The variation between /ɑː/ and /ɔː/ seems to be restricted predominantly to the letter sequence <-auNC-> in words most of which are of French origin. (N = nasal, C = consonant(s))
I put two tables online that list such words together with their pronunciations as indicated in the works consulted. The first table concentrates on present-day dictionaries, the second one's going to list reference works that were published in the late c18 and early c19. The accent indicated is General British only.
| item | French origin1 | EPD17 | LPD3 | ODP | OED2 online |
| aunt | + | ɑːnt | ɑːnt | ɑːnt | ɑːnt |
| craunch | ? | -- | -- | -- | krɑːnʃ, krɔːnʃ |
| daunt | + | dɔːnt | dɔːnt | dɔːnt | dɔːnt |
| draunt | -- | -- | -- | -- | drɑːnt, drænt |
| flaunt | ? | -- | flɔːnt | -- | flɔːnt |
| gaunt | ? | gɔːnt | gɔːnt | gɔːnt | gɑːnt, gɔːnt |
| gauntlet | + | ˈgɔːntlət, -lɪt | ˈgɔːntlɪt, -lət | ˈgɔːntlɪt | ˈgɔːntlɪt, ˈgɑːntlɪt |
| graunch | -- | -- | -- | grɔːn(t)ʃ | grɔːntʃ |
| haunch | + | hɔːntʃ | hɔːntʃ | hɔːn(t)ʃ | hɔːntʃ, hɑːntʃ |
| haunt | + | hɔːnt | hɔːnt | hɔːnt | hɔːnt, hɑːnt |
| jaunce | ? | -- | -- | -- | ʤɑːns, ʤɔːns |
| jaunder | ? | -- | -- | -- | ˈʤɑːndə(r) |
| jaundice | + | ˈʤɔːndɪs | ˈʤɔːndɪs | ˈʤɔːndɪs | ˈʤɔːndɪs, ˈʤɑːndɪs |
| jaunt | ? | ʤɔːnt | ʤɔːnt | ʤɔːnt | ʤɔːnt, ʤɑːnt |
| launce | + | -- | -- | lɔːns | lɑːns, læns |
| launch | + | lɔːntʃ | lɔːntʃ3 | lɔːn(t)ʃ | lɔːnʃ4 |
| laund | + | -- | -- | -- | lɔːnd |
| laundry | + | ˈlɔːndri | ˈlɔːndri | ˈlɔːndri | ˈlɔːndrɪ, ˈlɑːndrɪ |
| maunch | + | -- | -- | -- | mɔːn(t)ʃ |
| maund | ? | -- | -- | -- | mɔːnd |
| maunge | + | -- | -- | -- | mɔːn(d)ʒ |
| naunt5 | + | -- | -- | -- | nɑːnt |
| paunch | + | pɔːntʃ | pɔːntʃ | pɔːn(t)ʃ | pɔːn(t)ʃ |
| raunce | + | -- | -- | -- | rɔːns |
| raunch | -- | -- | rɔːntʃ | rɔːn(t)ʃ | rɔːn(t)ʃ |
| staunch | + | stɔːntʃ | stɔːntʃ, stɑːntʃ | stɔːn(t)ʃ | stɑːnʃ, stænʃ, stɔːnʃ |
| taunt | -- | tɔːnt | tɔːnt | tɔːnt | tɔːnt |
| vaunt | + | vɔːnt | vɔːnt | vɔːnt | vɔːnt |
2 transcriptions represent various editions of OED;
3 additional comment: "In RP formerly also lɑːntʃ";
4 additional comment: "formerly lɑːnʃ";
5 naunt is a variant of aunt.
The above is not a comprehensive list of <-auNC>-words - for obvious reasons. For example, I left out inflected forms and place names such aus Launceston or Taunton. But, I guess and hope, the list's fairly representative of what one can find in the reference books consulted.
The second table, to be put online later, will list what I found in the following works of reference:
- 1791: Walker, John, A Critical Pronouncing Dictionary and Expositor of the English Language, (London)
- 1845: Beniowski, Bartłomiej (Major), The Anti-Absurd or Phrenotypic English Pronouncing & Orthographical Dictionary, (London)
- 1909: Afzelius, Jan Arvid, Engelsk Uttalsordbok, (Stockholm) (available to me only up to letter 'pa')
- 1913: Michaelis, Hermann & Jones, Daniel, A Phonetic Dictionary of the English Language, (Hannover, Berlin)
- 1926: Palmer, Harold, Martin, J. Victor & Blandford, F.G., A Dictionary of English Pronunciation with American Variants, (Cambridge)
- 1932: Wyld, Henry Cecil, The Universal Dictionary of the English Language, (London)
The -alm words (palm, calm, etc.) arguably belong on this list. They have dialectal and historical variants with the THOUGHT vowel.
ReplyDeleteAunt belongs here too, I should think.
@vp: I've added aunt.
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