cot-caught merger
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
English [edit]
Noun [edit]
cot-caught merger (uncountable)
- (phonology) A phonemic merger in some varieties of English (especially American and Canadian English) in which the vowels in words such as "hot" and "doll" and in words such as "law" and "talk" are pronounced identically, making the words "cot" and "caught" homophones.
