How to pronunce "o" in "pot"

Hi guys,

I am an English learner for so many years. And I am living in Australia currently.

I am a bit confused by the sound of "o" in words like "pot", and "cob". I know it is sounded different between American and Australian. In US, it is more like "a" in "path". However in Australia, it is another distinct phonetic.

Could you explain a bit to me how to make this sound, in terms of tongue's position and lips' shape, and etc. That would be much appreciated.

The O in pot sounds absolutely nothing like the A in path. In neither American English nor Australian English.

In cot-caught merged dialects, it sounds like the A in "father".

-In cot-caught merged dialects, it sounds like the A in "father".-

Yes, and that vowel is rounded as in ALL, CALL, DOLL, DOLLAR in many parts of Canada.



pot can be pronounced as:

1. [pɑ:t] (low back unrounded) (severe backness is so SoCal tho')
2. [pä:t] (low central unrounded) [1. and 2. are interchangeable in G.A.]
3. [pɒ:t] (some Canadian dialects, CVS, old Boston and Pittsburgh dialects)
4. [pa:t] (mainstream Great Lakes accents)
5. [pæ:t] (Great Lakes accents with strong NCVS, preferred by middle class young white women in Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo)

pot can be pronounced as:

1. [pɑ:t] (low back unrounded) (severe backness is so SoCal tho')
2. [pä:t] (low central unrounded) [1. and 2. are interchangeable in G.A.]
3. [pɒ:t] (low back rounded) [some Canadian dialects, CVS, old Boston and Pittsburgh dialects] (some Canadian dialects may even raise it to the vowel space of NYC dialect dog, coffee [o])
4. [pa:t] (low front unrounded) [mainstream Great Lakes accents]
5. [pæ:t] (raised and/or very front unrounded) [Great Lakes accents with strong NCVS, preferred by middle class young white women in Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo]

These are all North American accents. Daren is asking about Australian English.

Daren is right though, the 'o' in the American 'pot' can sound like the 'a' in 'path'. The OED list the vowel in 'path' pronounced as /a/ and /ɑ:/ in Britain and being Cornish, I say a longer /æ:/. In the US it can be a shorter /æ/. So there at least can be agreement with 1 and 5 above. The 'a' in father can also sound as /ɑ:/ in Britain.

I didn't realise the sound /ɒ/ (as in 3 above) existed in North America at all!

For an Australian pronunciation, I'd expect [pɒt]

>>pot can be pronounced as:

1. [pɑ:t] (low back unrounded) (severe backness is so SoCal tho')
2. [pä:t] (low central unrounded) [1. and 2. are interchangeable in G.A.]
3. [pɒ:t] (low back rounded) [some Canadian dialects, CVS, old Boston and Pittsburgh dialects] (some Canadian dialects may even raise it to the vowel space of NYC dialect dog, coffee [o])
4. [pa:t] (low front unrounded) [mainstream Great Lakes accents]
5. [pæ:t] (raised and/or very front unrounded) [Great Lakes accents with strong NCVS, preferred by middle class young white women in Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo]<<

At least here in Milwaukee, it is actually [ˈpʰaʔ] or [ˈpʰaʔt], which aside from the above not marking aspiration or preglottalization, is significant in that it reflects the shortening of vowels before fortis obstruents (where they would otherwise be long). The matter is that most less conservative NAE dialects have lost historical vowel length, which is what the quoted text indicates, and either determine vowel length by the fortis/lenis values of the obstruents that follow them, if any, or by the fortis/lenis values of obstruents that had followed them which have been since elided.