MW and AHD give both pronunciations ('father' and 'cat'). MW ... that in my experience the 'father' pronunciation is not common. Since your experience stems from NY, I'm not surprised. In California, the

MW and AHD give both pronunciations ('father' and 'cat'). MW ... that in my experience the 'father' pronunciation is not common. Since your experience stems from NY, I'm not surprised. In California, the

Okay, let's try. When most Brits say "near to the ... "yatter" with a "th" tacked on the front (Tj&t@). Whereas some Scots can't handle consecutive vowels, and say 'theeter'. I love Eddie Mair this side

No, but there are some who pronouce both "cot" and ... help him by suggesting the Zulu word "ithole" - "calf". That's a separate issue, innit? The vast majority of Americans use the "cat" vowel

Oddly, you seem to have failed to address the speech features of a number of former Chicago Residents Alienated Pentagonically (CRAP, preferably pronounced "creeap"). How do Donald Rumsfeld, Sy Hersh and Bob Woodward sound to you?

There aren't any English speakers (in the US or elsewhere) who merge cot, caught, *and* cart, are there? No, but there are some who pronouce both "cot" and "caught" in the same way that non-rhotic spreakers pronounce

Even many English speakers, especially US ones, don't distinguish cot/caught (or even cart for that matter - providing they're non-rhotic). There aren't any English speakers (in the US or elsewhere) who merge cot, caught, *and* cart,

"Fernando G" (Email Removed) schrieb im Newsbeitrag As a native Spanish speaker I have a hard time to distinguish thedifference between the vowels in * cut * cot * caught Are there any clues on how should I shape my

In those dialects, then, I'd say that there is a ... from my parents who learned it that way from theirs. BTW, the New York pronunciation of "forehead" is interesting: /fArhEd/ ("far-head"). As in "orange", the

I've now noticed that Agatha Christie also had some strange ideas about how Americans talk. In her The Big Four She has a highly successful and otherwise well-spoken American businessman ... and put them where they should be round the table. I