wine-whine merger

English

Pronunciation

(General Australian) IPA^(key): /wɑenˈwɑen ˌmɜːdʒə(ɹ)/
(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /waɪnˈwaɪn ˌmɜːdʒə(ɹ)/
(General New Zealand) IPA^(key): /wɒenˈwɒen ˌmɵːdʒɘ(ɹ)/
(Scottish English) IPA^(key): /wəinˈʍəin ˌmɛɾdʒəɾ/
(US, no wine-whine merger) IPA^(key): /waɪnˈʍaɪn ˌmɝdʒɚ/
(US, wine-whine merger) IPA^(key): /waɪnˈwaɪn ˌmɝdʒɚ/
Hyphenation: wine‧whine‧mer‧ger

Noun

wine-whine merger (plural wine-whine mergers)

(phonology) A merger in which [ʍ] (the sound heard at the beginning of the word whine in a Scottish accent or several accents in the United States) becomes [w] (the sound heard at the beginning of the word wine); in accents where this merger occurs, whine and wine are homophones.

See also

labiodentalization

References

Phonological history of wh on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

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