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Definition 2024
wine-whine_merger
wine-whine merger
English
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
- wh labiodentalization
References
- Phonological history of wh on Wikipedia.Wikipedia