Vowels FLEECE

Unless it is truncated–as would happen with weak stress or rapid speech–the FLEECE vowel is slightly diphthongal. In white Southern speech, diphthongal forms vary from the  form that predominates in other parts of North America to Wider  forms. The latter are most common in areas in which the FACE nucleus is strongly lowered, especially eastern Tennessee and much of Alabama (Labov, Ash and Boberg fc.). Variants that are even wider, such as [əi] , are rare.