Pronunciation of Of, what, was, want.

There are four English words that some people pronounce with the short ''o'' sound and some people pronounce with the short ''u'' sound. Of, what, was, want.

Whot woz it that yu'd wonted tu hav becum ov this thred?

They're all pronounced with the short ''o'' sound by me.

[ov]
[wot]
[woz]
[wont]

To me, "of. what and was" all have the same vowel sound, but "want" has a different sound. It sounds almost like the "a" in water.

Keep in mind I am from California, so there will be different versions of the same word depending on where a person is from.

Ah, but when you mention the "a" in "water" what vowel excatly do you mean? If I'm not wrong, you Californian folk pronounce the "a" in "water" the same as the one in "father".

Just to try making things clear, take the following sentence.

"What my father told the court he had wanted was not to be caught with a quart of water in the cot of his daughter all hidden away in the cart of his brother."

Here's how I'd pronounce it.

[wot mai fa:TH.. tOuld TH.. ko:t hi: had wont..d woz not tu: bi: ko:t with .. kwo:t ov wo:t.. in TH.. kot ov hiz do:t.. o:l hid.n ..wei in TH.. ka:t ov hiz br^TH..]

Here's how it comes out in the Californian accent (as far as I'm aware). However I'm not 100% sure when [o] becomes [^] and when it becomes [a:].

[w^t mai fa:TH..r tOuld TH.. ko:rt hi: had wa:nt..d w^z n^t tu: bi: ka:t with .. ko:rt ^v wa:t..r in TH.. ka:t ^v hiz da:t..r o:l hid.n ..wei in TH.. ka:rt ^v hiz br^TH..r]

Am I close? Please correct this transcription.

Now that I have had time to think about it, the "a" in "what" is really hard to describe. I am not sure if I can think of an example. I guess because of the nasal "n" sound the "a" becomes a bit weird to try to describe.

I will think about this some more, but for now, I would say that the "a" in want is a vowel that is pronounced like the French "â" that goes before a nasalised "n" sound.

Julian has sent me a recording where he's reading Jim's passage:

"What my father told the court he had wanted was not to be caught with a
quart of water in the cot of his daughter all hidden away in the cart of his
brother."

http://www.antimoon.com/temp/julian_accent_waterfather.mp3

Julian's recording is a nice example of the low-back merger. He pronounces [o:] like [a:]. I'll definitely keep his recording for future reference.

Jim (and anyone else), I listened to that recording, and that is exactly how I pronounce "want."

Since I do not know or use the IPA chart, it is hard for me to explain some sounds like the "a" in want.

Tom,
Thanks for posting my recording. You may use it as you wish, but I want a royalty check each time you use it. Just kidding.

Julian,

Thanks for recording my sentence. You may spend the royalty as you wish but each time you get a cheque I want half. Just pulling your leg.

lol ;-)

You're a Californian, right Julian? I would have pronounced that sentence completely differently, being from Michigan.

What is a cheque?

British = cheque
American = check
Česky = Czech

Let's try that again, shall we.

British = cheque
American = check
Cesky = Czech