More on STRUT It would be correct to transcribe the STRUT vowel in many Southern English accents such as Estuary and advanced RP with the symbol [ a ].

CLOSE (HIGH) BACK FRONT OPEN (LOW) A æ gr

Mum, Mom and Mam This word (when it means mother) is usually spelled “mum” in Britain, and “mom” in America. The spelling “mam” is rarely used these days, although it correctly indicates the pronunciation of the word (with a “flat” or “continental” a-vowel) in some Northern areas of England, and also in Scotland. In the South of England, the word is pronounced with a STRUT vowel, and as I mentioned above this is usually shown in pronunciation dictionaries as Æ, although the RP and Southeast England (and Estuary) the pronunciation of STRUT is closer to [ a] (but NB not [ æ ]. In the North of England, mum it either has a FOOT (= Northern STRUT ) vowel [ u ] or a Northern trap vowel, which is also [ a ]. In Scotland it is widely [ a ], and also widely in Wales and the SW of England.

Mum, Mom and Mam What about America, where it is spelled “mom”? To a British English speaker, this looks like the American use the lot vowel. BUT most American dialects don’t have the lot vowel – their lot vowel is unrounded to [ á ], and may actually be fronted in the direction of [ a ]. My conclusion is that the word “Mum” is pronounced the same in American and British English. The British Midland form [ mum ] seems to be an exception, but I wonder – isn’t it perhaps my (southern) British mistake? Aren’t many people actually saying [ mam ], which sounds to me like my southern pronunciation [ mÆm ] = [ mam ]? Perhaps this has gone unnoticed, and people simply assume that Northerners are using a southern STRUT vowel?

FOOT-STRUT : but as a weak form Words occurring as weak forms are not stressed. The Standard Lexical Sets refer ONLY to stressed words.

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CLOSE (HIGH) BACK FRONT OPEN (LOW) aA Æ æ

CLOSE (HIGH) BACK FRONT OPEN (LOW) aA Æ æ