Vowels GOAT

GOAT shows several different developments. Analogously with FACE, monophthongal  once occurred inconsistently in plantation areas, and the monophthong alternated with ingliding  in the South Carolina/Georgia Low Country. As with the corresponding variants of FACE, these forms have nearly disappeared. Lowering of the nucleus and fronting of both the nucleus and glide of GOAT have become widespread over the past century. Lowered but unfronted forms,  , became common in the early 20th century and are still found among many older speakers. Fronted forms apparently originated in northeastern North Carolina during the 19th century and spread slowly at first. This fronting affected both the nucleus and the glide, yielding [зy]. Fronting only of the nucleus also spread slowly from Pennsylvania into Maryland, West Virginia, and southern Ohio. Since World War II, fronting has spread rapidly. Fronting of the nucleus is now found throughout the South among young whites. In combination with lowering, it yields forms as extreme as [æu] , though [зu] is more common. Fronting of the glide is common as far west as Tennessee and Alabama but is less frequent west of the Mississippi River and quite rare in Texas; its northern limits are uncertain. It is possible that both fronting processes, at least in certain areas, are more prevalent among females than among males.

In certain contexts the GOAT vowel is not usually fronted.