Nasalization, neutralization, and merger in English front vowels

Abstract

Before a velar nasal, a tense/lax contrast in the front vowels is generally considered to be conflated to only the set of lax vowels in American English. However, Ladefoged (2001, A Course in Phonetics) states that many younger Americans pronounce ‘‘sing’’ with a vowel closer to that in ‘‘beat’’ rather than to that in ‘‘bit.’’ This paper examines front vowels produced by nine young Californians before the velar nasal to document whether or not the vowel, in fact, raises. Two outcomes are possible: (1) a front and raised vowel intermediate between its tense and lax counterparts (which we call neutralization) or (2) a lax vowel (which we call merger). Further, the pattern for both high- and midfront vowels is examined. The results demonstrate a consistent pattern of neutralization (i.e., an intermediate vowel) for both the high- and mid-vowels, the latter a previously unattested environment for this pattern of raising before velar nasals.