Abstract
The new open /æ/ was not noticed in the non-regional received pronunciation (RP) accent of Southern British English until the 1980s. Dating to the 1950s or 1920s had been suggested, but the earliest known regional example was born in Kent in the 1860s. Formant data from archived recordings of 29 Southeastern speakers, born between the 1850s and 1960s, were studied using two methods: inspection of formant diagrams for closer /æ/, and modelling low vowels for open /æ/. The earliest RP speaker found with new open /æ/ was born in 1857, demonstrating that this type of sound change had started by the 1850s.
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