cot-caught merger

When I read about the cot-caught merger, it usually talks about it's many varieties of North American English. However, I'm from Wales and I pronounce "cot" as /kQt/ and "caught" as /kQ:t/, so I'd say it's not unique to North American English.

If you consistently pronounce LOT words with a short /Q/ and THOUGHT words with a long /Q:/, then you don't have the merger. I, on the other hand, pronounce them both with a longish /Q:/. The cot-caught merger does occur in Scotland though, so it's not just in North America. I've never heard of it in England or Wales though.

As Josh pointed out, if you make a consistent length distinction between LOT and THOUGHT words, then you don't have the merger. Like Josh, I have a complete merger of those two sets, using [Q:].

It's still a lot closer than having a whole different vowel, though.

Maybe closer, but /Q/ and /Q:/ distinction is not a merger.

I guess 90% of cot/caught merged people in the US have [A] as their merged vowel.
[Q] is sometimes heard in California, but it is associated to the Valley Girl accent. It sounds affected.

not [nAt]
hot [hAt]
dog [dAg]
lot [lAt]
dawn [dAn]
Don [dAn]
caught [kAt]
cot [kAt]
stalker [stAk@r]
stocker [stAk@r]
....