Vowels

Unlike what is found for some popular CEC speech, TRAP and LOT are not merged in Bajan. However, the vowels of LOT, CLOTH and THOUGHT are generally merged like in many rhotic accents. While CLOTH always appears to be rounded, this feature is variably manifested as unrounded for LOT and THOUGHT. Realization of FACE may vary by region and education/class. In the speech of urban and more educated speakers of Bajan, FACE is generally realized as monophthongal [e:], although it appears that, more recently, Long Mid Diphthonging has become productive in the language, adding a closing offglide to the long mid vowel [ei]. FACE is manifested in rural and uneducated speech with the more open and lower monophthongal variant [ε]. While Wells (1982: 584) notes that the alternating variant may be the centering diphthong [eə], I suggest that it is rather the opening diphthong [ɪε], common in popular CEC speech. GOAT, on the other hand, while traditionally monophthongal in Bajan, appears to be moving towards the centring diphthong [oə]. Like STRUT, the first element of the PRICE diphthong is generally half-open and unrounded [Λ] (although Wells provides a broader range between [Λ] and [ə]). Highly educated speakers may have the more fronted open [a] as the first element of this diphthong. CHOICE is variably manifested as [Λɪ] and [oi], the latter viewed as markedly Bajan for this lexical class by neighboring CEC speakers. The first element of the MOUTH diphthong appears to be slightly more rounded than [Λ], although not to the extent of [ɔ]. START, BATH and PALM are in the same phonetic class, realized as the relatively front unrounded [a]. In other rhotic environments, NEAR and SQUARE are merged, and NORTH and FORCE are phonemically distinct, although FORCE and CURE are manifested as the pure variant of GOAT.