Southeastern phonology: vowels and diphthongs GOAT-GOAL split and GOAT

London English and other Southeastern accents are subject to a phoneme split whereby oppositions such as goal  and goat  have developed. Interaction of this alternation with L vocalization has led to the emergence of further contrasts between pairs like sole-soul  and so-sew .

In London and Southeastern varieties the GOAT vowel is diphthongal. The basic socio-phonetic principle is: the more front and open the starting-point, the more basilectal the variant. The most basilectal form is a variant approaching   with a full front and open starting-point. Suburban working-class and middle-class speakers use a variant with a less open starting-point in the area of . Recently, an additional new set of variants has emerged. The first element is similar to the old mesolectal London GOAT variant , but the endpoint is different. This element has been considerably advanced and has variable lip rounding resulting in alternation between  and . These new variants were found by Altendorf (2003) in London, Colchester and Canterbury and by Williams and Kerswill (1999) in Milton Keynes and Reading. Williams and Kerswill (1999: 143) report even further fronting of the second element resulting in variants of the  type. In addition, they have found an extra set of variants in Reading. The Reading adolescents have variants with a more central onset of the  type which they use alongside with the Milton Keynes set.