Vowels THOUGHT

Upgliding forms of THOUGHT/CLOTH,  , are stereotypically associated with Southern speech in general. The actual picture, of course, is more complicated. There are a few Atlantic coastal areas – the eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay, the Pamlico Sound area, and the South Carolina/Georgia Low Country–in which upgliding forms did not traditionally occur; instead, raised, monophthongal  occurred. In the rest of the South, upgliding forms predominate, but there have always been many speakers who used monophthongal forms exclusively, and raised monophthongs are common after [w], as in want and water. In older speech, raised, upgliding forms,  , were common, though some speakers showed wider diphthongization, such as  or even . During the 20th century there was apparently a trend toward lower variants, and today the most common form is .

Merger of THOUGHT/CLOTH with LOT has been spreading recently in the South, especially in two areas: an Appalachian area including West Virginia, western Virginia, and eastern Kentucky and a western area extending from Texas and Oklahoma east through Arkansas, middle and western Missouri, and the vicinity of Memphis, Tennessee. Occasional speakers elsewhere show it as well. The result is a realization as [a]. A possible stigma against upgliding variants may promote the merger.