Diphthongs MOUTH, LOUD

Contrary to usage in the PRICE/PRIZE sets, the English of the capital, St. John’s, does not traditionally display Canadian Raising in words containing /aʊ/. Rather, both the MOUTH and LOUD sets are usually articulated with similar low vowel nuclei, in the range of  or [a]. Conservative and rural speakers throughout the province, however, often exhibit (inherited) low-mid to mid onsets ([ɐ, з, ə, Λ​]) in all positions. Such speakers also variably front the nucleus of /aʊ/ to a vowel approaching [ε] or, less frequently, [æ]. This fronting tendency – along with variable centralization of the glide, to an [ü] -like articulation – appears to be on the increase off the Irish Avalon; for example, it is a salient feature of the speech of younger middle-class women from English-settled areas, among them those on the audio samples. This inherited tendency may be enhanced by the /aʊ/ fronting tendency that is today obvious in innovative mainland Canadian speech, and that is also making inroads into the speech of some younger St. John’s residents.