="2" | {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|ɑ}}~{{IPAplink|ɒ}}~{{IPAplink|ɒ|ɔ̞}}]}} {{Pronunciation|En-us-awe.ogg|listen|(|help=no}}{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=476}}{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=145}}
| b'''o'''ss, cl'''o'''th, d'''o'''g, '''o'''ff ([[lot-cloth split|lot–cloth split]])
|-
| {{IPA|/ɔː/}}
| '''a'''ll, b'''ough'''t, fl'''au'''nt ([[cot-caught merger|cot–caught variability]])
|-
| {{IPA|/oʊ/}}
| {{IPA|/o/}}
| {{IPA|[oʊ~ɔʊ~ʌʊ~{{IPAplink|o̞}}]}} {{Pronunciation|En-us-o.ogg|listen|(|help=no}}<ref name="Heggarty" />{{sfnp|Gordon|2004|p=343}}{{sfnp|Labov|Ash|Boberg|2006|p=104}}
| g'''oa'''t, h'''o'''me, t'''oe'''
|-
| colspan="2" | {{IPA|/ɛ/}}
| {{IPA|[ɛ]}} {{Pronunciation|En-us-Open-mid front unrounded vowel.oga|listen|(|help=no}}{{sfnp|Kretzschmar|2004|pp=263–4}}
| dr'''e'''ss, m'''e'''t, br'''ea'''d
|-
| colspan="2" | {{IPA|/eɪ/}}
| {{IPA|[e̞ɪ~eɪ]}} {{Pronunciation|En-us-a.ogg|listen|(|help=no}}{{sfnp|Kretzschmar|2004|pp=263–4}}
| l'''a'''ke, p'''ai'''d, f'''ei'''nt
|-
| colspan="2" | {{IPA|/ʌ/}}
| {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|ʌ|ʌ̟}}~ʌ]}} {{Pronunciation|En-us-uh2.ogg|listen|(|help=no}}
| b'''u'''s, fl'''oo'''d, wh'''a'''t
|-
| colspan="2" rowspan="2" | {{IPA|/ə/}}
| {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|ə}}~{{IPAplink|ɐ}}~{{IPAplink|ʌ}}]}}{{sfnp|Wells|2008}} {{Pronunciation|En-us-uh2.ogg|listen|(|help=no}}
| '''a'''bout, '''o'''blige, '''a'''ren'''a'''
|-
| {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|ɨ}}~{{IPAplink|ɪ}}~{{IPAplink|ə}}]}}<ref>Flemming, Edward; Johnson, Stephanie. (2007). "Rosa's roses: Reduced vowels in American English". Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 37(1), 83–96.</ref> {{Pronunciation|Close-mid_central_unrounded_vowel.ogg|listen|(|help=no}}
| ball'''a'''d, foc'''u'''s, harm'''o'''ny ([[weak vowel merger]])
|-
| colspan="2" | {{IPA|/ɪ/}}
| {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|ɪ}}~{{IPAplink|ɪ|ɪ̞}}]}}{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=486}} {{Pronunciation|En-us-Near-close near-front unrounded vowel2.ogg|listen|(|help=no}}
| k'''i'''t, p'''i'''nk, t'''i'''p
|-
| rowspan="2" | {{IPA|/iː/}}
| rowspan="2" |{{IPA|/i/}}
| rowspan="2" | {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|i}}]}} {{Pronunciation|En-us-Close front unrounded vowel2.ogg|listen|(|help=no}}{{sfnp|Kretzschmar|2004|pp=263–4}}
| b'''ea'''m, ch'''i'''c, fl'''ee'''ce
|-
| happ'''y''', mon'''ey''', part'''ie'''s ([[happy tensing|happ{{sc2|Y}} tensing]])
|-
| colspan="2" | {{IPA|/ʊ/}}
| {{IPAblink|ʊ|ʊ̞}} {{Pronunciation|near-close near-back rounded vowel.ogg|listen|(|help=no}}{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=486}}
| b'''oo'''k, p'''u'''t, sh'''ou'''ld
|-
| {{IPA|/uː/}}
| {{IPA|/u/}}
| {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|u|u̟}}~ʊu~ʉu~ɵu]}} {{Pronunciation|En-us-ooh.ogg|listen|(|help=no}}{{sfnp|Labov|Ash|Boberg|2006|p=154}}{{sfnp|Gordon|2004|p=343}}{{sfnp|Boberg|2004b|p=361}}<ref name="Heggarty">{{cite web|title=Accents of English from Around the World|editor=Heggarty, Paul|display-editors=etal|year=2015|url=http://www.soundcomparisons.com/|access-date=2016-09-24|archive-date=2011-04-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429190515/http://www.soundcomparisons.com/}} See under "Std US + 'up-speak'"</ref>
| g'''oo'''se, n'''ew''', tr'''ue'''
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ [[Diphthong]]s
! [[Help:IPA/English|Wikipedia's<br/> IPA diaphoneme]]
! GenAm realization
! Example words
|-
| rowspan="2" | {{IPA|/aɪ/}} 
| {{IPA|[äːɪ]}} {{Pronunciation|En-us-eye.ogg|listen|(|help=no}}<ref name="Heggarty" />
| br'''i'''de, pr'''i'''ze, t'''ie'''
|-
| {{IPA|[äɪ~ɐɪ~ʌ̈ɪ]}} {{Pronunciation|Nl-ai.ogg|listen|(|help=no}}<ref>{{cite book|first=Charles|last=Boberg|author-link=Charles Boberg|publisher=Cambridge University Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uW2rM_6I3gMC&q=does%20occur%20in%20eastern%20New%20England|title=The English Language in Canada: Status, History and Comparative Analysis|year=2010|page=156|isbn=978-1-139-49144-0}}</ref>
| br'''igh'''t, pr'''i'''ce, t'''y'''ke ([[Canadian raising|price raising]])
|-
| {{IPA|/aʊ/}}
| {{IPA|[aʊ~æʊ]}} {{Pronunciation|En-us-ow.ogg|listen|(|help=no}}{{sfnp|Kretzschmar|2004|pp=263–4}}
| n'''ow''', '''ou'''ch, sc'''ou'''t
|-
|-
| {{IPA|/ɔɪ/}}
| {{IPA|[ɔɪ~oɪ]}} {{Pronunciation|En-us-oi2.ogg|listen|(|help=no}}{{sfnp|Kretzschmar|2004|pp=263–4}}
| b'''oy''', ch'''oi'''ce, m'''oi'''st
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ [[R-colored vowel]]s{{sfnp|Kretzschmar|2004|pp=263–4, 266}}{{sfnp|Wells|1982|pp=121, 481}}
|-
! [[Help:IPA/English|Wikipedia's<br/> IPA diaphoneme]]
! GenAm realization
! Example words
|-
| {{IPA|/ɑːr/}}
| {{IPA|[ɑɹ]}} {{Pronunciation|En-us-r2.ogg|listen|(|help=no}}
| b'''ar'''n, c'''ar''', p'''ar'''k
|-
| rowspan="2" | {{IPA|/ɛər/}}
| {{IPA|[ɛəɹ]}} {{Pronunciation|En-us-air2.ogg|listen|(|help=no}}
| b'''are''', b'''ear''', th'''ere'''
|-
| {{IPA|[ɛ(ə)ɹ]}}
| b'''ear'''ing
|-
| {{IPA|/ɜːr/}}
| rowspan="2" | {{IPAblink|ɚ}} {{Pronunciation|En-us-er2.ogg|listen|(|help=no}}
| b'''ur'''n, f'''ir'''st, m'''ur'''der
|-
| {{IPA|/ər/}}
| murd'''er'''
|-
| rowspan="2" | {{IPA|/ɪər/}}
| {{IPA|[iəɹ~ɪəɹ]}} {{Pronunciation|En-us-ear2.ogg|listen|(|help=no}}
| f'''ear''', p'''eer''', t'''ier'''
|-
| {{IPA|[i(ə)ɹ~ɪ(ə)ɹ]}}
| f'''ear'''ing, p'''eer'''ing
|-
| rowspan="2" | {{IPA|/ɔːr/}}
| rowspan="2" | {{IPA|[ɔəɹ~oəɹ]}} {{Pronunciation|En-us-or.ogg|listen|(|help=no}}{{sfnp|Wells|1982|pp=483}}
| h'''or'''se, st'''or'''m, w'''ar'''
|-
| h'''oar'''se, st'''ore''', w'''ore'''
|-
| rowspan="2" | {{IPA|/ʊər/}}
| {{IPA|[ʊəɹ~oəɹ~ɔəɹ]}} {{Pronunciation|En-us-oar2.ogg|listen|(|help=no}}
| m'''oor''', p'''oor''', t'''our'''
|-
| {{IPA|[ʊ(ə)ɹ~o(ə)ɹ~ɔ(ə)ɹ]}}
| p'''oor'''er
|}