ABSTRACT
Canadian English exhibits a ten-vowel system, excluding diphthongs and rhotic vowels. Its distinguishing characteristic lies in the merger of the two low back vowels \ʾ\ and \ɒ\ which neutralises oppositions present in other varieties of English. Thus, caught and cot are homophonous and father and bother are a perfect rhyme. This is the vowel system described by William Moulton (1990) which he designates SAE 4, and is not unique to Canadian English but may be found in areas of the United States, such as northeastern New England and western Pennsylvania extending into Ohio. The source of this phenomenon in Canadian English might be traceable to the heavy influx of Scotch-Irish into Canada in the early years, combined with influences of early American immigrants from the areas in which the merger had already taken place. It is reported that the merged vowel is spreading in the United States (Wells 1982: 473–6).
