22. New England Short u and Short o

Chapter 22 examines a pronunciation sometimes called “New England Short o,” which is interpreted here to be a slightly centralized mid-back vowel [ɤ̞], previously discussed in Chapters 20 (cf. “New England Short u”) and 21. This analysis is particularly significant for interpreting Franklin’s Reformed Mode of Spelling and is among the most challenging in the book, once again, regarding the so-called “imperfect rhymes” first presented in Chapter 15. Most of these rhymes involve high-mid and low-mid front vowels and, especially, high-mid and low-mid back vowels. While the front vowels are easily explained diachronically, the back vowels pose a real challenge, orienting the focus of this chapter.We explore the origins of New England short u and o, and reveal remarkable contemporary parallels in England, particularly in Norfolk and across the Midlands (Wright 1905; Orton & Tilling, SED 1971; Trudgill 2016). Relics of this pronunciation also survive in New England (Avis 1971). The results provide additional evidence supporting the argument that the Strut-Foot non-split was still prevalent in colonial New England speech and that [ʌ] had not yet arisen in Massachusetts as a phoneme during Franklin’s lifetime (cf. Wells 1988: 199).This chapter also identifies subclasses of Goat, Goose, and Lot words also realized in the vicinity of [ɤ ~ ɤ̞], producing rhymes such as God ~ flood, God ~ stood, road ~ rod, load ~ mood, moon ~ sun (Shakespeare & Dwight), or shop ~ cup. New England town records document numerous examples of raised Goat and Lot words, spelt as in Chaucer’s day, as well as shortened, lowered, and centralized Goose words. Identical rhymes were also common in the poems of Pope, Herrick, Dryden, Donne and Shakespeare.The origins of this so-called “short o” is a curious feature of English phonology that has never been fully explored (cf. Whitehall 1935). This chapter provides an introduction to the topic and, when considered alongside the features discussed in previous chapters, reinforces the argument that Franklin’s Reformed Mode of Spelling was not a reflection of his own accent.