“Short” vowels

TRAP

The TRAP vowel serves to globally distinguish North American dialects, where it is realized as a slightly raised front [æ], from Caribbean varieties, which have a low front [a] (except for the Turks and Caicos Islands, apparently). Further raising to mid-front positions (an element of the “Northern Cities Shift”) may be observed in some dialects of southern and eastern North America (SAmE, PhilE, InlNE, New York City [henceforth NYCE], younger speakers of New England dialect [henceforth NEngE], Nfl dE, BahE, and ChcE). In contrast, lowering to [a] and also backing appears in California and also, as the most salient element of a chain shift labeled “Canadian Shift”, among young Ontario speakers. This vowel is more prone to diphthongization with a centralizing offglide, normal in SAmE (though, again, recessive in urban environments) and AAVE and possible in a wider range of mostly mainland dialects (PhilE, InlNE, NYCE, NEngE, Nfl dE, and ChcE, as well as T&TC).