Vowels FACE

According to my own and Wood’s (1987: 123) data, typically [εi] for L2 speakers, [ei] for L1 speakers, though for all speakers there is also some tendency towards centralization of the onset (nucleus), e.g. [ə i], [ɐi], [Λi] . There is also some evidence for a Canadian Raising-type distribution, with front onsets tending to occur in pre-fortis environments and non-front onsets elsewhere. Wood (1987: 123) and Hastings (1979, quoted in Wood 1987: 111) also note (sporadic?) instances of glide weakening, e.g. take [tεk]; Hastings claims diphthong offset weakening is typical of CFE. However, note also the typically markedly peripheral (i.e. strongly high front) offset; this is particularly noticeable in word-final position. According to Lanham (1982: 343), this ‘high diphthongal glide’ is characteristic of Afrikaans-influenced English generally, and used even by well-educated speakers – as confirmed in Wood’s (1987: 137–138) and my own data. In hiatus (as in the subset LAYER), this offset is typically realized as [j], e.g. ['Ɨeijɐ^'] . Realizations are not apparently affected by following /l/.