Lexical set

A lexical set is a group of words that share a similar phonological feature.

Wells Standard Lexical Sets for UK and US English[edit]

The Standard Lexical Sets for English introduced by John C. Wells in Accents of English are in wide usage. Wells defined each lexical set on the basis of the pronunciation of words in two reference accents, which he calls RP and GenAm.^[1]

• "RP" refers to Received Pronunciation, the traditionally prestigious accent in England.^[2]
• "GenAm" refers to an accent of the General American type, which is associated with a geographically "neutral" or widespread sound system throughout the US.^[3]

Wells classifies words of the English language into 24 lexical sets on the basis of the pronunciation of the vowel of their stressed syllable in the two reference accents. Each lexical set is named after a representative keyword, as follows:^[4]

Lexical sets, as defined in Wells (1982)

Keyword	RP	GenAm	Example words
KIT	i ɪ	i ɪ	ship, rip, dim, spirit
DRESS	e e	e ɛ	step, ebb, hem, terror
TRAP	a æ	a æ	bad, cab, ham, arrow
LOT	o ɒ	a ɑ	stop, rob, swan
STRUT	u ʌ	u ʌ	cub, rub, hum
FOOT	u ʊ	u ʊ	full, look, could
BATH	a ɑː	a æ	staff, clasp, dance
CLOTH	o ɒ	o ɔ	cough, long, origin
NURSE	e ɜː	e ɜr	hurt, term, work
FLEECE	i iː	i i	seed, key, seize
FACE	e eɪ	e eɪ	weight, rein, steak
PALM	a ɑː	a ɑ*	calm, bra, father
THOUGHT	o ɔː	o ɔ*	taut, hawk, broad
GOAT	o əʊ	o oʊ	soap, soul, home
GOOSE	u uː	u u	who, group, few
PRICE	a aɪ	a aɪ	ripe, tribe, aisle, choir
CHOICE	o ɔɪ	o ɔɪ	boy, void, coin
MOUTH	a aʊ	a aʊ	pouch, noun, crowd, flower
NEAR	i ɪə	i ir	beer, pier, fierce, serious
SQUARE	e eə	e ɛr	care, air, wear, Mary
START	a ɑː	a ɑr	far, sharp, farm, safari
NORTH	o ɔː	o ɔr	war, storm, for, aural
FORCE	o ɔː	o or	floor, coarse, ore, oral
CURE	u ʊə	u ʊr	poor, tour, fury

* not followed by /r/

For example, the word rod is pronounced /rɒd/ in RP and /rɑd/ in GenAm. It therefore belongs in the LOT lexical set. Weary is pronounced /ˈwɪərɪ/ in RP and /ˈwɪri/ in GenAm, and thus belongs in the NEAR lexical set.

Some words of the English language do not belong to any lexical set. For example, the a in the stressed syllable of tomato is pronounced /ɑː/ in RP, and /eɪ/ in GenAm, a combination which is very unusual, and is not covered by any of the 24 lexical sets above.^[5]

Choice of keywords[edit]

Wells explains his choice of keywords ("kit", "fleece", etc.) as follows:

The keywords have been chosen in such a way that clarity is maximized: whatever accent of English they are spoken in, they can hardly be mistaken for other words. Although fleece is not the commonest of words, it cannot be mistaken for a word with some other vowel; whereas beat, say, if we had chosen it instead, would have been subject to the drawback that one man's pronunciation of beat may sound like another's pronunciation of bait or bit.^[4]

Wherever possible, the keywords end in a voiceless alveolar or dental consonant.^[4]

Unstressed vowels[edit]

Wells also describes three sets of words based on their word-final unstressed vowels. Although not included in the standard 24 lexical sets, these "have indexical and diagnostic value in distinguishing accents".^[6]

Keyword	Example words
happY	silly, Tony, merry
lettER	beggar, martyr, visor
commA	China, sofa

Uses[edit]

The Standard Lexical Sets of Wells are widely used to discuss the phonological and phonetic systems of different accents of English in a clear and concise manner. Although based solely on RP and GenAm, the Standard Lexical Sets have proven useful in describing many other accents of English. This is true because, in many dialects, the words in all or most of the sets are pronounced with similar or identical stressed vowels. Wells himself uses the Lexical Sets most prominently to give "tables of lexical incidence" for all the various accents he discusses in his work. For example, here is the table of lexical incidence he gives for Newfoundland English:^[7]

KIT	ɪ		FLEECE	iː		NEAR	ɛr
DRESS	ɛ		FACE	ɛː, ɛɪ		SQUARE	ɛr
TRAP	æ		PALM	æ, ɑː		START	ær
LOT	ɒ		THOUGHT	ɑː		NORTH	ɔ̈r
STRUT	ɔ̈		GOAT	ʌʊ		FORCE	ɔ̈r
FOOT	ʊ		GOOSE	uː		CURE	ɔ̈r
BATH	æ		PRICE	əɪ		happY	[i]
CLOTH	ɑː		CHOICE	əɪ		lettER	ər [ɚ]
NURSE	ɜr		MOUTH	əu		commA	ə

The table indicates that, for example, Newfoundland English uses the /ɪ/ phoneme for words in the KIT lexical set, and that the NORTH, FORCE and CURE sets are all pronounced with the same vowel /ɔ̈r/. Note that some lexical sets, such as FACE, are given with more than one pronunciation: this indicates that not all words in the FACE lexical set are pronounced similarly (in this case because Newfoundland English has not fully undergone the pane–pain merger).^[8] (Note that in 1982 Wells used an older version of the International Phonetic Alphabet which lacked many of the independent symbols for central vowels. 1982 /ɔ̈/ was the open-mid central rounded vowel, which today is /ɞ/.)

Wells also uses the Standard Lexical Sets to refer to "the vowel sound used for the standard lexical set in question in the accent under discussion":^[9] Thus, for example, in describing the Newfoundland accent, Wells writes that "KIT and DRESS are reportedly often merged as [ɪ]",^[10] meaning that the stressed syllables of words in the KIT lexical set and words in the DRESS lexical set are reportedly often pronounced identically with the vowel [ɪ].

Lexical sets may also be used to describe splits and mergers. For example, RP, along with most non-rhotic accents, pronounces words such as "father" and "farther" identically. This can be described more economically as the merger of the PALM and START lexical sets. Most North American accents make "father" rhyme with "bother". This can be described as the merger of the PALM and LOT lexical sets.

Origin[edit]

In a 2010 blog post, Wells wrote:

I sometimes think that a century from now my lexical sets will be the one thing I shall be remembered for. Yet I dreamt them up over a weekend, frustrated with the incoherent mess of symbols used in such contemporary publications as Weinreich's "Is a structural dialectology possible?".^[11]

He also wrote that he claimed no copyright in the Standard Lexical Sets, and that everyone was "free to make whatever use of them they wish".^[11]

Extensions for English[edit]

Some varieties of English make distinctions in stressed vowels that are not captured by the 24 lexical sets. For example, some Irish and Scottish accents that have not undergone the fern–fir–fur merger split the NURSE lexical set into multiple subsets. For such accents, the 24 Wells lexical sets may be inadequate. Because of this, a work devoted to Irish English may split the Wells NURSE set into two subsets, a new, smaller NURSE set and a TERM set.^[12]

Some writers on English accents have introduced a GOAL set to refer to a set of words that have the GOAT vowel in standard accents but may have a different vowel in Sheffield^[13] or in south-east London.^[14] Wells has stated that he didn't include a GOAL set because this should be interpreted as an allophone of GOAT that is sensitive to the morpheme boundary, which he illustrates by comparing the London pronunciations of goalie and slowly.^[15]

Wells Standard Lexical Sets for English around the world[edit]

This article possibly contains original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. (December 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

This table uses abbreviations that may be confusing or ambiguous. There might be a discussion about this on the Talk page. Please improve this table if you can. (December 2014)

The Wells Standard Lexical Sets for English around the world are as follows:^[1][16]

Primary lexical sets[edit]

British Isles[edit]

British English

	trad RP	RP	Shared RP	London	Norwich	Bristol	Birmingham (West Midlands)	Leeds (West Yorkshire)
FLEECE	iː			ɪi	iː	i	iː	iː
KIT	ɪ
START	ɑː				aː	ar [aɻ]	ɑː	aː
DRESS	e	ɛ	ɛ ~ e	e	ɛ
PALM	ɑː				aː	a	ɑː	aː
BATH	ɑː	ɑː ~ aː	ɑː ~ a	ɑː	aː	a	a	a
LOT	ɒ					a	ɒ	ɒ
TRAP	æ	a	a ~ æ	æ	æ	æ	a	a
CLOTH	ɒ	ɒ	ɒ ~ ɔː	ɒ	ɒ, ɔː	ɒ	ɒ	ɒ
THOUGHT	ɔː			oː	ɔː	ɔ	ɔː	ɔː
NORTH	ɔː			oː	ɔː	ɔr [ɔɻ]	ɔː	ɔː
FORCE	ɔː			oː	ɔː	ɔr	ʌʊə (~ ɔː)	ɔː (~ ɔə)
FOOT	ʊ
GOOSE	uː			ʉː	ʉː	u	uː	uː
STRUT	ʌ						ʊ (~ʌ)	ʊ
NURSE	ɜː	əː	əː ~ ɜː	ɜː	ɜː → ɝ	ɜr	ɜ	ɜː
LETTER	ə				ə → ɚ	ər	ə	ə
COMMA	ə					ə ~ əl	ə	ə
FACE	eɪ			ʌɪ	æi	ɛɪ	ʌɪ	eː(~ ɛɪ)
GOAT	əʊ~ɔʊ	əʊ	əʊ~oʊ	ʌʊ	ʌʊ, uː, (ʊ)	ɔʊ	ʌʊ	oː (~ɔʊ)
PRICE	aɪ	ʌɪ	ʌɪ~aɪ	ɑɪ	ʌi	ɑɪ	ɒɪ	aɪ
MOUTH	aʊ			æʊ	æʉ	aʊ	æʊ	aʊ
CHOICE	ɔɪ				oi	oɪ	ɒɪ (~oɪ)	ɔɪ
NEAR	ɪə			iə	ɛː	ir [iɻ]	iːə (~ ɪə)	ɪə
SQUARE	eə (or ɛə)	ɛː	ɛː ~ ɛə	eə	ɛː	ɛɪr [ɛɻ]	ɛː	ɛː
CURE	ʊə	ʊə ~ ɔː	ʊə ~ ɔː	uə	ɜː, ɔː	ur~ɔr	uːə (~ʊə~ɔː)	ʊə (~ɔː)
HAPPY	ɪ	i	i	ɪi	[i]	i	[i]	ɪ
COLD	ɒʊ

Irish English

	Ireland	R. Northern Irish	Pop. Dublin	Fash. Dublin	R. South West	Supr.South
FLEECE	iː	i:	iʲə	iː	iː	iː
KIT	ɪ	e	ɪ	ɪ	ɪ	ɪ
START	aːr	ɑ(ː)ɻ	æː(ɹ)	ɑːɻ	aːɹ	ɑːɹ
DRESS	ɛ
PALM	aː
BATH	æ, aː	ɑ(ː)	æː	aː	aː	aː
LOT	ɒ	ɒ	a	ɔ	a	ɑ
TRAP	æ	a	æ	æ	æ	æ
CLOTH	ɒ, ɔː
THOUGHT	ɔː	ɔ(ː)	aː	ɔː, oː	ɑː	ɒː
NORTH	ɔːr	ɔ(ː)ɻ	aː(ɹ)	ɒːɻ, ɔːɻ	ɑːɹ	ɒːɹ
FORCE	oːr	o(ː)ɻ	ɒː(ɹ)	ɔːɻ, oːɻ	ɔːɹ	oːɹ
FOOT	ʊ	ʉ	ʊ	ʊ	ʊ	ʊ
GOOSE	uː	ʉ(ː)	ujə	uː	uː	uː
STRUT	ʌ	ʌ	ʊ	ʌ	ʌ̈	ʌ̈
NURSE	ʌr, ɛr	ə(ː)ɻ	ʊː(ɹ)	ɚːɻ, øːɻ	ɚːɹ	ɚːɹ
LETTER	ər	əɻ	ə(ɹ)	əɻ	əɹ	əɹ
COMMA	ə	ə	ə, ɐ	ə	ə	ə
FACE	eː	eːə	eː	eː	eː	eː
GOAT	oː	ɔʊ, oː	ʌɔ	əʊ	oː	əʊ, oʊ
PRICE	aɪ	ɛɪ	əɪ	ɑɪ	æɪ	aɪ
MOUTH	aʊ	ɛʉ	ɛʊ	ɛʊ	aʊ
CHOICE	ɔɪ	ɔɪ	aɪ	ɔɪ, oɪ	ɑɪ	ɒɪ
NEAR	iːr	i(ː)ɻ	iː(ɹ)	iːɻ	iːɹ	iːɹ
SQUARE	eːr	ə(ː)ɻ	ɛː(ɹ)	eːɻ, øɻ	eːɹ	eːɹ
CURE	uːr	u(ː)ɻ	uʲə(ɹ)	uːɻ	uːɹ	uːɹ
HAPPY	iː	ɪ, e	i	i	i	i

Other dialects of the British Isles

	Scotland E	Scotland St. E.	Urban Scots	Orkney	Shetland	Wales	Cardiff E.	Trad.R.Welsh E.
FLEECE	i	i	i	i	i	i	iː	iː
KIT	ɪ	ɪ ~ ë	ɛ̈ ~ ë ~ ʌ ~ ɪ	ɪ ~ ï ~ ë ~ ɛ̈	ï ~ ë ~ ɛ̈ ~ ɤ̈	ɪ	ɪ	ɪ
START	ar	a	ɛ̝ ~ a	ɑ ~ a	a ~ ɑ	aː		aː
DRESS	ɛ	ɛ	ɛ̝	ɛ
PALM	a (or /ɑ/)	a	a̠	ɑ	ɔ	aː
BATH	a (or /ɑ/)	a	a̠	a	a ~ ɑ	a ~ aː
LOT	ɔ (or /ɒ/)	ɔ̞	o~ɔ	ɔ	ɔ~ɒ	ɒ	ɑ	ɔ
TRAP	a	a	a̠	a
CLOTH	ɔ	ɔ̞	o ~ ɔ	ɔ	ɔ ~ ɑ	ɒ ~ ɔː		ɔ
THOUGHT	ɔ	ɔ̞	ɔ	ɔ ~ ʌ̈ʊ	ɔ	ɔː	ʌː	ɔː
NORTH	ɔr	ɔ̞	o ~ ɔ	ɒ ~ ɔ		ɔː		ɔː
FORCE	or	o	o	ɔ	ɔ ~ o	ɔː		ɔː
FOOT	u	ʉ̠	ɛ̈ ~ ʉ ~ ʏ	ʊ ~ u	u	ʊ	ɤ	ʊ
GOOSE	u	ʉ̠	ʉ ~ ʏ	u ~ ʉ	u ~ ø	uː	uː	uː
STRUT	ʌ	ʌ	ʌ̈	ʌ ~ ɔ̈	ɔ̈ ~ ʊ̈ ~ ʌ	ə	ə	ʌ
NURSE	ɜr	ʌ	ʌ̈ ~ ɛ̈	ɔ̈	ɔ ~ ɔ̈	ɜː	ø	œː
LETTER	ər	ɪ ~ ʌ	ʌ̈	ə	e	ə		ə ~ ʌ
COMMA	ʌ	ʌ	ʌ̈	ə ~ a	ɐ	ə	ə	ə ~ ʌ
FACE	e			eɪ	eɪ ~ e	ei	ei	eː (or ei)
GOAT	o			ɔ	o	ou	əʊ	oː (or ou)
PRICE	ae, ʌi	ʌi	əi	aɪ ~ eɪ	aɪ ~ ɜɪ	əi	əɪ	ai
MOUTH	ʌu	ʌʉ̠	ʉ~ʌʉ	aʊ~u	ʌʊ̈~u	əu	ʌu	au
CHOICE	ɒɪ	ɔe	ɔe	ɔɪ	ɔɪ	ɔi	ʌi	ɔ
NEAR	ir	i	i	iə	iə	jɜː ~ iːə	iːə ~ jø	iə
SQUARE	er	e	e~ ɛ̝	e ~ ɛ	e ~ ɛ	ɛː	ɛː	ɛː
CURE	ur	jʉ̠	jʉ	uə	uə	uːə	uːə ~ ʌː	(ɪ)uwə
HAPPY	e, ɪ, i	e	e ~ ɛ̈	i	i	[i] = /iː/	iː	iː
STONE	o	e ~ o
STAND	a	ɔ̞ ~ a̠
DO	ʉ	e ~ ʉ
OFF	ɔ̞	a̠ ~ ɔ
HEAD	ɛ	i ~ ɛ̝
AFTER	a	ɛ ~ a̠
NEVER	ɛ ~ ɛ̈	ɛ̈ ~ ë ~ ɪ
BERTH	ɛ	ɛ̝ ~ ɛ̈
BIRTH	ɪ	ɛ̈ ~ ʌ̈

North American English[edit]

According to Labov et al, the dialects of North American English can be divided into two groups, based off the presence/absence of the cot-caught merger.^[17]

	General American	New_York City	Philadelphia	Inland North	R. Southern
FLEECE	i	iː[18]	iː	i	i̞i ~ ɪi
KIT	ɪ	ɪ	ɪ ~ ɪ̞	ɪ ~ ɪ̞ ~ ɪ̠	ɪ ~ iə
START	ɑɹ	ɑə ~ ɒə > ɑɹ ~ ɒɹ	ɑ ~ ɒ ~ ɔ	ɑ ~ ɑ̟ ~ a	ɒɚ > ɑɚ
DRESS	ɛ		ɛ ~ ɛ̞	ɛ ~ ɛ̞ ~ ɛ̠ ~ ɐ	ɛ ~ eə
TRAP	æ	æ[19]	æ
BATH	æ	ɛə ~ eə ~ ɪə	æə ~ ɛə ~ ɪə[20]	æ ~ æə ~ ɛə ~ ɪə	æ
PALM	ɑ	ɑ	ɑ	ɑ ~ ɑ̟ ~ a	ɑ ~ ɒo
LOT	ɑ	ɑ ~ ä	ɑ	ɑ ~ ɑ̟ ~ a	ɑ
CLOTH/ THOUGHT	ɔ, ɑ	ɔ ~ ɔə ~ ʊə	ɔ ~ ɔ̝ə ~ oə	ɔ ~ ɒ ~ ɑ	ɑɒ
NORTH	ɔɹ	ɔə ~ oɐ > ɔɹ ~ oɹ	o ~ ʊ	o ~ ɔ	oɚ
FORCE	ɔɚ	ɔə ~ oɐ > ɔɹ ~ oɹ	o ~ ʊ	o	oɚ
FOOT	ʊ		ʊ ~ ʊ̈		ʊ̈ ~ ʏ
GOOSE	u	ʊu ~ uː ~ ɪu	uː ~ ʉu	uː ~ ʉ	ʉ̟u̟ ~ y̟ʉ̟ ~ ʉ̟y̟ y̟y̟
STRUT	ʌ	ʌ	ʌ ~ ʌ̝	ɜ ~ ʌ ~ ɔ	ɜ
NURSE	ɚ~ɝ	ɜ	ɜ	ɜ	ɚ > ɐɚ
LETTER	ɚ	ə	ə	ə	ɚ
COMMA	ə	ə	ə	ə	ə
FACE	eɪ	eɪ ~ ɛɪ	e ~ e̝ɪ ~ i̞ɪ	eɪ ~ eː	ɛi ~ æ̠i
GOAT	oʊ	oʊ	oʊ ~ ɜʊ	oʊ ~ öʊ ~ o:	ɜy ~ ɜu > æ̠u
PRICE	aɪ	ɑɪ ~ ɒɪ	aɪ ~ ʌe	aɪ ~ ɜɪ	ai ~ aːæ ~ aː
MOUTH	aʊ	aʊ ~ æʊ	aʊ ~ æɔ ~ɛɔ	aɔ~ɜʊ	æɔ ~ æɒ > aɒ
CHOICE	ɔɪ	ɔɪ	oɪ~ʊɪ	oɪ~ɔɪ	oɪ
NEAR	iɚ, ɪɚ	ɪə > iɹ	ɪə	i	i̠ɚ
SQUARE	ɛɚ	ɛə > eɹ	ɛə	ɛ	ɛ̞ɚ
CURE	jʊɚ ~ juɚ	jʊə > jʊɹ	ʊ	jəɻ ~ jɚ	uɚ > ɚ
POOR[nb 1]	ʊɚ ~ oɹ ~ ɔɚ	ʊə ~ ʊɜ > ʊɹ	ɔə ~ oɐ > ɔɹ ~ oɹ		ɔɻ~oɻ
HAPPY	i
HORSES	ə, i	ɪ ~ ɨ ~ ə	i ~ ɨ ~ ʎ	ɪ ~ ɨ ~ ə	ɪ ~ ɪ̈
MARRY	ɛ	æ	æ	ɛ	e̞
MERRY	ɛ	ɛ	ɛ ~ ʌ	ɛ	e̞
MARY	ɛ	e ~ ɛ ~ ɛə	e ~ ɛ	ɛ	e̞
ORANGE	ɔ	ɒ[21]	ɑ	o ~ ɔ	ɑ ~ ɒ ~ o
TOMORROW		ɒ[21]	ɑ	ɑ	ɑ ~ ɒ
HAND					eə
PIN/PEN					ɪ ~ iə
THINK/LENGTH					ɪ ~ ɪi
DANCE					eə

	New England	West_and Midwest	Canadian	Canada (Wells)
FLEECE	iː	iɪ ~ iː	ɪi	i
KIT	ɪ	ɪ	ɪ	ɪ
START	aː(ɹ) ~ ɑː(ɹ)	ɑ	ʌɹ > ɐɹ	ɑr
DRESS	ɛ	ɛ	ɛ	ɛ
TRAP	æ > ɛə	æ	æ ~ a	æ
BATH	æ > ɛə > a	æ	æ ~ a	æ
PALM	aː ~ ɑː	ɑ ~ ɑ̠ ~ ɒ > ɔ	ɒ	ɑ
LOT CLOTH/ THOUGHT	ɑ ~ ɒ	ɑ ~ ɑ̠ ~ ɒ > ɔ	ɒ	ɑ
NORTH	ɔ(ɹ) > ɒə	o > ɔ > ɒ	ɔɹ	or
FORCE	ɔ(ɹ)	o > ɔ	ɔɹ	or
FOOT	ʊ	ʊ ~ ʊ̈	ʊ	ʊ
GOOSE	u ~ ʊuː	uʊ ~ uː ~ ʉ	ʉu	u
STRUT	ə	ɜ	ʌ	ʌ
NURSE	ə(ɹ)	ə	əɹ	ɜr
LETTER	ə(ɹ)	ɜ(ɹ)	əɹ	ɚ
COMMA	ə(ɹ)	ə	ɐ	ə
FACE	eɪ	eɪ ~ eː	eɪ	eɪ
GOAT	əo > ɔ	oʊ ~ ɵʊ > o:	ɵʊ	or
PRICE	ɑɪ > əɪ	aɪ > əɪ	ʌɪ ~ ɜɪ ~ ɐɪ	aɪ
MOUTH	ɑʊ > əʊ	əʊ > æʊ > aʊ	ʌʊ ~ ɜʊ	ɑʊ
CHOICE	ɔɪ	ɔɪ > oɪ	ɔɪ	ɔɪ
NEAR	iə(ɹ)	i	ɪɹ	ɪr
SQUARE	ɛə(ɹ)	ɛ	ɛɹ	ɛr
CURE	(j)ʊə ~ (j)ʊɜ > (j)ʊɹ	ju > jə	jəɹ > juɹ > jɵɹ	ʊr
HAPPY	i
HORSES	ə > ɪ	ɪ ~ ɨ > ə	ə
MARRY/ MERRY/ MARY			ɛ
DANCE		æ̝

Other dialects[edit]

Other dialects of English

	Anglo-Bahamian	Afro-Bahamian	Jamaican	Jamaican (Wells)	T&T creole Acrolect and Mesolect	(General) Trinidad	Guyana	Barbados	Bahamas	New Zealand	New Zealand (Wells)	AusE	AusE (Wells)	Pure Fiji E.	Hawaii P. Basilectal	Hawaii P. Mesolectal	Hausa NigE	Yoruba NigE	Igbo NigE	Southern NigE	Ghanaian	Liberian Settler E.	Cameroon	South Africa	Indian	Pakistani	Singapore	Malaysian	Philippine
FLEECE	i̝ ~ ɪ̝i	i	iː	iː	iː	i	iː	iː	iː	i:, ɪɨ	iː	i:, ᵊi, əi	iː	i ̴ iˑ	i > ij	i > ij	iː	i	i	i	i > iː	i	i > ɛ > e	iː	iː > ɪ	iː	i	i > iː	iː > i > ɪ
KIT	ɪ	ɪ	ɪ	ɪ	ɪ > i	ɪ	ɪ	ɪ	ɪ	ɘ, ə, ə̞, ɪ	ə	ɪ, ə	ɪ	i̠	i	i	ɪ	i	i	i	i > ɪ	ɪ > e	i > ai	ɪ, ə	ɪ > iː	ɪ	i	i	iː > i > ɪ
START	ɑː	ɑː	aːɹ	aː(r)	aː	a x ɑ	aː(r)	aːr	aː	ɐː	aː	ɐː	aː	ă ~ a	ɑ	ɑ ~ ar	a	a	a	a	a	ɑ	a > ɛ	ɑː	ɑː	ɑː	ɑ	ɑ > ɑ̈	ɑr
DRESS	ɛ	ɛ	ɛ	ɛ	ɛ	ɛ	ɛ	ɛ	ɛ	e, e̝, e̝̠	e	e, ɛ	e	e̞	æ̝ ~ e	ɛ ~ æ̝	ə, a	e̝	e̝	ɛ, e	ɛ	ɛ	ɛ > e > i > iɛ ~ iə	e	e > ɛ > ə	e	æ	æ > ɛ > e	ɛ
PALM	ɑ	ɑ	aː	aː	aː	a x ɒ	aː	aː	aː, ɑː	ɐː	aː		aː	ă ~ a	ɑ	ɑ	aː	a	a	a	a(ː)	ɑ > æ	a	ɑː	ɑː	ɑː	ɑ	ɑ > ɑ̈	ɑ
BATH	a~æ	a~æ	aː	aː	aː	a x ɑ	aː	aː	aː	ɐː	aː		aː	ă	æ̝	æ̝ ~æ	aː	a	a	a	a(ː)	æ	a	aː	ɑː	æ~ɑː	ɑ	ɑ > ɑ̈	ɑ
LOT	ɑ	ɑ	ɔ	a x ɒ	ɔ > ʌ > ɒ	ɒ	a x ɑ	ɒ	ɑ	ɒ, ɞ̠	ɒ	ɔ, ɔᵊ, ɔə	ɒ	ɒ̝̆ ~ ɔ̝̆	ɔ	ɔ ~ ɑ ~ ɒ	a	ɔ	ɔ	ɔ	ɔ	ɑ	ɔ > a	ɒ	ɔ > ɒ > a	ɔː	ɔ	ɔ	ɑ
TRAP	a ~ æ	a ~ æ	a ~ ɐ	a	a > æ	a	aː	a	a	ɛ	æ	æ, æe, æː	æ	ɛ̞	æ̝	æ̝ æ	a	a	a	a	a	æ	a > e	æ	æ >ɛ	æ	ɛ	æ > ɛ	ɑ
CLOTH	ɔ	ɔ	ɔː	aː x ɔː	ɔ > ɔː	ɔ x ɒ	aː x ɔː	ɒː	ɒː		ɒ	oː, oᵊː, oə	ɒː	ɒ̝	ɔ	ɔ > ɒ	ɔ	ɔ	ɔ	ɔ	ɔ	ɑ	ɔ		ɔ > o > aː	ɔː ~ ɔ ~ oː	ɔ	ɔ	o
THOUGHT	ɔ	ɔ	ɔː	aː x ɔː	ɔː > ɒ	ɒ x ɔ	aː x ɑː	ɒː	ɑː	ɑː, oə, o.ɐ	ɔː		ɔː	ɒ̝̆ ~ ɔ̞̆	ɔ	ɔ > ɒ	oː	ɔ	ɔ	ɔ	ɔ > ɔː	ɔ	ɔ > au	ɔː	ɔː > oː > aː	ɔː	ɔ	ɔ	o
NORTH	ɔə	ɔə	ɔːɹ	aː(r) x ɔː(r)	ɔː	ɒ x ɔ	aː(r)x ɔː(r)	ɒːr	oa	oː, oə, o.ɐ	ɔː		ɔː	ɒ̝ ɔ̞	ɔ	ɔ ~ or	ɔ	ɔ	ɔ	ɔ	ɔ	o, ɔ̝	ɔ > a	ɔː	ɔː > aː > ɒ	ɔː	ɔ	ɔ	or
FORCE	oə	oə	oːɹ	oːr	ɔː	ɒ x ɔ	oː(r)	oːr	oa	oː, oə, o.ɐ	ɔː		ɔː	ɒ̝ ~ ɒ̝ˑ ~ ɔ̞	ɔ	ɔ~or	o, oa (owa)	ɔ	ɔ	ɔ	ɔ	o, ɔ̝	ɔ	ɔː	ɔː > oː	ɔː ~ ɔʊ	ɔ	ɔ	or
FOOT	ʊ	ʊ	ʊ ~ u	ʊ	ʊ	ʊ	ʊ	ʊ	ʊ	ʊ, ɨ̞	ʊ	ʊ	ʊ	o̝ ~ u̞	u	ʊ	ʊ	u	u	u	u > ʊ	u > ʊ	u	ʊ	ʊ > uː	ʊ ~ uː	u	u	uː > u > ʊ
GOOSE	ʉː	ʉː	uː	uː	uː	u	uː	uː	uː	ʉː,ʏː, ɪʉ, ɐʉ	uː	ʉː, ᵊʉː, ʉːᵊ	uː	u̞ ~ uˑ	u	u	uː	ʊ, u	ʊ, u	u	u > uː	u	u	uː	uː	uː	u	u > uː	uː > u > ʊ
STRUT	ʌ̠	ʌ̠	ɵ ~ o	ʌ	ʌ > ɔː > ɒ	ɒ x ʌ	ʌ	ʌ	ʌ	ɐ, ɐ̞	ʌ	ɐ	ʌ	a̠	ɑ ~ ʌ	ɑ ~ ʌ	ɑ, ʊ	ɔ	ɔ	ɔ	a ~ ɔ > ɛ	ʌ	ɔ > u ~ a	ʌ	ʌ > ə > ʊ	ʌ	ɑ	ɑ	ʌ
NURSE	ə ~ ɜ	ɜ ~ əi	ɜː	ʌ x ʌr x ɜːr	ɜː > ɔː	ɒ x 3	ʌ x ʌr	[ɝː]	əi	ɵː, œː, øː	ɜː	ɜː	ɜː	ɛ ɛ̠	ɜr	ɜr	aː	ɜ	ɜ	ɜ, ɔ, a	ɛ(ː)	ʌ > ʌ	ɔ > ɛ > e	ɜː	ɜː > ʌ > ə > aː	ʌ	ə	ɔ	ɛr
LETTER	ə	ə	o ~ əːɹ	a [ɐ] x ʌr x ə	ə > ʌ	a x ə	a x ə	/ər/ [ɚ]	ə		ə			ɐ ~ a̠ ~ ă	ɑ	ɑ ~ ɚ	a					ə	a~e~ɔ	ə	ə	ʌ	ə	ə	ɛr
COMMA	ə	ə	o	a [ɐ] x ʌr x ə	a > ə > ʌ	a x ə		ə	ə	ɘ, ə, ɜ, ɐ	ə<d/iv>			ɐ̞ ~ a̠ ~ ă	ɑ	ɑ ~ ə	a					ə > ʌ	a ~ e ~ ɔ > u	ə	a	ʌ	ə	ə > ʌ	ɑ
FACE	ei	ɛi	eː	e [iɛ x eː]	eː	e	eː			æe, ɐe, ɐi	ʌɪ	ɛe, æe	ʌɪ	e ~ eː ~ ei	eɪ ~ e		e	e	a	e, a	e~ei > ei/ɛ~ɛi > ɛi	e	e > a > ej	əɪ	eː	eɪ ~ eː	e	e > eː	eɪ
GOAT	ɵu		oː	o [uɔ x oː]	oː	o	oː			ɐʉ, ɐɨ	ʌʊ	əʉ	ʌʊ	o̞~ o̞ː ~ o̞u	oʊ ~ o	oʊ ~ o	oː	o, ɔ			o ~ ou > ou / ɔ ~ ɔu > ɔu	o	o > ɔ > u	əʊ	oː > ɔː	əʊ ~ oː ~ ʊ	o	o > oː	o
PRICE	ɑi	ai ~ ɑi	ai	aɪ				ʌi	ʌɪ	ɑe, ɒe, ɑi	ɑɪ	ɑe, ɔe	ɑɪ	aĭ	ɑɪ	ɑɪ	ai, əi	ai			ai > ai > a	a > aɨ, ai	a > i > aj	aɪ			ai	ai	ɑɪ
MOUTH	aø ~ aɛ	aɔ ~ ɑɔ	aʊ~ɵʊ	ɔʊ				ʌʊ	ɑʊ	æʉ, ɛʉ	æʊ	æɔ, ɐɔ	æʊ	ă̝o~ă̝ʊ̝	ɑʊ	ɑʊ	au, əu	au			au > au ~ a	ʌu, au	au > aw > aɔ	əʊ	aʊ	aʊ	au	au	ɑʊ
CHOICE	oi	ɔi		aɪ x ɔɪ	ɔɪ	ɔɪ	aɪ x ɔɪ	ʌi x oi	əi	oe, oi	ɔɪ	oɪ	ɔɪ	o~oː~o̞e	oɪ~ɔɪ		ɔi					ʌɨ, ʌi > ʌ	ɔi > ɔj	ɔɪ	ɔi > oɪ > oe	ɔɪ	ɔi	ɔi	oɪ
NEAR	eə ~ iə		eːɹ	eːr [ɪɛɹ x eːɹ]	ˑɛː	eə	eː(r)	eːr	eə	iə, iːɐ, e.ɐ, eə	iə ~ iːə ~ iː, eə	ɪə, ɪᵊ, ɪː	iə ~ iːə ~ iː	i ~ iɐ̆	iɑ	iɑ ~ ir	ia	ia	ia	ia, ija	iɛ > ia	iə, ɪə > eə / i, ɪ > e	iɛ ~ iə	ɪə	iə > iːjə > ɪjəː > eə	ɪə ~ eə	iə	iə > iː	ir
SQUARE	eə	eə	eːɹ	eːr [ɪɛɹ x eːɹ]	ɛː > ˑɛː	eə	eː(r)	eːr	eə	eə, iːɐ, e.ɐ, iə	eə	eə, eᵊ, eː	eə	e ~ eɐ̆	eɑ	eɑ~ er	ea	ia, ea	ia, ea	ia, ea	ɛ > ɛa	ɛ > e, æ	ɛ > e > iɛ ~ iə	eə	æ > eː > eə > ɛː	eə ~ əɪ ~ ɑɪ	æ	æ > ɛ	er
CURE	uə	uə		oːr	juɜ	ɒ x ɔ	oː(r)	oːr	oa	ʉə, ʉ.ɐ	ʊə x uːə ~ uː, ɔː	ʊə, ʉə, oː	ʊə x ɔː ~ uːə ~ uː	u ~ ʉɐ ~ uɐ	uɑ	uɑ ~ ur	ua (uwa)	ua	ua	ua	uɛ ~ uɔ ~ ɔ	o	ɔ > ua	ʊə	ɪjoː > ɪjɔ > ɪjuː > ɪjuə	juə ~ eɔː ~ jeɔ	ɔ	ɔ	ur
HAPPY	ɪ	ɪ	i	[ɪ], occas. [i]	ɪ > i	i	[i]	iː	[ɪ̞]	i, ə̯i, iˑ	iː		iː	ĭ	i	i	i	i	i	i	i ~ ɪ	i	i > e	[ɪ̞ ~ i]	ɪ > iː	ɪ	i	i	ɪ

Secondary lexical sets[edit]

	Cardiff E.	T&T creole Acrolect and Mesolect
BEER	iːə	ˑɛ > iɛ

	Orkney	Shetland	Trad.R.Welsh E.	T&T creole Acrolect and Mesolect	New Zealand	AusE	Pure Fiji E.	Hawaii P. Basilectal	Hawaii P. Mesolectal	Ghanaian	Liberian Settler E.	Indian	Pakistani	Malaysian	Philippine
HORSES	ɪ	ə	ɪ	ɪ	ɘ, ə, ɜ, ɐ	ə	ɐ̆	e	e ~ ə ~ ɪ	iː > ɪ ~ e	ə > ɛ	ə > ɨ	ɪ	ɔ	ɛ

	Scotland St. E.	Urban Scots	Orkney	Shetland	Philadelphia	The Inland North	R. Southern	W and Mid-W.	Anglo-Bahamian	Afro-Bahamian	Ghanaian	Cameroon	Pakistani
GOAL	o	o	o ~ ɔ	o	oʊ	oʊ ~ o̞ː	ɔ̟u ~ ɒ̟u	oʊ > oː	ɵu	ou	o ~ ou > ou / ɔ ~ ɔu > ɔu	o > ɔ > u	əʊ ~ oː

	Scotland St. E.	Urban Scots	Trad.R.Welsh E.	R. Southern	Canadian	Anglo-Bahamian	Afro-Bahamian
PRIZE	ae	ae		aːɛ ~ aːæ ~ aː	ɑɪ	ɑi ~ ai	aː
STAY	e	əi ~ e	[eɪ] (or eː)

	Trad.R.Welsh E.	The Inland North	R. Southern	T&T creole Acrolect and Mesolect
ONE	ʌ ̴ ɔ
BOAR	oə
POWER	auwə	aɔɚ
FIRE	aijə		aæɚ ̴ aːɚ	aiə
EARS	œ ̴ iə
TUESDAY	ɪu

	Trad.R.Welsh E.	R. Northern Irish	Pop. Dublin	Fash. Dublin	R. South West	Supr.South	Liberian Settler E.
SNOW	[ou] (or oː)
SOFT		ɔ(ː)	aː	ɔː	ɑ	ɒ
PRIDE		ɛɪ, aɪ	əɪ	ɑɪ	æɪ	ɑɪ
DANCE		æ, ɑ	æː	aː, (ɑː)	æː, aː	aː	æ̝
PATH		ɑ	æː	aː, (ɑː)	æː, aː	aː

	New England	R. Southern	Canadian
GOING		ɔ̟u ̴ ɒ̟u
POOL	u	ʊ̠ ̴ u
PULL	uʊ	ʊ̠ ̴ u
FEEL	i	ɪ ̴ iə ̴ i̞i
FILL	iɪ	ɪ ̴ iə ̴ ï
FALL		ei ~ ɛ
FELL		ɛ
MIRROR/NEARER		i̠
COW			aʊ ~ ɑʊ
STAR			ɑɹ > ɐɹ

	Jamaican	T&T creole Acrolect and Mesolect	New Zealand
BROAD	ɔː
EIGHT		eː
BARE		ˑɛː > iɛ
TREACLE			ɯ, ɔ̝, o, ʊ, u, ɤ

	Liberian Settler E.	Cameroon	Singapore	Malaysian	Philippine
BED	e
SPHERE		ɛ > iɛ ̴ iə
ZERO		e > i > ɛ
CARRIER		ia
CORDIAL		ia ̴ iɛ ̴ iɔ ̴ iu
TRUER		ua
TRUANT		ua ̴ uɛ ̴ uɔ
OFFICES		i
PAINTED		ɛ
VILLAGE		e
TERM		ɛ > e > a
POOR			uə	uə	ur

Use in other languages[edit]

Lexical sets have also been used to describe the pronunciation of other languages, such as French,^[22] Irish^[23] and Scots.^[24]

See also[edit]

• Diaphoneme
• Homophone
• Minimal pair

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

• Wells, John C. (1982). Accents of English I: An Introduction. Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-29719-2. 
• Wells, John C. (1982b). Accents of English III: Beyond the British Isles. Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-28541-0. 
• Burridge, Kate; Mesthrie, Rajend; Upton, Clive (2004). Kortmann, Bernd; Schneider, Edgar W., eds. A handbook of Varieties of English, vol.1. Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-11-019718-1. 

External links[edit]

• Nicole Taylor (with the collaboration of Norma Mendoza-Denton [1]), The University of Arizona, Anthropology 383, Standard Lexical Sets, 2002 (in Archive.is)
• University of Pennsylvania, Linguistics 001, Lecture 9: Pronunciation of English