Vowels MOUTH, LOUD

Fronting of the nucleus and lowering of the glide, resulting in  and, in some areas, [æa], are widespread in white Southern English. Not all speakers show the fronting, and most speakers show  under weak stress. In two areas – the South Carolina/Georgia Low Country and southern Louisiana – fronting was traditionally absent. Many speakers born before 1960 show breaking, resulting in triphthongal .

Two local variations occurred in traditional dialects, though both are recessive today. In the Tidewater and Piedmont sections of Virginia and adjacent parts of Maryland and North Carolina, as well as in the South Carolina/Georgia Low Country, positional variation developed. Before voiced consonants and word-finally (LOUD), the variants described above occurred. Before voiceless consonants (MOUTH), both the nucleus and the glide were higher. The glide also tended to be fronted, with the result of . On the Delmarva Peninsula and around the Pamlico Sound, fronting of the glide occurred with low nuclei in most contexts. The nuclei tended not to be much fronted. Common variants there were .