Production and perception of the Pin-Penmerger

Abstract

AbstractThis study presents the first US-wide survey of thepin-penmerger since Labov, Ash & Boberg (2006). Production and perception data were collected from 277 speakers from across the country, with perception-only data from an additional 94 speakers; these data largely replicated previous findings about the social and geographic distribution of the merger. An examination of production and perception data together showed that near merger—in which speakers cannothearthe difference betweenpinandpenwords, yet pronounce them differently—was relatively common, although this phenomenon has received little attention in the literature on the merger. Additionally, an investigation of how merged speakers phonetically realized their mergedpin-penvowel revealed that, in contrast to previous findings, speakers were equally as likely to merge to [ɛ] (tw[ɛ]nfortwin) as they were to [i] (h[i]nforhen). However, there was no apparent social or geographic patterning to this phonetic realization.