Vowels TRAP

An unshifted form, [æ], is common, but the Southern drawl results in triphthongal forms such as [æ ε æ], especially before /d/ and /n/. Speakers born between the World Wars may also show some raising of TRAP to [ε]. For other raising.

Both the triphthongization and the raising are subsiding among young Southern whites. A few younger speakers from, e.g., Texas, who show the LOT/THOUGHT merger have TRAP shifted toward [a], but this retraction is not yet as common as in some non-Southern regions (e.g., California and Canada), though it is increasing in parts of the Midwest on the margins of the South (e.g., central Ohio).