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Kean Posted 8 years ago
Speech & Pronunciation

Pronunciation question: Hole vs Road

Hi, long-time EFL teacher asking...

So something's been bugging me for a while...look at the following "minimal pairs":

Hole-Go

Pole-Hoe

Soul-So

Foal-Phone

The dictionary gives the vowel sounds for all of these as /??/. And yet to my ear (RP with a large dose of London accent) they are clearly different. Would others agree? Is this just a limitation of the phonetic alphabet?? I CAN make the two pronunciations the same if I choose to, but then I just sound like Prince Charles...

A case for a new phonetic symbol? Or is this a recognised "thing" in phonetics, because it strikes me as not so much regional variation, but more the way the majority speak.

  

Top answer

Kean to my ear (RP with a large dose of London accent) they are clearly different. Would others agree? These AmE ears recognize them as the same vowel sound.

— Mister Micawber

  • Kean to my ear (RP with a large dose of London accent) they are clearly different.
  • Would others agree?
  • These AmE ears recognize them as the same vowel sound.
  • Kean more the way the majority speak.
  • Your majority may not be a global one.
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2 Answers
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Keanto my ear (RP with a large dose of London accent) they are clearly different. Would others agree?

These AmE ears recognize them as the same vowel sound.

Kean more the way the majority speak.

Your majority may not be a global one.

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Kean "minimal pairs"

I'm glad to see those quotation marks, because, as you probably know, those are not minimal pairs.

Kean/??/

It seems to me that this is only true of RP and may apply only to the second of each of your pairs. Like you, I'd question whether the same sound really occurs when an /l/ follows, but I

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