Monophthongs and diphthongs LOT (POT), CLOTH (OFF), THOUGHT, NORTH and FORCE

There is no phonemic distinction between the vowels of LOT and CLOTH. Phonetically, they are nearly identical, i.e. a raised [ɒ], although LOT is usually extra short. For some speakers, LOT is realized as an extra short and lowered [ɔ]. As noted above, for many speakers of Pure Fiji English, the LOT vowel is also not phonemically distinct from NORTH and FORCE, thus giving rise to examples such as (1d), (1e), and (1f) above.

Although there is some slight phonetic variation between these three vowels, they are virtually identical, and are generally realized as a raised [ɒ] or a lowered [ɔ]. In the case of THOUGHT, the vowel also tends to be extra short and may be lengthened somewhat in FORCE [ɒ].