Southeastern phonology: vowels and diphthongs FOOT

Another recent trend in London and Southeastern accents is FOOT fronting. In the 1980s, Gimson (1984: 119) and Wells (1982: 133) agreed that the FOOT vowel showed little variability. The only variability they conceded consisted in the occasional occurrence of “more centralized and/or unrounded” variants (Wells 1982: 133). Wells (1982: 133) described them as characteristic of “innovative or urban speech” in England, Wales and Ireland. In the meantime, this innovative tendency has led to further fronting of the FOOT vowel resulting in variants of the  type.

Tollfree (1999) has found such variants in London and Altendorf (2003) in London, Colchester and Canterbury. Williams and Kerswill (1999) have found even more front variants of the  type in Milton Keynes and Reading, these variants being particularly favored by middle-class speakers. Torgersen (2002) reports on patterns of FOOT fronting in Southeastern English, which reveal effects for speaker age and speaking style, as well as effects for phonological context and lexical item.