[General] Concerning pronunciation of the word: 'Gold'

[GrandLizard]

Warmest greetings!

Another lingustic oddity that has lately been of a particular interest to me, is the reason people sometimes pronounce the words such as 'gold', 'old', 'fall' as 'gowd', 'owd', 'fow'.

What is the cause of such an interesting phenomenon?

Thank you!

 

[GrandLizard]

The sound I am driving at perchance is more accurately represented by the following transcription: [ɡoʊd] which is for 'gold'.

Accordingly, [fɔːʊ] should stand for 'fall'.

Finally, [oʊd] which is intended for :'old'.

I hope this little explanatory note should be of any use to you.

 

[GrandLizard]

I thought this transcription would better reflect what I mean.

 

[GrandLizard]

Yes! Exactly!

 

[GrandLizard]

Here is the link:

https://youtu.be/yxLeYN-t9nw

In fact, the whole video may serve as an example.

 

[GoesStation]

Here is the link:

https://youtu.be/yxLeYN-t9nw

In fact, the whole video may serve as an example.

The speaker has a speech impediment that affects his pronunciation of /r/ and /l/.

 

[GrandLizard]

I was not able to pick and pinpoint this precise word in the video. Yet, I was able to find another recording to corroborate my claim. The word under consideration is people. Again, one can hear that [oʊ] sound.

Below is the link:

https://youtu.be/8a8GlAf6Gv8

One can find the word under consideration at about 0:26.

I do value your time and I do I beg your pardon for any confusion and inconvenience caused. I am bound by obligations myself.

 

[GrandLizard]

The speaker has a speech impediment that affects his pronunciation of /r/ and /l/.

Then I must have chosen an erroneous example.

 

[jutfrank]

What is the cause of such an interesting phenomenon?

Their accent. Different speakers have different accents.

 

[jutfrank]

As I said before, I have never heard the /oʊd/ version, but it may exist in some dialects. Where did you hear it?

I know exactly what GrandLizard means. It is extremely common in England. It's not dialectic, it's just part of a certain accent in southern England. I do it myself.

The /l/ in gold is replaced by a /w/ sound.

My friends sometimes mock me for pronouncing the supermarket Aldi and the car Audi in the same way. This is the same phenomenon.

 

[GrandLizard]

I find this part most charming. Thank you!

 

[GoesStation]

Does this represent the fading of a liquid /l/ into a /w/?

 

[jutfrank]

Does this represent the fading of a liquid /l/ into a /w/?

Yes, kind of.

Do you mean /w/, the approximant at the beginning of 'wind' or /ʊ/, the vowel in 'put'?

I think the latter is probably a better way to transcribe it.

The effect is a kind of 'L-vocalisation'. The following passage is from this Wiki page:

More extensive L-vocalization is a notable feature of certain dialects of English, including Cockney, Estuary English, New York English, New Zealand English, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia English and Australian English, in which an /l/ sound occurring at the end of a word (but usually not when the next word begins with a vowel and is pronounced without a pause) or before a consonant is pronounced as some sort of close back vocoid: [w], [o] or [ʊ]. The resulting sound may not always be rounded. The precise phonetic quality varies. It can be heard occasionally in the dialect of the English East Midlands, where words ending in -old can be pronounced /oʊd/. KM Petyt (1985) noted this feature in the traditional dialect of West Yorkshire but said it has died out. However, in recent decades, l-vocalization has been spreading outwards from London and the south east; John C. Wells argued that it is probable that it will become the standard pronunciation in England over the next one hundred years, which Petyt criticised in a book review.

 

[probus]

As a North American I must leave your question to our speakers of British English, GrandLizard.

Your English seems to be excellent, if a bit stilted and old-fashioned. Personally I find it charming.