Are they pronounced the same or different?
Stock vs Stalk
I say them the same, as I have the "cot-caught" merger. They're both [stAk] for me.
This is another cot-caught question. They are pronounced either the same or differently in the US depending upon what region one lives in.
In Anglo-Saxon they would have been pronounced differently. Today they are the same.
"In Anglo-Saxon they would have been pronounced differently. Today they are the same."
For some Americans maybe, not for me.
For some Americans maybe, not for me.
<<In Anglo-Saxon they would have been pronounced differently. Today they are the same.>>
Only for "c-c" mergers, Brennus. Read below:
According, to etymonline.com, here's "stalk":
<<"pursue stealthily," O.E. -stealcian, as in bestealcian "to steal along," from P.Gmc. *stalkojanan, probably from a frequentative of the root of steal (cf. hark from hear, talk from tell). Or it may be from a sense of stalk (v.1), (stealcung)>>
Whether from "bestealcian" or "stealcung," the vowel represented by orthographical "ea" was probably pronounced [{a] in Old English. "Stalk" in its current written form was probably /stalk/ and then eventually /stauk/ by Middle English (/al/ sometimes turned into /au/ before consonants in that time), and then the Great Vowel Shift of the late 1400s and 1500s, which turned /au/ into /O:/, left it as /stO:k/ in early Modern English. Since then various accents later would modify it a bit from its early Modern form. Australian English has /sto:k/, and many North American accents which have merged "cot-caught" have /stAk/ there, while others have /stOk/. RP tends to still have /stO:k/, altho its vowel too has changed a bit (but is still transcribed as /O:/).
"Stock" would have been pronounced /stQk/ or /stOk/ in Old English, a vowel which has pretty much stayed consistent to Modern English (the Great Vowel Shift left this one untouched), tho changing a bit in different dialects. Modern AusE has /stOk/ or /stVk/ for it, RP has /stQk/, and most North Americans have /stAk/ there (tho not all!).
I have /stAk/ for both of the words, and my vowel may be anything in between [A] and [O] there, tho usually closer to [A].
Only for "c-c" mergers, Brennus. Read below:
According, to etymonline.com, here's "stalk":
<<"pursue stealthily," O.E. -stealcian, as in bestealcian "to steal along," from P.Gmc. *stalkojanan, probably from a frequentative of the root of steal (cf. hark from hear, talk from tell). Or it may be from a sense of stalk (v.1), (stealcung)>>
Whether from "bestealcian" or "stealcung," the vowel represented by orthographical "ea" was probably pronounced [{a] in Old English. "Stalk" in its current written form was probably /stalk/ and then eventually /stauk/ by Middle English (/al/ sometimes turned into /au/ before consonants in that time), and then the Great Vowel Shift of the late 1400s and 1500s, which turned /au/ into /O:/, left it as /stO:k/ in early Modern English. Since then various accents later would modify it a bit from its early Modern form. Australian English has /sto:k/, and many North American accents which have merged "cot-caught" have /stAk/ there, while others have /stOk/. RP tends to still have /stO:k/, altho its vowel too has changed a bit (but is still transcribed as /O:/).
"Stock" would have been pronounced /stQk/ or /stOk/ in Old English, a vowel which has pretty much stayed consistent to Modern English (the Great Vowel Shift left this one untouched), tho changing a bit in different dialects. Modern AusE has /stOk/ or /stVk/ for it, RP has /stQk/, and most North Americans have /stAk/ there (tho not all!).
I have /stAk/ for both of the words, and my vowel may be anything in between [A] and [O] there, tho usually closer to [A].
"Modern AusE has /stOk/ or /stVk/ for it, RP has /stQk/, and most North Americans have /stAk/ there (tho not all!)."
stock - /stOk/ but can be realised as [stQk] or [stOk].
stuck - /stVk/
stalk - /sto:k/
stock - /stOk/ but can be realised as [stQk] or [stOk].
stuck - /stVk/
stalk - /sto:k/