{{Short description|none}} {{Lead too short|date=January 2020}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}} {{English phonology topics}} {{IPA notice}} The close and mid-height front vowels of English (vowels of ''i'' and ''e'' type) have undergone a variety of changes over time and often vary by dialect.
==Developments involving long vowels==
=== Merger of {{IPA|/y/}} with {{IPA|/i/}} and {{IPA|/yː/}} with {{IPA|/iː/}} === Old English had the two vowel pairs {{IPA|/y/–/yː/}} (spelled with {{angle bracket|y}}) and {{IPA|/i/–/iː/}} (spelled with {{angle bracket|i}}). By Middle English, the distinction in quality collapsed, leaving only the short–long pair {{IPA|/i/–/iː/}}, which became KIT {{IPA|/ɪ/}} and PRICE {{IPA|/aɪ/}} in Modern English. Changes in spelling mean that {{angle bracket|y}} and {{angle bracket|i}} are not a good indicators of the Old English distinction between the four sounds. For example, Modern English ''bridge'' derives from Old English {{lang|ang|bryċġ}}, while Modern English ''scythe'' derives from Old English {{lang|ang|sīþe}}. The name of the letter {{angle bracket|y}} acquired an initial {{IPA|[w]}} sound in it to keep it distinct from the name of the letter {{angle bracket|i}}.{{citation needed|date=February 2017}}
===Until Great Vowel Shift=== Middle English had a long close front vowel {{IPA|/iː/}}, and two long mid front vowels: the close-mid {{IPA|/eː/}} and the open-mid {{IPA|/ɛː/}}. The three vowels generally correspond to the modern spellings {{angbr|i}}, {{angbr|ee}} and {{angbr|ea}} respectively, but other spellings are also possible. The spellings that became established in Early Modern English are mostly still used today, but the qualities of the sounds have changed significantly.
The {{IPA|/iː/}} and {{IPA|/eː/}} generally corresponded to similar Old English vowels, and {{IPA|/ɛː/}} came from Old English {{IPA|/æː/}} or {{IPA|/æːɑ̯/}}. For other possible histories, see English historical vowel correspondences. In particular, the long vowels sometimes arose from short vowels by Middle English open syllable lengthening or other processes. For example, ''team'' comes from an originally-long Old English vowel, and ''eat'' comes from an originally-short vowel that underwent lengthening. The distinction between both groups of words is still preserved in a few dialects, as is noted in the following section.
Middle English {{IPA|/ɛː/}} was shortened in certain words. Both long and short forms of such words often existed alongside each other during Middle English. In Modern English, the short form has generally become standard, but the spelling {{angbr|ea}} reflects the formerly-longer pronunciation.<ref>{{cite book |last=Barber |first=C. L. |title=Early Modern English |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |year=1997 |page=313 }}</ref> The words that were affected include several ending in ''d'', such as ''bread'', ''head'', ''spread'', and various others, including ''breath'', ''weather'', and ''threat''. For example, ''bread'' was {{IPA|/brɛːd/}} in earlier Middle English but came to be shortened and to be rhymed with ''bed''.
During the Great Vowel Shift, the normal outcome of {{IPA|/iː/}} was a diphthong, which developed into Modern English {{IPA|/aɪ/}}, as in ''mine'' and ''find''. Meanwhile, {{IPA|/eː/}} became {{IPA|/iː/}}, as in ''feed'', and {{IPA|/ɛː/}} of words like ''meat'' became {{IPA|/eː/}}, which later merged with {{IPA|/iː/}} in nearly all dialects, as is described in the following section.
===''Meet–meat'' merger <span id="fleece"></span>=== The '''''meet''–''meat'' merger''' or the '''''{{sc2|FLEECE}}'' merger''' is the merger of the Early Modern English vowel {{IPA|/eː/}} (as in ''meat'') into the vowel {{IPA|/iː/}} (as in ''meet'').<ref name=Alexander>{{cite book|last=Alexander|first=D.|year=2001|title=Orreight mi ol'|location=Sheffield|publisher=ALD|isbn=978-1-901587-18-0}}</ref><ref name=Wakelin>{{cite book|last=Wakelin|first=M. F.|year=1977|title=English Dialects: An Introduction|location=London|publisher=The Athlone Press}}</ref> The merger was complete in standard accents of English by about 1700.<ref>{{Harvp|Wells|1982|p=195}}</ref>
As noted in the previous section, the Early Modern/New English (ENE) vowel {{IPA|/eː/}} developed from Middle English {{IPA|/ɛː/}} via the Great Vowel Shift, and ENE {{IPA|/iː/}} was usually the result of Middle English {{IPA|/eː/}} (the effect in both cases was a raising of the vowel). The merger saw ENE {{IPA|/eː/}} raised further to become identical to {{IPA|/iː/}} and so Middle English {{IPA|/ɛː/}} and {{IPA|/eː/}} have become {{IPA|/iː/}} in standard Modern English, and ''meat'' and ''meet'' are now homophones. The merger did not affect the words in which {{IPA|/ɛː/}} had undergone shortening (see section above), and a handful of other words (such as ''break'', ''steak'', ''great'') also escaped the merger in the standard accents and so acquired the same vowel as ''brake'', ''stake'', ''grate''. Hence, the words ''meat'', ''threat'' (which was shortened), and ''great'' now have three different vowels although all three words once rhymed.
The merger results in the {{sc2|FLEECE}} lexical set, as defined by John Wells. Words in the set that had ENE {{IPA|/iː/}} (Middle English {{IPA|/eː/}}) are mostly spelled {{angbr|ee}} (''meet'', ''green'', etc.), with a single {{angbr|e}} in monosyllables (''be'', ''me'') or followed by a single consonant and a vowel letter (''these'', ''Peter''), sometimes {{angbr|ie}} or {{angbr|ei}} (''believe'', ''ceiling''), or irregularly (''key'', ''people''). Most of those that had ENE {{IPA|/eː/}} (Middle English {{IPA|/ɛː/}}) are spelled {{angbr|ea}} (''meat'', ''team'', ''eat'', etc.), but some borrowed words have a single {{angbr|e}} (''legal'', ''decent'', ''complete''), {{angbr|ei}}, or otherwise (''receive'', ''seize'', ''phoenix'', ''quay''). There are also some loanwords in which {{IPA|/iː/}} is spelled {{angbr|i}} (''police'', ''machine'', ''ski''), most of which entered the language later.{{sfnp|Wells|1982|pp=140–141}}
There are still some dialects in the British Isles that do not have the merger. Some speakers in Northern England have {{IPA|/iː/}} or {{IPA|/əɪ/}} in the first group of words (those that had ENE {{IPA|/iː/}}, like ''meet'') but {{IPA|/ɪə/}} in the second group (those that had ENE {{IPA|/eː/}}, like ''meat''). In Staffordshire, the distinction might rather be between {{IPA|/ɛi/}} in the first group and {{IPA|/iː/}} in the second group. In some (particularly rural) varieties of Irish English, the first group has {{IPA|/i/}}, and the second preserves {{IPA|/eː/}}. A similar contrast has been reported in parts of Southern and Western England, but it is now rarely encountered there.{{sfnp|Wells|1982|pp=196, 357, 418, 441}}
In some Yorkshire dialects, an additional distinction may be preserved within the ''meat'' set. Words that originally had long vowels, such as ''team'' and ''cream'' (which come from Old English ''tēam'' and Old French ''creme''), may have {{IPA|/ɪə/}}, and those that had an original short vowel, which underwent open syllable lengthening in Middle English (see previous section), like ''eat'' and ''meat'' (from Old English ''etan'' and ''mete''), have a sound resembling {{IPA|/ɛɪ/}}, similar to the sound that is heard in some dialects in words like ''eight'' and ''weight'' that lost a velar fricative.<ref name=Wakelin />
In Alexander's book (2001)<ref name=Alexander /> about the traditional Sheffield dialect, the spelling "eigh" is used for the vowel of ''eat'' and ''meat'', but "eea" is used for the vowel of ''team'' and ''cream''. However, a 1999 survey in Sheffield found the {{IPA|/ɛɪ/}} pronunciation to be almost extinct there.<ref>{{cite book |first1=J. |last1=Stoddart |first2=C. |last2=Upton |first3=J. D. A. |last3=Widdowson |chapter=Sheffield Dialect in the 1990s |editor1-first=P. |editor1-last=Foulks |editor2-first=G. |editor2-last=Docherty |title=Urban Voices: Accent Studies in the British Isles |pages=72–89 |location=London |publisher=Edward Arnold |year=1999}}</ref>
===Changes before {{IPA|/r/}} and {{IPA|/ə/}} <span id="idea"></span>=== In certain accents, when the {{sc2|FLEECE}} vowel was followed by {{IPA|/r/}}, it acquired a laxer pronunciation. In General American, words like ''near'' and ''beer'' now have the sequence {{IPA|/ir/}}, and ''nearer'' rhymes with ''mirror'' (the ''mirror''–''nearer'' merger). In Received Pronunciation, a diphthong {{IPA|/ɪə/}} has developed (and by non-rhoticity, the {{IPA|/r/}} is generally lost unless there is another vowel after it) and so ''beer'' and ''near'' are {{IPA|/bɪə/}} and {{IPA|/nɪə/}}, and ''nearer'' (with {{IPA|/ɪə/}}) remains distinct from ''mirror'' (with {{IPA|/ɪ/}}). Several pronunciations are found in other accents, but outside North America, the ''nearer''–''mirror'' opposition is always preserved. For example, some conservative accents in Northern England have the sequence {{IPA|/iːə/}} in words like ''near'', with the schwa disappearing before a pronounced {{IPA|/r/}}, as in ''serious''.{{sfnp|Wells|1982|pp=153, 361}}
Another development is that bisyllabic {{IPA|/iːə/}} may become smoothed to the diphthong {{IPA|[ɪə]}} (with the change being phonemic in non-rhotic dialects, so {{IPA|/ɪə/}}) in certain words, which leads to pronunciations like {{IPA|[ˈvɪəkəl]}}, {{IPA|[ˈθɪətə]}} and {{IPA|[aɪˈdɪə]}} for ''vehicle'', ''theatre/theater'' and ''idea'', respectively. That is not restricted to any variety of English. It happens in both British English and (less noticeably or often) American English as well as other varieties although it is far more common for Britons. The words that have {{IPA|[ɪə]}} may vary depending on dialect. Dialects that have the smoothing usually also have the diphthong {{IPA|[ɪə]}} in words like ''beer'', ''deer'', and ''fear'', and the smoothing causes ''idea'', ''Korea'', etc. to rhyme with those words.{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=153}}
===Other changes=== In Geordie, the {{sc2|FLEECE}} vowel undergoes an allophonic split, with the monophthong {{IPAblink|iː}} being used in morphologically-closed syllables (as in ''freeze'' {{IPA|[fɹiːz]}}) and the diphthong {{IPA|[ei]}} being used in morphologically-open syllables not only word-finally (as in ''free'' {{IPA|[fɹei]}}) but also word-internally at the end of a morpheme (as in ''frees'' {{IPA|[fɹeiz]}}).<ref>{{citation|last1=Watt|first1=Dominic|last2=Allen|first2=William|year=2003|title=Tyneside English|journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association|volume=33|issue=2|pages=267–271|doi=10.1017/S0025100303001397|doi-access=free}}</ref>{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=375}}
Most dialects of English turn {{IPA|/iː/}} into a diphthong, and the monophthongal {{IPAblink|iː}} is in free variation with the diphthongal {{IPA|[ɪi ~ əi]}} (with the former diphthong being the same as Geordie {{IPA|[ei]}}, the only difference lying in the transcription{{citation-needed|date=January 2024}}), particularly word-internally. However, diphthongs are more common word-finally.
Compare the identical development of the close back {{sc2|GOOSE}} vowel.
==Developments involving short vowels== ===Lowering=== Middle English short {{IPA|/i/}} has developed into a lax near-close near-front unrounded vowel, {{IPA|/ɪ/}}, in Modern English, as found in words like ''kit''. (Similarly, short /u/ has become /ʊ/.) According to Roger Lass, the laxing occurred in the 17th century, but other linguists have suggested that it took place potentially much earlier.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Stockwell |first1=R. |last2=Minkova |first2=D. |year=2002 |title=Interpreting the Old and Middle English close vowels |journal=Language Sciences |volume=24 |issue=3–4 |pages=447–457 |doi=10.1016/S0388-0001(01)00043-2}}</ref>
The short mid vowels have also undergone lowering and so the continuation of Middle English {{IPA|/e/}} (as in words like ''dress'') now has a quality closer to {{IPAblink|ɛ}} in most accents. Again, however, it is not clear whether the vowel already had a lower value in Middle English.<ref>McMahon, A., ''Lexical Phonology and the History of English'', CUP 2000, p. 179.</ref>
===''Pin''–''pen'' merger=== [[File:Pin-pen.svg|thumb|300px|The merger of ''pin'' and ''pen'' in Southern American English. In the purple areas, the merger is complete for most speakers. Note the exclusion of the New Orleans area, Southern Florida, and of the Lowcountry of South Carolina and Georgia. The purple area in California consists of the Bakersfield and Kern County area, where migrants from the south-central states settled during the Dust Bowl. There is also debate whether or not Austin, Texas, is an exclusion. Based on {{Harvcoltxt|Labov|Ash|Boberg|2006|p=68}}.]] The '''''pin''–''pen'' merger''' is a conditional merger of {{IPA|/ɪ/}} and {{IPA|/ɛ/}} before the nasal consonants {{IPA|[m]}}, {{IPA|[n]}}, and {{IPA|[ŋ]}}.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kurath|first1=Hans|first2=Raven I.|last2=McDavid|year=1961|title=The Pronunciation of English in the Atlantic States|url=https://archive.org/details/pronunciationofe0000hans|url-access=registration|location=Ann Arbor, Michigan|publisher=University of Michigan Press|isbn=978-0-8173-0129-3|page=[https://archive.org/details/pronunciationofe0000hans/page/103 103]|author-link=Hans Kurath}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Morgan|first=Lucia C.|year=1969|title=North Carolina accents|journal=Southern Speech Journal|volume=34|issue=3|pages=223–29|doi=10.1080/10417946909372000}}</ref><ref name=Brown90>{{Cite thesis|title=The social and linguistic history of a merger: /i/ and /e/ before nasals in Southern American English|date=1990|first=Vivian Ruby|last=Brown|degree=PhD|publisher=Texas A & M University|oclc=23527868}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Brown|first=Vivian|year=1991|title=Evolution of the merger of {{IPA|/ɪ/}} and {{IPA|/ɛ/}} before nasals in Tennessee|journal=American Speech|publisher=Duke University Press|volume=66|issue=3|pages=303–15|doi=10.2307/455802|jstor=455802}}</ref><ref name=ANAE>{{cite book|author-link=William Labov|last1=Labov|first1=William|first2=Sharon|last2=Ash |first3=Charles|last3=Boberg |year=2006|title=The Atlas of North American English|location=Berlin|publisher=Mouton de Gruyter|isbn=978-3-11-016746-7|oclc=181466123}}</ref> The merged vowel is usually closer to {{IPA|[ɪ]}} than to {{IPA|[ɛ]}}. Examples of homophones resulting from the merger include ''pin–pen'', ''kin–ken'' and ''him–hem''. The merger is widespread in Southern American English and is also found in many speakers in the Midland region immediately north of the South and in areas settled by migrants from Oklahoma and Texas who settled in the Western United States during the Dust Bowl. It is also a characteristic of much African-American Vernacular English.
The ''pin''–''pen'' merger is one of the most widely recognized features of Southern speech. A study<ref name=Brown90 /> of the written responses of American Civil War veterans from Tennessee, together with data from the ''Linguistic Atlas of the Gulf States'' and the ''Linguistic Atlas of the Middle South Atlantic States'', shows that the prevalence of the merger was very low up to 1860 but then rose steeply to 90% in the mid-20th century. There is now very little variation throughout the South in general except that Savannah, Austin, Miami, and New Orleans are excluded from the merger.<ref name=ANAE /> The area of consistent merger includes southern Virginia and most of the South Midland and extends westward to include much of Texas. The northern limit of the merged area shows a number of irregular curves. Central and southern Indiana is dominated by the merger, but there is very little evidence of it in Ohio, and northern Kentucky shows a solid area of distinction around Louisville.
Outside the South, most speakers of North American English maintain a clear distinction in perception and production. However, in the West, there is sporadic representation of merged speakers in Washington, Idaho, Kansas, Nebraska, and Colorado. However, the most striking concentration of merged speakers in the west is around Bakersfield, California, a pattern that may reflect the trajectory of migrant workers from the Ozarks westward.
The raising of {{IPA|/ɛ/}} to {{IPA|/ɪ/}} was formerly widespread in Irish English and was not limited to positions before nasals. Apparently, it came to be restricted to those positions in the late 19th and the early 20th centuries. The ''pin''–''pen'' merger is now commonly found only in Southern and South-West Irish English.{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=423}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Hickey |first=R. |title=A Sound Atlas of Irish English |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |year=2004 |page=33}}</ref>
A complete merger of {{IPA|/ɪ/}} and {{IPA|/ɛ/}}, not restricted to positions before nasals (and so termed '''''kit''–''dress'' merger'''), is found in many speakers of Newfoundland English. The pronunciation in words like ''bit'' and ''bet'' is {{IPA|[ɪ]}}, but before {{IPA|/r/}}, in words like ''beer'' and ''bear'', it is {{IPA|[ɛ]}}.{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=500}} The merger is common in Irish-settled parts of Newfoundland and is thought to be a relic of the former Irish pronunciation.<ref>{{cite book |last=Clarke |first=S. |chapter=The legacy of British and Irish English in Newfoundland |editor-last=Hickey |editor-first=R. |title=Legacies of Colonial English |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2005 |page=252 |isbn=0-521-83020-6}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" |+ class="nowrap" | Examples of homophonous pairs ! {{IPA|/ɛ/}} ! {{IPA|/ɪ/}} ! IPA ! Notes |- | Ben || bin || {{IPA|ˈbɪn}} || <ref name="examples"/> |- | bend || binned || {{IPA|ˈbɪnd}} || |- | cents || since || {{IPA|ˈsɪn(t)s}} || <ref name="examples"/> |- | clench || clinch || {{IPA|ˈklɪntʃ}} || |- | den || din || {{IPA|ˈdɪn}} || |- | emigrate || immigrate || {{IPA|ˈɪmɪɡreɪt}} || |- | eminent || imminent || {{IPA|ˈɪmɪnənt}} || |- | fen || fin || {{IPA|ˈfɪn}} || |- | gem || gym, Jim || {{IPA|ˈdʒɪm}} || |- | hem || him, hymn || {{IPA|ˈhɪm}} || |- | Jen || gin || {{IPA|ˈdʒɪn}} || <ref name="examples"/> |- | Ken || kin || {{IPA|ˈkɪn}} || <ref name="examples"/><ref name="ils.unc"/> |- | lent || lint || {{IPA|ˈlɪnt}} || |- | meant || mint || {{IPA|ˈmɪnt}} || <ref name="examples"/> |- | N || in || {{IPA|ˈɪn}} || |- | pen || pin || {{IPA|ˈpɪn}} || <ref name="examples">{{cite journal |last1=Austen |first1=Martha |title=Production and perception of the P in -P en merger |journal=Journal of Linguistic Geography |date=October 2020 |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=115–126 |doi=10.1017/jlg.2020.9}}</ref> |- | send || sinned || {{IPA|ˈsɪnd}} || <ref name="ils.unc"/> |- | sender || cinder || {{IPA|ˈsɪndə(r)}} || |- | sense || since || {{IPA|ˈsɪns}} || |- | ten || tin || {{IPA|ˈtɪn}} || <ref name="examples"/><ref name="ils.unc">{{cite web |title=Pin-Pen Merger |url=https://ils.unc.edu/afporch/audio/dialect/41.html |website=ils.unc.edu |access-date=23 June 2023}}</ref> |- | tender || tinder || {{IPA|ˈtɪndə(r)}} || |- | tent || tint || {{IPA|ˈtɪnt}} || |- | tremor || trimmer || {{IPA|ˈtrɪmə(r)}} || |- | wench || winch || {{IPA|ˈwɪntʃ}} || |- | Wendy || windy || {{IPA|ˈwɪndi}} || <ref name="ils.unc"/> |- |}
===''Kit–bit'' split === The '''''kit–bit'' split''' is a split of standard English {{IPA|/ɪ/}} (the {{sc2|KIT}} vowel) that occurs in South African English. The two distinct sounds are: *A standard {{IPA|[ɪ]}}, or [i] in broader accents, which is used before or after a velar consonant (''li<u>ck</u>, bi<u>{{smallcaps|g}}</u>, si<u>n{{smallcaps|g}}</u>; <u>k</u>iss, <u>k</u>it, <u>{{smallcaps|g}}</u>ift''), after {{IPA|/h/}} (''hit''), word-initially (''inn''), generally before {{IPA|/ʃ/}} (''fish''), and by some speakers before {{IPA|/tʃ, dʒ/}} (''ditch, bridge''). It is found only in stressed syllables (in the first syllable of ''chicken'' but not the second). *A centralized vowel {{IPA|[ɪ̈]}}, or {{IPA|[ə]}} in broader accents, which is used in other positions (''limb, dinner, limited, bit'').
Different phonemic analyses of those vowels are possible. In one view, {{IPA|[ɪ]}} and {{IPA|[ɪ̈]}} are in complementary distribution and should therefore still be regarded as allophones of one phoneme. Wells, however, suggests that the non-rhyming of words like ''kit'' and ''bit'', which is particularly marked in the broader accents, makes it more satisfactory to consider {{IPA|[ɪ̈]}} to constitute a different phoneme from {{IPA|[ɪ ~ i]}}, and {{IPA|[ɪ̈]}} and {{IPA|[ə]}} can be regarded as comprising a single phoneme except for speakers who maintain the contrast in weak syllables. There is also the issue of the weak vowel merger in most non-conservative speakers, which means that ''rabbit'' {{IPA|/ˈræbət/}} (conservative {{IPA|/ˈræbɪt/}}) rhymes with ''abbott'' {{IPA|/ˈæbət/}}.{{sfnp|Wells|1982|pp=612–3}} The weak vowel is consistently written {{angbr IPA|ə}} in South African English dialectology, regardless of its precise quality.
===''Thank–think'' merger=== The '''''thank–think'' merger''' is the lowering of {{IPA|/ɪ/}} to {{IPA|/æ/}} before the velar nasal {{IPA|/ŋ/}} that can be found in the speech of speakers of African American Vernacular English, Appalachian English, and (rarely) Southern American English. For speakers with the lowering, ''think'' and ''thank'', ''sing'' and ''sang'', etc. can sound alike.<ref>{{cite book |last=Rickford |first=John R. |year=1999 |chapter=Phonological and grammatical features of African American Vernacular English (AAVE) |title=African American Vernacular English |chapter-url=http://www.johnrickford.com/portals/45/documents/papers/Rickford-1999e-Phonological-and-Grammatical-Features-of-AAVE.pdf |location=Malden, MA & Oxford, UK |publisher=Blackwell |pages=3–14}}</ref> It is reflected in the colloquial variant spelling ''thang'' of ''thing''. Note that there are very few English words with the sequence {{IPA|ɛŋ}}, which may help explain how such a dramatic shift could take place.
==Developments involving weak vowels== ===Weak vowel merger=== The '''weak vowel merger''' is the loss of contrast between {{IPA|/ə/}} (schwa) and unstressed {{IPA|/ɪ/}}, which occurs in certain dialects of English: notably many Southern Hemisphere, North American, Irish, and 21st-century (but not older) standard Southern British accents. In speakers with this merger, the words ''abbot'' and ''rabbit'' rhyme, and ''Lennon'' and ''Lenin'' are pronounced identically, as are ''addition'' and ''edition''. However, it is possible among these merged speakers (such as General American) that a distinction is still maintained in certain contexts, such as in the pronunciation of ''Rosa's'' versus ''roses'', because of the morpheme break in ''Rosa's''. (Speakers without the merger generally have {{IPA|[ɪ]}} in the final syllables of ''rabbit'', ''Lenin'', ''roses'' and the first syllable of ''edition'' that is distinct from the schwa {{IPA|[ə]}} heard in the corresponding syllables of ''abbot'', ''Lennon'', ''Rosa's'' and ''addition''.) If an accent with the merger is also non-rhotic, then for example ''chatted'' and ''chattered'' will be homophones, as will ''arches'' and ''archers''. The merger also affects the weak forms of some words and causes unstressed ''it'', for instance, to be pronounced with a schwa, so that ''dig it'' would rhyme with ''bigot''.{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=167}}
The merger is very common in Southern Hemisphere accents. Most speakers of Australian English (as well as recent Southern England English){{sfnp|Lindsey|2019|pp=109-145}} replace weak {{IPA|/ɪ/}} with schwa, but in ''-ing'', the pronunciation is frequently {{IPA|[ɪ]}}. If there is a following {{IPA|/k/}}, as in ''padd{{underline|o}}ck'' or ''nomad{{underline|i}}c'', some speakers maintain the contrast, but some who have the merger use {{IPA|[ɪ]}} as the merged vowel. In New Zealand English, the merger is complete, and indeed, {{IPA|/ɪ/}} is very centralized even in stressed syllables and so it is usually regarded as the same phoneme as {{IPA|/ə/}} although in ''-ing'', it is closer to [i]. In South African English, most speakers have the merger, but in more conservative accents, the contrast may be retained (as {{IPA|[ɪ̈]}} vs. {{IPA|[ə]}}. Also, a ''kit'' split exists: see above.{{sfnp|Wells|1982|pp=601, 606, 612}}
The merger is also commonly found in American and Canadian English, but the realisation of the merged vowel varies according to syllable type, with {{IPA|[ə]}} appearing in word-final or open-syllable word-initial positions (such as ''dram{{underline|a}}'' or ''c{{underline|i}}lantro''), but {{IPA|[ɪ~ɨ]}} often appearing in other positions (''abb{{underline|o}}t'' and ''{{underline|e}}xhaust''). In traditional Southern American English, the merger is generally not present, and {{IPA|/ɪ/}} is also heard in some words that have schwa in RP, such as ''salad''. The lack of the merger is also a traditional feature of New England English. In Caribbean English, schwa is often not used at all, and unreduced vowels are preferred, but if there is a schwa, {{IPA|/ɪ/}} remains distinct from it.{{sfnp|Wells|1982|pp=520, 550, 571, 612}}
In traditional RP, the contrast between {{IPA|/ə/}} and weak {{IPA|/ɪ/}} is maintained, but that may be declining among modern standard speakers of southern England, who increasingly prefer a merger, specifically with the realisation {{IPA|[ə]}}.{{sfnp|Lindsey|2019|pp=109-145}} In RP, the phone {{IPAblink|ɨ̞}}, apart from being a frequent allophone of {{IPA|/ʊ/}} (as in ''foot'' {{IPA|[fɨ̞ʔt]}}) in younger speakers, appears only as an allophone of {{IPA|/ɪ/}}, which is often centralized when it occurs as a weak vowel, and never as an allophone of {{IPA|/ə/}}. Therefore, {{IPA|[ˈlɛnɨ̞n]}} can stand for only "Lenin", not "Lennon", which has a lower vowel: {{IPA|[ˈlɛnən]}}. However, speakers may not always clearly perceive that difference, as {{IPA|/ə/}} is sometimes raised to {{IPAblink|ɘ}} in contact with alveolar consonants (such as the alveolar nasals in "Lennon" {{IPA|[ˈlɛnɘn]}}). Furthermore, {{IPAblink|ɨ̞}} never participates in syllabic consonant formation and so G-dropping in words such as ''fishing'' never yields a syllabic nasal *{{IPA|[ˈfɪʃn̩]}} or a sounded mid schwa *{{IPA|[ˈfɪʃən]}}, with the most casual RP forms being {{IPA|[ˈfɪʃɪn, -ɨ̞n]}}. Both {{IPA|[ˈfɪʃən]}} and especially {{IPA|[ˈfɪʃn̩]}} were considered to be strongly non-standard in England as late as 1982. They are characteristic of Cockney, which otherwise does not feature the weak vowel merger, but {{IPA|/ɪ/}} can be centralized to {{IPAblink|ɨ̞}} as in RP and so {{IPA|[ˈfɪʃɪn]}} and {{IPA|[ˈfɪʃɨ̞n]}} are distinct possibilities in Cockney. In other accents of the British Isles, the contrast between {{IPA|/ə/}} and weak {{IPA|/ɪ/}} may be variable. In Irish English, the merger is almost universal.{{sfnp|Wells|1982|pp=167, 262, 305, 326, 427}}{{sfnp|Cruttenden|2014|pp=113, 130–131, 138, 216}}
The merger is not complete in Scottish English, whose speakers typically distinguish ''except'' from ''accept'', but the latter can be phonemicized with an unstressed {{sc2|STRUT}}: {{IPA|/ʌkˈsɛpt/}} (as can the word-final schwa in ''comma'' {{IPA|/ˈkɔmʌ/}}) and the former with {{IPA|/ə/}}: {{IPA|/əkˈsɛpt/}}. In other environments, {{sc2|KIT}} and {{sc2|COMMA}} are mostly merged to a quality around {{IPAblink|ə}}, often even when stressed (Wells transcribes the merged vowel with {{angbr IPA|ɪ}}. There, {{angbr IPA|ə}} is used for the sake of consistency and accuracy) and when before {{IPA|/r/}}, as in ''fir'' {{IPA|/fər/}} and ''letter'' {{IPA|/ˈlɛtər/}} (but not ''fern'' {{IPA|/fɛrn/}} and ''fur'' {{IPA|/fʌr/}}: see nurse mergers). The {{sc2|HAPPY}} vowel is {{IPA|/e/}}: {{IPA|/ˈhape/}}.{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=405}}
Even in accents that do not have the merger, there may be certain words in which traditional {{IPA|/ɪ/}} is replaced by {{IPA|/ə/}} by many speakers (both sounds may then be considered to be in free variation). In RP, {{IPA|/ə/}} is now often heard in place of {{IPA|/ɪ/}} in endings such as ''-ace'' (as in ''palace''); ''-ate'' (as in ''senate''); ''-less'', ''-let'', for the {{angbr|i}} in ''-ily''; ''-ity'', ''-ible''; and in initial weak ''be-'', ''de-'', ''re-'', and ''e-''.{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=296}}
Final {{IPA|/əl/}}, and also {{IPA|/ən/}} and {{IPA|/əm/}}, are commonly realized as syllabic consonants, especially when {{IPA|/ən/}} follows a pair of a vowel and a certain digraph (e.g. {{IPA|/ɛlt/}}, {{IPA|/ɑːrd/}}, or {{IPA|/ɔːrt/}}), or that of a diphthong or another vowel and {{IPA|/d/}} or {{IPA|/t/}} (e.g. {{IPA|/aɪt/}}, {{IPA|/iːd/}}). In accents without the merger, the use of {{IPA|/ɪ/}}, rather than {{IPA|/ə/}}, prevents the formation of syllabic consonants. Hence in RP, for example, the second syllable of ''Barton'' is pronounced as a syllabic {{IPA|[n̩]}}, but that of ''Martin'' is {{IPA|[ɪn]}}. Many non-rhotic speakers also pronounce ''pattern'' with {{IPA|[n̩]}}, which is accordingly homophonous with ''Patton''.
Particularly in American linguistic tradition, the unmerged weak {{IPA|[ɪ]}}-type vowel is often transcribed with the barred ''i'' {{angbr IPA|ɨ}}, the IPA symbol for the close central unrounded vowel.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Flemming |first1=E. |last2=Johnson |first2=S. |year=2007 |title=''Rosa's roses'': reduced vowels in American English |journal= The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America|volume=37 |issue=1 |pages=83–96 |doi=10.1121/1.4783597}}</ref> Another symbol sometimes used is {{angbr IPA|ᵻ}}, the non-IPA symbol for a near-close central unrounded vowel. In the third edition of the OED, that symbol is used in the transcription of words (of the types listed above) that have free variation between {{IPA|/ɪ/}} and {{IPA|/ə/}} in RP.
{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" |+ class="nowrap" | Homophonous pairs ! {{IPAc-en|ə}} !! {{IPAc-en|ɪ}} !! IPA !! Notes |- | Aaron || Erin || {{IPA|ˈɛrən}} || With Mary-marry-merry merger. |- | accede || exceed || {{IPA|əkˈsiːd}} || |- | accept || except || {{IPA|əkˈsɛpt}} || |- | addition|| edition || {{IPA|əˈdɪʃən}} || |- | Aleutian || elution || {{IPA|əˈl(j)uːʃən}} || |- | allide || elide || {{IPA|əˈlaɪd}} || |- | allied || elide || {{IPA|əˈlaɪd}} || |- | allision || elision || {{IPA|əˈlɪʒən}} || |- | allude || elude || {{IPA|əˈl(j)uːd}} || |- | alluded || eluted || {{IPA|əˈl(j)uːɾəd}} || With intervocalic alveolar flapping. |- | allusion || illusion || {{IPA|əˈl(j)uːʒən}} || |- | amend || emend || {{IPA|əˈmɛnd}} || |- | apatite || appetite || {{IPA|ˈapətaɪt}} || |- | arrays || erase || {{IPA|əˈreɪz}} || Some accents pronounce ''erase'' as {{IPA|/ɪˈreɪs/}}. |- | barrel || beryl || {{IPA|ˈbɛrəl}} || With marry-merry merger. |- | battered || batted || {{IPA|ˈbætəd}} || Non-rhotic |- | bazaar || bizarre || {{IPA|bəˈzɑːr}} || |- | bettered || betted || {{IPA|ˈbɛtəd}} || Non-rhotic |- | bleachers || bleaches || {{IPA|ˈbliːtʃəz}} || Non-rhotic |- | bustard || busted || {{IPA|ˈbʌstəd}} || Non-rhotic |- | butchers || butches || {{IPA|ˈbʊtʃəz}} || Non-rhotic |- | buttered || butted || {{IPA|ˈbʌtəd}} || Non-rhotic |- | carat || caret || {{IPA|ˈkærət}} || |- | carrot || caret || {{IPA|ˈkærət}} || |- | censors || senses || {{IPA|ˈsɛnsəz}} || Non-rhotic |- | chartered || charted || {{IPA|ˈtʃɑːtəd}} || Non-rhotic |- | chattered || chatted || {{IPA|ˈtʃætəd}} || Non-rhotic |- | chiton || chitin || {{IPA|ˈkaɪtən}} || |- | chromous || chromis || {{IPA|ˈkroʊməs}} || |- | Devon || Devin || {{IPA|ˈdɛvən}} || |- | ferrous || Ferris || {{IPA|ˈfɛrəs}} || |- | foundered || founded || {{IPA|ˈfaʊndəd}} || Non-rhotic |- | humo(u)red || humid || {{IPA|ˈhjuːməd}} || Non-rhotic |- | installation || instillation || {{IPA|ˌɪnstəˈleɪʃən}} || |- | Lennon || Lenin || {{IPA|ˈlɛnən}} || <ref name=afterRP>{{cite book |last1=Lindsey |first1=Geoff |last2=Wells |first2=John C. |title=English after RP: standard British pronunciation today |date=2019 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=Cham, Switzerland |isbn=978-3-030-04356-8 |pages=39–40 |chapter=Chapter 10 Weak Vowel Merger}}</ref> |- | mandrel || mandrill || {{IPA|ˈmændrəl}} || |- | mastered || masted || {{IPA|ˈmæstəd, ˈmɑːstəd}} || Non-rhotic |- | mattered || matted || {{IPA|ˈmætəd}} || Non-rhotic |- | mergers || merges || {{IPA|ˈmɜːdʒəz}} || Non-rhotic |- | modern || modding || {{IPA|ˈmɒdən}} || Non-rhotic with G-dropping. |- | officers || offices || {{IPA|ˈɒfəsəz}} || Non-rhotic |- | omission || emission || {{IPA| əˈmɪʃən}} || |- | parody || parity || {{IPA|ˈpærəɾi}} || With intervocalic alveolar flapping. |- | pattered || patted || {{IPA|ˈpætəd}} || Non-rhotic |- | pattern || patting || {{IPA|ˈpætən}} || Non-rhotic with G-dropping. |- | pigeon || pidgin || {{IPA|ˈpɪdʒən}} || |- | proscribe || prescribe || {{IPA|prəˈskraɪb}} || |- | racers || races || {{IPA|ˈreɪsəz}} || Non-rhotic |- | Rosa's || roses || {{IPA|ˈroʊzəz}} || |- | Saturn || satin || {{IPA|ˈsætən}} || Non-rhotic |- | scattered || scatted || {{IPA|ˈskætəd}} || Non-rhotic |- | seraph || serif || {{IPA|ˈsɛrəf}} || |- | splendo(u)red || splendid || {{IPA|ˈsplɛndəd}} || Non-rhotic |- | surplus || surplice || {{IPA|ˈsɜːrpləs}} || |- | tattered || tatted || {{IPA|ˈtætəd}} || Non-rhotic |- | tendered || tended || {{IPA|ˈtɛndəd}} || Non-rhotic |- | titan || titin || {{IPA|ˈtaɪtən}} || |}
=== KIT–commA merger === A phonemic merger between {{Sc2|KIT}} (the vowel {{IPA|/ɪ/}}) and word-internal comm{{Sc2|A}} (the vowel {{IPA|[ə]}} in gallop, distinct from word-final and sometimes also word-initial comm{{sc2|A}} which can be analysed as {{sc2|STRUT}}: see above). The merger occurs in some Inland Northern American English (the areas in which the final stage of the Northern Cities Vowel Shift has been completed),{{Citation needed|date=December 2025}} New Zealand English,{{sfnp|Wells|1982|pp=605-606}}{{sfnp|Bauer|Warren|Bardsley|Kennedy|2007|pp=98–99}} and also partially in South African English (specifically when not adjacent to a velar consonant; see kit–bit split).{{sfnp|Wells|1982|pp=612}} In New Zealand English (which is non-rhotic), the merger also encompasses the lett{{Sc2|ER}} lexical set, so ''villagers'', ''lid'', and ''balance'' all share the same vowel.{{sfnp|Bauer|Warren|Bardsley|Kennedy|2007|pp=98–99, 101}} This merger not to be confused with the weak vowel merger, which only merges unstressed {{Sc2|KIT}} rather than {{Sc2|KIT}} as a whole.
The merger is present in dialects where the quality of {{sc2|STRUT}} is far removed from {{IPAblink|ɐ}} (the word-final allophone of {{IPA|/ə/}}), such as Inland Northern American English, but can be a misleading name in the case of other accents.{{Citation needed|date=December 2025}} ===''Happy'' tensing<span id="Happy-tensing"></span>=== '''''Happy'' tensing''' is a process whereby a final unstressed ''i''-type vowel becomes tense {{IPA|[i]}} rather than lax {{IPA|[ɪ]}}, today found in most dialects of English worldwide. That affects the final vowels of words such as ''happy'', ''city'', ''hurry'', ''taxi'', ''movie'', ''Charlie'', ''coffee'', ''money'' and ''Chelsea''. It may also apply in inflected forms of such words containing an additional final consonant sound, such as ''cities'', ''Charlie's'' and ''hurried''. It can also affect words such as ''me'', ''he'' and ''she'' when they are used as clitics, as in ''show me'', ''would he?''{{sfnp|Wells|1982|pp=165–166, 257}} Until the 17th century, words in the happ{{Sc2|Y}} lexical set could either end with the vowel of the {{Sc2|PRICE}} lexical set (originally {{IPA|[iː]}}, but diphthongized to {{IPA|[aɪ]}} etc. in the Great Vowel Shift) or a short {{IPA|[i]}} sound (some accents still exhibit alternation between that vowel and the happ{{Sc2|Y}} vowel in words such as ''Sunday'' and ''Monday'').{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=165}} It is not entirely clear when the vowel underwent the transition. The fact that tensing is uniformly present in South African English, Australian English and New Zealand English lends support to the idea that it may have already been present in southern British English already in the early 19th century. However, it is not mentioned by descriptive phoneticians until the early 20th century and even then at first only in American English. The British phonetician Jack Windsor Lewis<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20241130041736/http://www.yek.me.uk/changestwe.html "Changes in British English pronunciation during the twentieth century"], Jack Windsor Lewis personal website. Retrieved 18 October 2015.</ref> believed that the vowel moved from {{IPA|[i]}} to {{IPA|[ɪ]}} in Britain in the second quarter of the 19th century before it reverted to {{IPA|[i]}} in non-conservative British accents towards the last quarter of the 20th century. The laxer {{IPA|[ɪ]}} pronunciation is also found in some Southern American English, in much of northern England and in Jamaica. In Scottish English, an {{IPA|[e]}} sound, similar to the Scottish realization of the vowel of ''day'', may be used. It is also still found among some older speakers of Conservative RP. The tense [i] variant, however, is now established in as the norm in Modern RP and General American, and is also the usual form in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, in southern England and in some northern English regions (such as Merseyside, Hull, and the entire North East).{{sfnp|Wells|1982|pp=165, 294}}{{sfnp|Lindsey|2019|p=32–38}}
The lax and tense variants of the ''happy'' vowel may be identified with the phonemes {{IPA|/ɪ/}} and {{IPA|/iː/}} respectively. They may also be considered to represent a neutralization between the two phonemes, but for speakers with the tense variant, there is the possibility of contrast in such pairs as ''taxis'' and ''taxes'' (see English phonology – vowels in unstressed syllables). {{harvcoltxt|Roach|2009}} and {{harvcoltxt|Wells|2008}} consider the tensing to be a neutralization between {{IPA|/ɪ/}} and {{IPA|/iː/}}.{{sfnp|Roach|2009|p=67}}{{sfnp|Wells|2008|p=539}} {{harvcoltxt|Cruttenden|2014}} regards the tense variant in modern RP as still an allophone of {{IPA|/ɪ/}} on the basis that it is shorter and more resistant to diphthongization than is {{IPA|/iː/}}.{{sfnp|Cruttenden|2014|p=84}} {{harvcoltxt|Lindsey|2019}} regards the phenomenon to be a mere substitution of {{IPA|/iː/}} for {{IPA|/ɪ/}}.{{sfnp|Lindsey|2019|p=32}}
Most modern British dictionaries represent the ''happy'' vowel with the symbol {{angbr IPA|i}} (distinct from both {{angbr IPA|ɪ}} and {{angbr IPA|iː}}). That notation was first introduced in the ''Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English'' (1978) by its pronunciation editor, Gordon Walsh, and it was later taken up by {{harvp|Roach|1983}}, who extended it to {{angbr IPA|u}} representing the weak vowel found word-medially in ''situation'' etc., and by some other dictionaries, including John C. Wells's ''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary'' (1990).{{sfnp|Ashby|Ashby|Baldwin|Holmes|1994|pp=36–37}} In 2012, Wells wrote that the notation "seemed like a good idea at the time, but it clearly confuses a lot of people".<ref>{{cite web|last=Wells|first=John C.|date=7 June 2012|url=https://phonetic-blog.blogspot.com/2012/06/happy-again.html|title=happY again|work=John Wells's phonetic blog|access-date=23 January 2023}}</ref> {{harvcoltxt|Lindsey|2019}} criticizes the notation for causing "widespread belief in a specific 'happY vowel{{'"}} that "never existed".{{sfnp|Lindsey|2019|p=32}}
==Additional mergers== {{anchor|KIT–STRUT merger}} The '''kit–strut merger''' is possible in some Glaswegian speech in Scotland. As a result, pairs like ''fin'' and ''fun'' are homophones.{{sfnp|Wells|1982|pp=404}}
{{anchor|Mitt–meet merger}} The '''''mitt''–''meet'' merger''' is a phenomenon occurring in Malaysian English and Singaporean English in which the phonemes {{IPA|/iː/}} and {{IPA|/ɪ/}} are both pronounced {{IPA|/i/}}. As a result, pairs like ''mitt'' and ''meet'', ''bit'' and ''beat'', and ''bid'' and ''bead'' are homophones.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Hung |first=Tony |title=English as a global language: Implications for teaching |url=https://www.waseda.jp/ocw/AsianStudies/9A-77WorldEnglishSpring2005/LectureNotes/03_HKE_TonyH/HKE_unit3.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090225085656/https://www.waseda.jp/ocw/AsianStudies/9A-77WorldEnglishSpring2005/LectureNotes/03_HKE_TonyH/HKE_unit3.pdf |archive-date=2009-02-25 |access-date=2008-09-27}}</ref>
{{anchor|Met–mat merger}} The '''''met''–''mat'' merger''' is a phenomenon occurring in Malaysian English, Singaporean English and Hong Kong English in which the phonemes {{IPA|/ɛ/}} and {{IPA|/æ/}} are both pronounced {{IPA|/ɛ/}}. For some speakers, it occurs only before voiceless consonants, and pairs like ''met'', ''mat'', ''bet'', ''bat'' are homophones, but ''bed'', ''bad'' or ''med'', ''mad'' are kept distinct. For others, it occurs in all positions.<ref name=":0" />
{{anchor|Met–mate merger}} The '''''met''–''mate'' merger''' is a phenomenon occurring for some speakers of Zulu English in which the phonemes {{IPA|/eɪ/}} and {{IPA|/ɛ/}} are both pronounced {{IPA|/ɛ/}}. As a result, the words ''met'' and ''mate'' are homophonous as {{IPA|/mɛt/}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.und.ac.za/und/ling/archive/wade_ch4.html |title=Rodrik Wade, MA Thesis, Ch 4: Structural characteristics of Zulu English |access-date=2008-05-17 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517054614/http://www.und.ac.za/und/ling/archive/wade_ch4.html |archive-date=17 May 2008}}</ref>
==See also== *Phonological history of English *Phonological history of English vowels
==References== {{reflist}}
==Bibliography== * {{cite journal |last1=Ashby |first1=Michael |last2=Ashby |first2=Patricia |last3=Baldwin |first3=John |last4=Holmes |first4=Frederika |last5=House |first5=Jill |last6=Maidment |first6=John |year=1994 |title=Broad transcription in phonetic training |journal=Speech, Hearing and Language: Work in Progress |issue=8 |pages=33–40 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267925094 }} * {{cite journal |last1=Bauer |first1=Laurie |last2=Warren |first2=Paul |last3=Bardsley |first3=Dianne |last4=Kennedy |first4=Marianna |last5=Major |first5=George |authorlink1=Laurie Bauer |title=New Zealand English |journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association |year=2007 |volume=37 |issue=1 |pages=97–102 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282778721 |doi=10.1017/S0025100306002830 |doi-access=free }} * {{cite book |last=Cruttenden |first=Alan |year=2014 |title=Gimson's Pronunciation of English |publisher=Routledge |edition=8th |isbn=9781444183092 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M2nMAgAAQBAJ }} *{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mtd3a-56ysUC|title=A Handbook of Varieties of English: CD-ROM|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|year=2004|isbn=3110175320|editor1-last=Kortmann|editor1-first=Bernd|ref={{harvid|de Gruyter|2004}}|editor2-last=Schneider|editor2-first=Edgar W.}} * {{cite book |last=Lindsey |first=Geoff |author-link=Geoff Lindsey |year=2019 |title=English After RP: Standard British Pronunciation Today |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-3-030-04356-8 }} * {{cite book |last=Roach |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Roach (phonetician) |year=1983 |title=English Phonetics and Phonology: A Practical Course |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-28252-7 }} * {{cite book |last=Roach |first=Peter |year=2009 |title=English Phonetics and Phonology: A Practical Course |edition=4th |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-71740-3 }} *{{Accents of English}} *{{cite LPD|3}}
{{History of English}}
Category:English phonology Category:History of the English language Category:Splits and mergers in English phonology