/r\/

Likewise, do you have a vowel in "pull" at all? I don't. It's simply [pL\=] for me. Do you contrast the following pairs?

"pull", "pool"

"sell", "sale"

"steel", "still"

These merge for me.

"pull/pool" [pL=\]

"sell/sale" [sEL\]

"steel/still" [stIL\]

<<Do "curly" and "early" rhyme for you?>>

No, I have:

curly ["k_h3`5.i]
early ["3`.li]

<<Which way does the "=" go?>>

The [=] goes after the consonant that you want to make syllabic.

<<I likewise have a contrast between "duller" [doL\.=r\] and "color" [kV.l=r\] not rhyming.>>

For me, l-combining doesn't happen with the checked vowels [{], [E], [I], [U], or with [A] or [Q]. So notice this distinction in my speech:

tell (in isolation) ["t_hE5]
tell it ["tEl It]

mail (in isolation) ["meI5]
mail it ["meI5 It]

In other words, everything gets [5] in isolation, but only my "l-combining vowels" (like /e/ and /o/) use the combined form with [5] when they're followed by another vowel.

So for me, "color" and "duller" rhyme, but with [...V.l@`].

<<Likewise, do you have a vowel in "pull" at all?>>

I have a vowel there, because I have actual alveolar articulation for the final /l/. So for me it's ["p_hU5], with the same vowel as in "put". But if word-final /l/ became [L\], then I can see how "pull" could simply become["p_hL\=].

<<These merge for me.>>

I distinguish all those words:

pull ["p_hU5] (when followed by a vowel, ["p_hUl])
pool ["p_hu5]

sell ["sE5] (when followed by a vowel, ["sEl])
sale ["seI5]

still ["stI5] (when followed by a vowel, ["stIl])
steel ["sti5]

I have:

tell (in isolation) ["tEL\]
tell it ["tEL\ It]

mail (in isolation) ["mEL\]
mail it ["mEL\ It]

/l/ is generally [L\] for me intervocalically except when another morpheme starts with /l/.

Cool, I've read about pairs like "tell/tail" and "pool/pool" being merged by some North Americans. How would you transcribe your pronunciation of words like "file", "vowel", "royal"?

<<How would you transcribe your pronunciation of words like "file", "vowel", "royal"?>>

[faIL\=], [vaUL\=] and [r\OIL\=]. Each is bisyllabic.

And one more question: how would you transcribe your pronunciation of words like "Mary-merry-marry" or "serious"? Would you consider those words to have your normal [E] and [I]?

(And also words like, "mare", "hear", if there's a difference.)

<<And one more question: how would you transcribe your pronunciation of words like "Mary-merry-marry" or "serious"? Would you consider those words to have your normal [E] and [I]?

(And also words like, "mare", "hear", if there's a difference.)>>

I have [E_r\] "Mary-merry-marry" and "mare" and [I_r\] for "serious" and "hear".

<<I have [E_r\] "Mary-merry-marry" and "mare" and [I_r\] for "serious" and "hear".>>

Typo.

I have [E_rr\] "Mary-merry-marry" and "mare" and [I_rr\] for "serious" and "hear".

I generally have a contrast between [l] and [L\] in the following words:

"collar" [kAL\r\=]
"cobbler" [kAlr\=]

"taller" [tAL\r\=]
"toddler" [tAlr\=]

"filler" [fIL\r=]
"hitler" [hIlr\=]

"dolly" [dAL\i]
"probably" [pr\Ali]

The contrast between [l] and [L\] seems to be phonemic for me.

That's interesting - I never reduce the stops in those words (except "probably", in rapid speech).

collar ["k_hQl@`]
cobbler ["k_hQbl@`]

taller ["t_hQl@`]
toddler ["t_hQd5=@`]

filler ["fIl@`]
Hitler ["hItl@`]

dolly ["dQli]
probably (in rapid speech) ["p_hr\Qli]

I find it interesting that you have a syllabic "l" in "toddler".

Yeah, I have syllabic l in a lot of words like that:

rattler ["r\{45=@`]
handling ["h{nd5=IN]
chuckling ["tS_hVk5=IN]
settler ["sE45@`]

But two words in which you might expect me, from the spelling, to have syllabic l, but in which I don't, are "cobbler" ["k_hQbl@`] and "grizzly" ["gr\Izli].

>>That's interesting - I never reduce the stops in those words (except "probably", in rapid speech).<<

Same with me, except that I rarely say "probably" with any [b]s in everyday speech:

collar ["k_hA:L\R=:] or ["k_hA:MR=:]
cobbler ["k_ha:bL\R=:] or ["k_ha:bM\R=:]

taller ["t_hQ:L\R=:] or ["t_hQ:UR=:]
toddler ["t_ha:dL\R=:] or ["t_ha:dM\R=:]

filler ["fI:L\R=:] or ["fI:MR=:]
Hitler ["hI?L\R=:] (I am not sure why this one does not vocalize as readily as the other words, but I suspect it has something to do with the glottal stop before the lateral)

dolly ["dA:L\i:] or ["dA:Mi:]
probably ["p_hrA:L\i:] or ["p_hr\A:Mi:] (in most everyday speech)

After [r\], my syllabic "r" tends to disappear entirely, with lengthening of the "r" sound:

"nearer" [nI_rr:]