ILX accent/homophone survey

For me:
a)no, b)yes, c)no, d)no, e)no, f)no, g)yes, h)yes, i)yes, j)yes, k)no, l)no, m)no, n)no, o)no, p)yes, q)no, r)yes, s)yes, t)yes, u)no, v)yes, w)no
Lived most of my life in or around London (but definitely don't have a cockney accent).

a) j) k) q) central belt scottish

Pretty much the same for me:

b) aren't - aunt
g) sure - shore
h) pour - poor
i) saw - sore
j) won - one
k) wholly - holy
r) witch - which
s) tuna - tuner
v) earn - urn

RP-ish but with a southeast England twinge

Same as N,B&S's then, except I wouldn't say "call" and "cool" the same (that's proper London to me), nor "dew" and "Jew". And I'm interested as to how his pronunciation of "wholly" and "holy" differs.

I think this is going to provide evidence for RJG's pride in the precision of Scottish accents. Though my RP dad would differentiate a lot more of the pairs than I do.

Which of these sound the same when you say them?

a) massed - mast, b) aren't - aunt, c) Pam - palm, d) have - halve, e) putt - put, f) would - wooed, g) sure - shore, h) pour - poor, i) saw - sore, j) won - one, k) cot - caught, l) balm - bomb, m) vary - very, n) marry - merry, o) marry - Mary, p) call - cool, q) wholly - holy, r) witch - which, s) tuna - tuner, t) dew - Jew, u) undue - undo, v) earn - urn, w) fur - fair

YES: a, b, h, i, j, r, s, v

NO: c, d, e, f, g, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, , t, u, w

And where do you come from / how would you describe your accent?

Pretty generic south-east. At my school, some kids spoke with a generic south-east accent and some sounded a little Cockney, as there was a wide demographic mix owing to the school's location (Enfield, north London) and its selection policy at that time. When I left school and went to Bristol Uni, my voice became posher owing to that university's large proportion of public school educated students. My mother noticed this change when I spoke to her on the phone after *three quarters of a term*. Since graduating, my accent has drifted back again to generic south east. Whether this has to do with the people I have mixed with in the 13 years I have lived in Oxford or the development of "estuary English" affecting speech patterns of the country as a whole, I am not quite sure (possibly a mixture of the two). I occasionally say 't's with the glottal stop, although this is not my default pronunciation. I suspect I am more inclined to do this when drunk.

same - a, h, i, j, q, r, s, v and sometimes g. a bit fucked up, ppl tend to think i'm scandinavian (not that scandinavians have fucked up accents, but sounding like one when i'm not is a bit ???)

Same as N,B&S's then, except I wouldn't say "call" and "cool" the same (that's proper London to me), nor "dew" and "Jew". And I'm interested as to how his pronunciation of "wholly" and "holy" differs.

I think of my accent as more or less RP, but reading this entry on Estuary English, I'd say I do nearly all those things (except I'd never drop the 't' in 'water') and none of the cockney things. So the dew/jew thing is covered by the 'yod coalescence' bit, and the call/cool thing is some kind of side effect of the 'dark l' sounding more like a 'w'.

It's difficult to explain the wholly/holy thing. The first one starts with the sound in 'hog' (minus the 'g') then has that weird 'l' becomes 'w' thing going on. The second one starts with 'hoe' and then has a 'clear l'.

bghiqrs - pretty much the same as Alba, but excluding j and v. Accent is posher end of south east middle-class twunt - go me.

I'm the same as Nasty, Brutish & Short except swap P & Q round.

I'm from the West Midlands but I've lived in the south since I was 18 and my accent wasn't that strong anyway so I think I'm sort of RP + glottal stops + occasional lapsing into Worcester-isms like saying Twalve instead of Twelve.

Grandpoint Genie - if you say "massed" and "mast" the same it doesn't make you sound very southeast to me? Have you got northern roots or something?

No: a, c, d, e, f, k, l, m, n, o, p, t, u, w
Yes: b, g, h, i, j, r, s, v,

austraalien.

a) massed - mast - NO
b) aren't - aunt - YES
c) Pam - palm - NO
d) have - halve - NO
e) putt - put - NO
f) would - wooed - NO
g) sure - shore - YES
h) pour - poor - YES
i) saw - sore - YES
j) won - one - YES
k) cot - caught - NO
l) balm - bomb - NO
m) vary - very - NO
n) marry - merry - NO
o) marry - Mary - NO
p) call - cool - NO
q) wholly - holy - YES
r) witch - which - YES
s) tuna - tuner - YES
t) dew - Jew - NO
u) undue - undo - NO
v) earn - urn - YES
w) fur - fair - NO

My accent is horrible. I was born in east London, all my relatives are north London, then we moved to Essex, then the midlands where my best friend was a Liverpudlian who I used to copy all the time. After a bit nobody could understand a word I said. Back then girl = gull for instance. I had speech training for a couple of years, which helped a bit but it's still a nasty mix.

Born and raised in the north of England, lived in London half of my life.

So, putt and put used to be more similar than they are now.

But....

Arent and aunt are different.

shore and sure are the same.

Massed and mast are the same.

And so forth.

By the way, does anyone pronounce witch and which differently? Surely that can't be a regional accent indicator...

xp
Of course as soon as I go south past Watford it's back to cock-er-nee.

By the way, does anyone pronounce witch and which differently? Surely that can't be a regional accent indicator...

I think some Scots and Americans might do.

I think a/h/i/w are definitely the same out of my gob - e/g/r/s are also probably indistinguishable until I'm r e a l l y e n u c i a t i n g.

I'm from the northeastern corner of the Wirral, so I have a soft (as shite) Scouse accent which I've systematically buried under layers of fudged RP over the years, but the flat vowels always poke through.

(Daniel: I don't know what the linguistic term for it is, but the "h" in "which" can be sounded if you're reet posh, like).

Ah I see - you mean like white being pronounced /hwait/ etc? Got you.

By the way, I do love the bit in Leave Me Alone by New Order, when Sumner rhymes book with luck.

unless, not until

reet posh = also, if you're trilling and burring like mad

By the way, does anyone pronounce witch and which differently?

'Which' is sometimes pronounced with a whistle if you know what I mean - 'hoowich'. I had a slightly upper-class English teacher that always did that.

Am I the only brit who says "shewer" for "sure"?

The 'wh' in which and the 'w' in witch are distinct sounds in quite a few scottish (and other) accents. In linguistic terms the 'w' in witch is voiced (uses the voice box) and the 'wh' is unvoiced (doesn't use voice box).
It's a similar thing with the 'ch' in loch which is not pronounced the same as the 'ck' in lock.

I'm from Fife and the only ones I say the same are J and K.

YES: b, g, h, i, j, r, t, v

I am from New Zealand.

Lived in Australia for a year and a half now, and my mum is Australian (though had lived in NZ for about 5 years by my birth and not very strong accent).
Australians mock me for not being able to pronounce 'bear''beer' and 'bare' differently. I actually would like to be able to.
With vowels, an example of difference for me here is that Australians usually can't understand me when I saw 'ten'.
I notice my vowels tending toward a more Australian pronunciation sometimes (at least the i...noticed it when I exclaimed 'shit!'the other day) but my Australian boyfriend doesn't pick up on it.

Alba, here's my vague attempt to demonstrate 'wholly' v 'holy':
http://media.putfile.com/wholly-v-holy

a) massed - mast, - no
b) aren't - aunt, - no
c) Pam - palm, - no
d) have - halve, - no
e) putt - put, - no
f) would - wooed, - no
g) sure - shore, - no
h) pour - poor, - SAME
i) saw - sore, - SAME
j) won - one, - SAME
k) cot - caught, - no
l) balm - bomb, - no
m) vary - very, - SAME
n) marry - merry, - no
o) marry - Mary, - no
p) call - cool, - no
q) wholly - holy, - SAME
r) witch - which, - SAME
s) tuna - tuner, - SAME
t) dew - Jew, - VERY CLOSE
u) undue - undo, - no
v) earn - urn, - SAME
w) fur - fair - no

A mish-mash of Hertfordshire/New England with a bit of NYC

Yes to a,b,e,g,h,i,q,r,v.

I've lived in the North of England all my life (Manchester and Sheffield to be precise) and whilst I don't have the stereotypical Northern accent - as evinced by the fair = fur thing (much closer to RP than most up here) I do still have a bit of a twang.

b) aren't - aunt,
g) sure - shore,
h) pour - poor,
i) saw - sore,
j) won - one,
r) witch - which,
v) earn - urn,

All of the above, I pronounce the two the same. The rest, not. I was born in London and brought up in various Home Conuties, with brief detours to the East Midlands, Hamburg and Sydney. I now live in London and any residue of Midlandsish or Sydneysider have long subsided.

The sames:

a) massed - mast, b) aren't - aunt, i) saw - sore, j) won - one, o) marry - Mary ,q) wholly - holy, r) witch - which, s) tuna - tuner, u) undue - undo, v) earn - urn,

The differents:

c) Pam - palm, d) have - halve, e) putt - put, f) would - wooed, g) sure - shore, h) pour - poor, k) cot - caught, l) balm - bomb, m) vary - very, n) marry - merry, p) call - cool, t) dew - Jew, w) fur - fair

Accent = Sort of South England/lapsed Geordie/variation of a vague northern / whoever I'm talking to wandering minstrel I....

These ones are the same:

h) pour - poor
i) saw - sore
j) won - one
q) wholly - holy
r) witch - which
s) tuna - tuner
v) earn - urn

I'm from just outside Southampton but have lost any faint Hampshire Hogisms (apart from saying somewhen) and never had the london overspill accent that a lot of people in Southampton do. Parents grew up in Ruislip/Uxbridge, so although working class backgrounds speak v RP. As a result I have weird poshisms like saying /tisju/ instead of /tishju/ for tissue.

I can vouch for nbs's dark /l/s. They are like /w/s.

Just listened to nbs's wholly holy thing. Very interesting.

My question is: isn't the dark l -> /w/ thing negated by the fact that it's followed by ly?

I speak like an eighteenth century Tilbury costermonger.

h) pour - poor

Let's not forget paw. I pronounce all three the same (this has been known to cause the roffles).

these are the same to my mouth

a) massed - mast
d) have - halve
h) pour - poor
j) won - one
k) cot - caught
m) vary - very
n) marry - merry
q) wholly - holy
r) witch - which
u) undue - undo
v) earn - urn

i was born in california and raised in boston. i have a generic american accent.

a) massed - mast: SAME
b) aren't - aunt: NOPE
c) Pam - palm: NOPE
d) have - halve: PRETTY MUCH THE SAME (sometimes I pronounce "halve" weirdly if it's unclear that I don't mean "have")
e) putt - put: NOPE
f) would - wooed: NOPE
g) sure - shore: NOPE
h) pour - poor: SOMETIMES THE SAME (my pronunciation of "poor" is inconsistent, I just realized)
i) saw - sore: NOPE
j) won - one: SAME
k) cot - caught: NOPE
l) balm - bomb: NOPE
m) vary - very: SAME
n) marry - merry: SAME
o) marry - Mary: SAME
p) call - cool: NOPE
q) wholly - holy: SAME
r) witch - which: SAME
s) tuna - tuner: NOPE
t) dew - Jew: NOPE
u) undue - undo: SAME
v) earn - urn: SAME
w) fur - fair: NOPE

I've lived in the Midwest (mostly Chicago area) pretty much my whole life.

a) massed - mast - Yes
b) aren't - aunt - No
c) Pam - palm - No
d) have - halve - Yes
e) putt - put - No
f) would - wooed - No
g) sure - shore - No
h) pour - poor - Yes
i) saw - sore - No
j) won - one - No
k) cot - caught - Yes
l) balm - bomb - Yes
m) vary - very - Yes
n) marry - merry - Yes
o) marry - Mary - Yes
p) call - cool - No
q) wholly - holy - Yes
r) witch - which - Yes
s) tuna - tuner - No
t) dew - Jew - No
u) undue - undo - Yes
v) earn - urn - Yes
w) fur - fair - No

I think I have a fairly typical California accent.

The same, or near as dammit: a) massed - mast, d) have - halve, j) won - one, q) wholly - holy, r) witch - which, v) earn - urn

u) undue - undo have different stresses but the /u/ at the end is the same.

There might be a slight difference in d) but how often do I even say "halve"?

Grew up outside of Philadelphia and then in NYC.

j) won - one - No
-- Michael White

How are they different for you? Which (if either) rhymes with 'gun'?

They aren't. It's a typo. In my diction, they're perfect homophones and they both rhyme with gun.

It's not the rhyming that it hangs upon, it's the aspiration at the start.

It's blowing my mind a bit that people pronounce cot/caught and merry/marry/Mary the same; I need to pay more attention to US accents. I'll test this on Pam when I get home!

Really? I know in Manchester they don't rhyme, but I can never remember which way round it is: one of them rhymes with 'gone' and the other with 'gun' (but a northern, not a southern 'gun'). (xpost to Alba)

I say 'one' like gone and won like 'gun', not that I'm from Manchester though.

Rather randomly inserted inverted commas there.

N,B&S, maybe you're right. I really meant to point out the aspiration issue, not deny that they couldn't rhyme. I'm interested who thinks they don't rhyme, though.

It's blowing my mind a bit that people pronounce cot/caught and merry/marry/Mary the same differently.

Or at least it would if I hadn't already known that these were commonly tested words in linguistic surveys.

The one that does blow my mind, though is aunt/aren't. These are pretty clearly differently pronounced words to me: for one, one has an R and the other doesn't.

What about ant/aunt, jaymc?

SAME:A,D,H,J,M,N,O,R,U,V
DIFF:REST

xpost

"won" rhymes with "gun"

"one" with "gone"

Although, to be fair, I think that's RP.

Re ant/aunt: I pronounce them the same, but I've at least heard other people in the U.S. pronounce them differently ("ant" vs. "awnt").

Stone Monkey: no way - in RP they *both* rhyme with 'gun' (a southern gun!)

Jaymc: most people in England don't do Rs

d) have - halve, h) pour - poor, j) won - one, k) cot - caught, m) vary - very, n) marry - merry, o) marry - Mary,q) wholly - holy, r) witch - which, v) earn - urn

I grew up in upper midwest US (MN) and currently live in New England (MA).

Living in MA makes s) completely hilarious to me.

I can't even think of how to start on Tavis's awesome speech patterns, except for the following two examples:

obviously = ob-vyush-leh
Tavis Smiley = Tevvis SchMYleh

Actually he sounds a lot like the voice my cousins in Indiana would put on as a comedy serious-guy voice!

Like a mare. Like la mer in French.

Ha ha! To me the vowel in mer is closer to TITTT's 'merry'.

TTTTT: "air"

This is probably pretty close to what I sound like or what a typical 'Ottawa accent' is like (if there's such a thing and I've been told there is.) Although I'm actually slightly Americanized compared to this. My "all" sounds are a little closer to "ahl" and my "bag" is even more "bayg"-ish.

xposts Michael White OTM. nabisco=anglo!

tavis smiley is like gus grissom!

so, what, do these marry-merry-mary people sing "have yourself a mary little christmas"?!

Oh no, not Stella and her bloody snow peas again.

Anyway to the extent that "cot" and "caught" are different, "cot" would be slightly closer to the vowel sound in his "frog" or "Bob" (which is more exaggerated than mine.) Is this the difference jaymc was getting at?

(xposts)

We also need a small plastic snake and a big toy frog for the kids

(Yes, of course, gabbneb! But I recognize yours from TV.)

(Well, that "coffee talk" thing is a comic exaggeration but doesn't even sound that gross of one to me! I gather that the South Park "aboot" thing doesn't sound as ridiculous of an exaggeration to Americans as it does to me.)

Was that your American accent, Nick? Pam is well impressed (but she wants to know why you insisted on "wanna"?). I quizzed her over the fruit & veg in Sainsbury's tonight about the merry/marry/Mary thing and, yep, they're homophones in her Arkansas via Mary(!)land twang. Oh, how I larfed.

xxxpost

I wasn't sure how to do "want" so I settled for "wanna". I don't think all Americans say "wanna" or anything. It wasn't really supposed to be a good accent. Just to illustrate how Mary, Marry and Merry could sound the same.

Well, it gets the seal of approval from the Linthicum-Ferndale jury. It kicks Hugh Laurie's sorry* ass/arse anyhow/anyhoo.

would love to know what the North Americans make of this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3FXG5cElws

have a bit of in in my accent but not much as I'm not native. however as mentioned above my daughter (age 6) is fluent...

Guy #1 in black sounds like my semiology prof. Guy #2 (Paul from the Hullblokes?) definitely has a thicker accent but one that doesn't sound totally unfamiliar. Scottish influence?? The two actors sound like a cartoon. That's an exaggeration, surely?

Guy #2 is Scottish!

The actors, yes of course it's played for laughs, but nowhere near as exaggerated as you might expect.

a) massed - mast
d) have - halve
h) pour - poor ("poor me, poor me, pour me a drink!")
j) won - one
k) cot - caught
m) vary - very
n) marry - merry
o) marry - Mary
q) wholly - holy
r) witch - which
u) undue - undo
v) earn - urn

I'm from the Baltimore suburbs (pronounced, variously: Balnuhmer, Balmer, Ballmore).

Guy #2 is Scottish!

haha well there you go. Didn't want to say for sure.

if anyone cares, wikipedia's entries on new york city accents and philadelphia accents, which it contends is a variant on a wider Mid Atlantic dialect (i.e., including Baltimore). note that, at least in the case of philadelphian accents, the distinguishing signs aren't really in the homophones listed above (e.g., tendencies to pronounce long e's before the letter "g" like short i's ["iggle" instead of "eagle," "liggle" instead of "legal"] and to pronounce short i's in words like "attitude" and "beautiful" as long e's ["att-EE-tude" and "beau-TEE-ful" for "attitude" and "beautiful," respectively) as well as "dark l's" (which, i guess, may come from the original welsh settlers in the area [as evidenced by towns in the philadelphia suburbs with names like bala cynwyd, merion, haverford, etc.]).

FWIW, while i definitely DON'T talk like either a stereotypical new yorker (e.g., archie bunker or tony soprano [truthfully, i don't think that i've EVER met anyone from NYC who talks like archie bunker]) and i don't THINK that i sound like an actual new yorker -- after working/living around NYC for almost 10 years now some NYCisms probably have crept into my speech.

my father has a bit of a philly accent (since that was where he was born); my mother's accent at times sounds like a strange mix b/w standard new jersey and yorkshire/british (since that was were she was born). i don't think that my speech falls into either extreme, though.

I don't trust Wikipedia for any kind-of academic information... I think all those accent pages were edited by an unemployed massage therapist using college linguistics textbooks from 1982.

Tony Soprano is supposed to be stereotypical New Jersey... some older Italians from Bayonne and other urban areas sound almost 100% like that, but most people, no.

Do NYC people really not see any connection between their accents and the TV stereotypes? I don't know anyone who says "aboot" but I understand what it's based on.

(On the other hand, I will go to my grave convinced that "hoser" was something made up by SCTV. I don't care if someone shows up from Saskatchewan or somewhere to dispute this.)

a) massed - mast, yes
b) aren't - aunt, yes
c) Pam - palm, no
d) have - halve, yes
e) putt - put, no
f) would - wooed, no
g) sure - shore, no
h) pour - poor, yes
i) saw - sore, no but surprisingly close.
j) won - one, yes
k) cot - caught, yes
l) balm - bomb, no
m) vary - very, no
n) marry - merry, no
o) marry - Mary, no
p) call - cool, no
q) wholly - holy, yes
r) witch - which, yes
s) tuna - tuner, yes
t) dew - Jew, no
u) undue - undo, yes
v) earn - urn, yes
w) fur - fair no

i grew up in new england and moved to the midwest a while ago. my boston accent is pretty much gone but it still slips out after i've had a couple of pops in me. i went back east to see family last autumn, i saw my younger sister for the first time since the '90s, the first words out of her mouth were "i hate your fucking accent." didn't realize i had one, it's not like i say "i wanna SAHsidge pizza" or whatever. i think i was just putting r's in correct places. my ex used to tease me about the way i said "saw him" which apparently comes out as "sawr rim". whatever, it's just words.

a) massed - mast
d) have - halve
h) pour - poor
j) won - one
k) cot - caught
m) vary - very
n) marry - merry
o) marry - Mary
q) wholly - holy
r) witch - which
u) undue - undo
v) earn - urn

Seattle area, born and raised/I perceive myself as accentless, it's the rest of you who are fucked up in the speech.

Apparently I have a Baltimorese accent, even though I've never been east of Denver.

Sundar, I mean, did you think I had much of a NYC accent?

Btw, I say "orange" like the woman's voice in Boards of Canada's "Aquarius." (Same initial vowel sound as the dude's voice, but he turns the word into two syllables: "or-inge.")

If that's the song with all the counting on it, to my (English) ears it sounds like "ornge" (just one syllable).

Yes:

a) massed - mast
d) have - halve
f) would - wooed
h) pour - poor
j) won - one
m) vary - very
n) marry - merry
o) marry - Mary
q) wholly - holy
r) witch - which
u) undue - undo
v) earn - urn

Mid-west America, but have spent big chunks of my life in New York, Texas, and San Francisco as well. My accent is about as flat as it gets.

actually, scratch f) would - wooed. i read it wrong.

I can't believe people are saying One and Won so they sound the same.
One = 'Won'.
Won = 'Wun'.

David, do you never watch the telly or anything?

a)no b)yes c)no d)no e)no f)no g)yes h)yesish i)yes j)yes k)no l)no m)no n)no o)no p)no q)yes r)yes s)yes t)noish u)no v)yes w)no

David, if it makes you feel any better, I have no idea what the difference between "won" and "wun" is supposed to be.

I'm not sure I do either. And, no, I don't remember noticing you having any strong regional accent. But many co-workers or neighbours I've had from NYC/LI do.

I find it interesting that Canadian accents delight you. Can you identify one right away? (A number of people here have said they could do so as soon as I opened my mouth.) I can't always tell a Cdn accent from a neutral American accent. (Even the "ou" sounds aren't always a surefire way.) Like, that clip I posted doesn't sound that far removed from this (though it is different). It's markedly different (in almost every vowel sound) from this though.

the thing is there really are NYers (mostly BK/LIers) who speak the full stereotypical way. but most nyers don't. and most don't have the heavy accent that is still sub- the stereotype.

Well, a certain type of Cdn accent -- I don't necessarily remember you having one, but Bryan does. A prairie accent, I guess.

Same:
a) massed - mast, d) have - halve, j) won - one, k) cot - caught, l) balm - bomb, m) vary - very, n) marry - merry, o) marry - Mary, q) wholly - holy, r) witch - which, v) earn - urn

Different:
b) aren't - aunt, c) Pam - palm, e) putt - put, f) would - wooed, g) sure - shore, h) pour - poor, i) saw - sore, p) call - cool, s) tuna - tuner, t) dew - Jew, u) undue - undo, w) fur - fair

My accent is a prety weird one... midwestern Ontario, form around lake huron. To hear the true weirdness of my accent, here are some other words that are homophones to me:

ask/ass, guest/guess, and to a lesser degree, cutting/cotton

You hate terminal consonant clusters.

same:

a) massed - mast
d) have - halve
h) pour - poor
j) won - one
k) cot - caught
m) vary - very
n) marry - merry
o) marry - Mary
q) wholly - holy
r) witch - which
u) undue - undo
v) earn - urn

diff:
b) aren't - aunt
c) Pam - palm
e) putt - put
f) would - wooed
i) saw - sore
g) sure - shore
l) balm - bomb
p) call - cool
s) tuna - tuner
t) dew - Jew
w) fur - fair

born & raised in Georgia, used to have an accent but now I don't so much

Same:
a) massed - mast
d) have - halve
h) pour - poor
j) won - one*
k) cot - caught
m) vary - very
n) marry - merry
o) marry - Mary
q) wholly - holy
u) undue - undo
v) earn - urn

* = it's very close but maybe slightly different?

Born in California, raised around Portland, Oregon. Parents both had heavy southern accents when I was growing up that have since mostly faded. Though I could never really even hear it, my friends were like DUDE YOUR PARENTS SPEAK LIKE HICKS etc. So that might have some influence?

Does no one in the US differentiate "poor" from "pour?"

(Apparently Cdn accents do vary west of NB. I'm trying to imagine how that "cutting"/"cotton" thing would work. Thought you were Ottawan, Will?)

I do.

poor = pour = pore

potentially catastrophic

poor = pour = pore /= potentially catastrophic, that is pronounced differently.

a, j, k and q.
Guttural scots

I can't believe people are saying One and Won so they sound the same ... One = 'Won'.
roffle

Same:

a) massed - mast, d) have - halve, h) pour - poor, j) won - one, r) witch - which, u) undue - undo, v) earn - urn

Different:

b) aren't - aunt, c) Pam - palm, e) putt - put, f) would - wooed, g) sure - shore, i) saw - sore, k) cot - caught, l) balm - bomb, m) vary - very, n) marry - merry, o) marry - Mary, p) call - cool, q) wholly - holy, s) tuna - tuner, t) dew - Jew, w) fur - fair

Non-regional American with a touch of New Jersey/New York.