Emily wrote: ↑Fri Nov 01, 2024 3:39 pm
Travis B. wrote: ↑Fri Nov 01, 2024 10:58 am
The dialect here isn't
cot-
caught merged. My suspicion is that the [w] in
Halloween exhibits a retracting influence at a distance.
this doesn't seem likely to me, or at least not as likely as the general avoidance of /æl/. historically this combination (well, /al/, with /a/ of course being the early ancestor of today's /æ/) became /ɑul/ in most environments, which later became /ɔl/, and to this day most english words with /æl/ are borrowings. halloween is a native term, but turning a less common combination into a more common combination seems likelier to me than influence from a /w/ that's two syllables away (and for many speakers already sort of merged with the preceding /o/). note also that reinforcement from the word "hallow" is probably decreasing as that word becomes less commonly used as well
Words with historic /al/ → /æl/ (TRAP+/l/) only have alternate pronunciations with /ɒl~ɑl/ (LOT+/l/) when a back vowel historically followed (e.g. follows, making it likely that this was the conditioning factor; note the pronunciations of
scallop (/ˈskæləp~ ˈskɒləp/) and
fallow, tallow (RP /ˈfaləʊ̯ ˈtaləʊ̯/, GA /ˈfæloʊ̯ ˈtoləʊ̯/, but British English dialectal /ˈfɒlə ˈtɒlə/) in contrast with e.g.
ally, dally (/ˈæli ˈdæli/). However, your theory is still possible since in my opinion, the least learned words with /al~æl/ are those where it precedes a back vowel, leaving those with a front vowel more vulnerable to modification under literary influence.
Incidentally, I've heard a pronunciation of Halloween with STRUT (~[ˈhɐɫɜwɪĩ̯ːn] or somesuch) rather than the TRAP usual in New Zealand; this could be a imitation of the American pronunciation with LOT given the recent spread of American-style trick-or-treating, but it could be a genuine phonetic development (I have STRUT in
yellow, umbrella ~[ˈjɐɫɜɵ̯ m̩ˈbɻʷɐɰɐ]; note that historic /æl ɛl/ tend to coalesce in NZE).