The long vowels

FLEECE

The FLEECE vowel is usually slightly diphthongized. It is a rising diphthong (Catford 1977: 216) with a very brief first element, which may nevertheless be quite open.

FLEECE and NEAR are neutralized before an /l/, so that reel and real are never distinct. They are also neutralized before an /r/, so that searing rhymes with key-ring (and caring and key-ring may be homophonous where the NEAR-SQUARE merger applies). In both these cases the vowel heard is monophthongal rather than diphthongal.