JNW's English

The pronunciation of words, as per Jonathan North Washington

[ʌ]

• strawberry - [ˈstʰɻʌbÆɹij]
• wash - [wʌʃ]
• Washington - [ˈwʌʃɪŋtɩn]
• squash - [skwʌʃ]

[wɔ]

• quarter - [ˈkʰɔɹɾɻ] (but quarry - ['kwɔɻij])
• quartz, quarts, courts - [kʰɔɹts] (is there a difference in aspiration?)

[ɛ]

• catch - [kʰɛʧ]
• that (conj) - [ðɛt]

[ʌj]

• /ɑj/ before voiced consonants is [ɑj]
  • 'eyes' [ɑjz]
  • 'bide' [bɑjd]
• /ɑj/ before unvoiced consonants is [ʌj]
  • 'ice' [ʌjs]
  • 'bite' [bʌjt]
• there are "exceptions" (they could be rule-based, having something to do with what counts as syllable-coda)
  • Idaho [ʌj], Ida [ʌj]
  • cider [ʌj], spider [ʌj]
  • icon [ɑj], nikon [ʌj], daikon [ɑj]
  • cyclops [ʌj / ?ɑj], but psycho [ʌj / *ɑj]
• interesting contrasts:
  • high [ɑj], high school [ʌj]
  • 'I scream' [ɑj], 'ice cream' [ʌj]

[Æ]

See Æ for phonetic information on this vowel.

• /ej/ before /l,r/ is [Æ]
  • ail/ale - [Æl]
    • Al - [æl] (shows /æ/Æ/ contrast)
    • trailer (before a movie) - [ˈtˢɻʰÆlɻ]
    • trailer (behind a truck) - [ˈtˢɻʰejlɻ]
    • mailing / Maling (/Æ/ej/)
    • Beowulf (/Æ/)
      • tractor-trailer (the way I said it as a kid) - [ˈtˢɻʰæktɻ ˌtˢɻʰÆlɻ]
      • those two 'trailer's have recently merged to [ˈtˢɻʰejlɻ], but trail er is still [ˈtˢɻʰÆlɻ]
    • nightmare - [ˈnʌjtmejɻ]
    • "night mare" - [ˈnʌjtmÆɻ]
  • air - [Ær]
• /æ/ before /m,n/ is [Æ]
  • an, hand - [Æn], [hÆnd]
    • Hannah - [ˈhænə]
• /æ/ before /ŋ,g/ is [æj]
  • wagon, hang - [wæjgɩn], [hæjŋ]

== /ɩ/ (vs. /ə/