wine-whine merger

Pronunciation

• (AU) IPA ^(key): /wɑenˈwɑen ˌmɜːdʒə(r)/
• (UK) IPA ^(key): /waɪnˈwaɪn ˌmɜːdʒə(r)/
• (NZ) IPA ^(key): /wɒenˈwɒen ˌmɵːdʒɘ(r)/
• (US) IPA ^(key): /waɪnˈʍaɪn ˌmɝdʒɚ/
• (US) IPA ^(key): /waɪnˈwaɪn ˌmɝdʒɚ/
• Hyphenation: wine‧whine‧mer‧ger

Proper noun

Proper noun wine-whine merger

1. (phonology) Wine-whine merger is a merger in which IPA ^(key): [ʍ] (the voiceless sound heard at the beginning of the word whine in a Scottish accent or several accents in the United States) becomes IPA ^(key): [w] (the sound heard at the beginning of the word wine); in accents where this merger occurs, whine and wine are homophones.