Lexical distribution

A large number of words show a phonemic incidence that is associated with Southern English. Many such words are discussed in Kurath and McDavid (1961) and the Linguistic Atlas of the Gulf States (Pederson et al. 1986-92, henceforth LAGS). For some of these words, the pronunciation is widespread but is stereotypically associated with the South; examples are get pronounced  and just pronounced . Other cases are pronunciations that were once widespread but have reeded and are now–in North America at least–largely restricted to the South. Examples are rather as  , further as  , radish as  , kettle as  , drain as  , sumac as [ʃumæk] , and haunt as [hænt]. This group, as a rule, occurs mostly among older, less-educated speakers. There are also variants whose primary distribution has long been the South, though many of them once had some currency elsewhere. The viability of these items varies. Some are highly recessive, e.g., put as [phΛt] , coop and Cooper as  and respectively, shut as [ʃεt] , and pasture pronounced to rhyme with master. Others are still used by many younger speakers, such as grease (verb) and greasy as  , naked as  , can’t rhyming with faint, on pronounced as own, and perhaps Mrs. as  , though these usages are probably receding slowly.

Lexical incidence in certain groups of words has attracted particular attention from dialectologists. One is a group of words that vary between the LOT and THOUGHT classes. Southerners who distinguish LOT and THOUGHT consistently produce on with the THOUGHT or GOAT vowels, not with the LOT vowel. Long and words rhyming with it formerly grouped with LOT in parts of Virginia and North Carolina but with THOUGHT elsewhere, though the THOUGHT variant has probably encroached on the LOT island. For words spelled –og, dog consistently groups with THOUGHT but other words (fog, hog, log, etc.) vary, generally grouping with LOT in coastal plain areas and with THOUGHT in inland areas. Among words spelled wa-want with the THOUGHT vowel is particularly associated with the South. Swamp, wasp, and, in coastal plain areas, water also typically show THOUGHT (Kurath and McDavid 1961) but are less stereotyped than want with THOUGHT. Some younger speakers may be substituting the LOT vowel in these words.

In addition, there are a few function words (was, what, of, anybody, nobody, somebody, and everybody) that have been shifting in North American English from LOT to STRUT. In was, what, and of and possibly in -body words, the LOT pronunciation has survived longer in the South than elsewhere, though it is giving way now. Similarly, because is shifting from THOUGHT to STRUT, though the THOUGHT form is still common in the South.