Core features of CajVE pronunciation

Two fundamental phonological principles are at the heart of CajVE. The first one is the deletion of final consonants. CajVE speakers do not pronounce final consonants and they also drop final consonant clusters [nd, st, lm]. Not only does this occur in bimorphemic words but there appears to be a very high rate of deletion in monomorphemes, in VC contexts as well as CC contexts. We have noted the deletion of final [t] late, rent, [d] hand, food, wide, [θ] both, [r] together, [l] school, and both final [r] and [k] in New York (the absence of the whole cluster). We also notice the variable absence of the final consonant [z] in Larose (town), final [ʋ] twelve, [s] house, fence, [n] nine, [m] mom, [f] life and even the absence of [ʃ] in fish. This phonological rule has an important morphosyntactical consequence: final consonants which happen to be morphological markers, e.g., final consonants representing -ed or -s (as reduced copula, possessive, plural or third sing person), will be deleted at the ends of words.

The second phonological principle is the reduction or absence of glides in the four long stressed vowels [i], [e], [o] and [u] in CajVE. The high front vowel [i] in such words as me, street, and read, the mid front vowel [e], as in way, make and take, the mid back vowel [o], in words such as know, both, and over, and the high back vowel [u], as in food, school, and two, are realized as monophthongs [i:, e:, o:, u:] respectively. Mid vowels [o, e] are monophthongized more frequently than high vowels [i, u]. The diphthongs [ai], [aʊ] and [ɔi] in words such as fire, now, and oil also loose their glide and become monophthongs [a:], [ɑ:] and [ɔ:] . This vocalic feature is very striking because Southerners produce considerable lengthening and gliding.