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Freekarol Posted 17 years ago
Speech & Pronunciation

General AM Eng-pronunciation of talk, caught and bought

I browsed lots of questions and answers here but I didn't find an answer to my question... How are these words 'talk', 'caught', 'bought' pronounced in General American English? Do you say long 'o' like it is in words long, door or is is long 'a' like it is in words car, father?
  

Top answer

In my AmE: talk, caught, bought all have the same vowel sound. com/dictionary/talk ]HERE[/url]. Long, door, car and father have 4 different vowel sounds, which you should be able to hear at the same website as the link above.

— Mister Micawber

  • In my AmE: talk, caught, bought all have the same vowel sound.
  • com/dictionary/talk ]HERE[/url].
  • Long, door, car and father have 4 different vowel sounds, which you should be able to hear at the same website as the link above.
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9 Answers
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In my AmE:

talk, caught, bought all have the same vowel sound. You can hear it pronounced [url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/talk]HERE[/url].

Long, door, car and father have 4 different vowel sounds, which you should be able to hear at the same website a
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So in Webster words talk, caught and bought are written as 'to?k, 'ko?t, 'bo?t but I also read in some textbooks on General American English accent that those words are also pronounced as 'täk 'kät 'bät. So I don't know what pronunciation is correct for General American English. What pronunciation of these words I can hear on CNN or Fox News Talk? Or better what pronunciation of these words is mo
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I haven't the patience to read through all of that thread, but there is no single American pronunciation. We have several regional dialects, all of which are acceptable. The Webster's pronunciations that I have already given you are fine– what more do you want?
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Yes, I know there is no single American pronunciation. British English also doesn't have just one pronunciation. But we foreigners learn General American English... And in a Webster dictionary you can find several pronunciations of a word and how can I know what pronunciation to choose? I usualy choose the first pronunciation.

Here is the reply I have written about:

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And in a Webster dictionary you can find several pronunciations of a word and how can I know what pronunciation to choose? I usually choose the first pronunciation.
That's a fine idea, but it's certainly not important which one you choose. Webster's lists all major pronunciations. I certainly wouldn't worry about Marvin's preferences; he is being persnickety. He'll have you p
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Split this question into two parts:

(1) caught vs cot merger
(2) l-colored vowels like talk, call, etc. On sfbay area radio talks i hear people saying / ?/ in the word call.
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You can choose the one you hear the most or the one you like the most.
In my opinion, it's not worth bothering with such a distinction, because it would be a useless effort, unless you really wanted to have a perfect accent where such a distinction is made.
A lot of Americans don't make that distinction, and anyway it's not a clear-cut distinction. This means a lot of Americans are not ev
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freekarolhow can I know what pronunciation to choose?
freekarol I would recommend that you use the Open back unrounded vowel for all of those words.
I would recommend the same. There is very little to be gained by mastering the subtle distinctions that mark the pronunciation of certain regions. Stick with what "most peopl
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I thank you all for your effort to help me and of course for your time...

I think my questions were answered. Especially a reply by Marvin A. completely answered my questions. What pronunciation to choose depends on what American accent you want to have. If you don't want to have a certain American accent then the best way to be understood by most Americans is to use pronunciation what m
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