Advances in Sociophonetics

Chapter 1. The sociophonetic orientation of the language learner 23

Attleboro

Seekonk

/ah/

/ah/≠/o/≠/oh/ =/o/ /oh/ /ah/

/oh/

=/o/ /ah/=/o/=/oh/

Figure 4. Western boundary of low back merger area in eastern Massachusetts
established by Johnson (2009).

13

Grade

11

9

7

M Unclear,

F Distinct

M Distinct,

F Merged

Mother Merged,

Father Distinct Both Parents Distinct

A A A M M N N N A AM M M M M

5

3

1

–1

–3

–5

Distinct

Distinct?

(Unclear)

Merged?

Merged

Female

Male

Figure 5. Low back vowel systems in Seekonk children by grade and parental system.
Elementary schools: A = Aitkin, M = Martin, N = North (source: Johnson 2010, Figure 5.3).