Ryusenshi wrote: ↑Mon Jan 13, 2020 5:46 pm
For people with the LOT / CLOTH split:
God
/gɒd/, which is particularly notable because my CLOTH vowel (General American /ɔ/) is normally /ɑ/. (I live in Michigan and have most of the Northern Cities Vowel Shift--my LOT is /a/)
I've noticed this oddity before--people from my particular church background, in this part of the US (Inland North speakers), almost exclusively pronounce "God/god" with /ɒ/, despite almost everyone else in the area pronouncing it /gɑd/. I assume it's due to some historical factor (the churches in Michigan were largely founded by Canadians in the 1800s, I believe, and there's a lot of contact with churches in New England) but I don't know for sure.
Additional fun fact: my mother, sister, and I all pronounce
gospel with /a/ (as expected for someone with the NCVS). My father and other sister pronounce it with either /ɑ/ or /ɒ/ (I'm not sure exactly which), despite also having the NCVS. This is the only word we've noticed it with, so I assume my dad somehow picked up the pronunciation from a non-NCVS speaker, and then my sister picked it up from him. Language is weird, y'all.