Merger of /ɑɹ/ and /ɔɹ/ in St. Louis

As noted above, across most of the region discussed here the vowel of NORTH (historically /ɔɹ/) merges with that of FORCE (historically /oɹ/). In the St. Louis area and perhaps elsewhere, however, an alternative merger occurs in which NORTH merges with START and so pairs such as for ~ far, lord ~ lard, and born ~ barn become homophones. The usual phonetic outcome of this merger is a back vowel near [ɒ] or [ɔ]. This feature carries a high degree of social awareness and is stereotypically represented in the pronunciation of the local highway forty-four as [fɒɹɾifoɹ] . Research on this merger is limited, but it is reported to be most common among working class St. Louisans and is heard with decreasing frequency as one moves up the socioeconomic ladder. The merger appears to be recessive as younger St. Louisans tend to exhibit the more widespread pattern that merges NORTH with FORCE.