I’ve been out of planet for a while and having returned I have noticed (in several American TV series) that the USA pronunciation of the word “aunt” seems to have changed, at least in my estimation. It used to be, for me, “ant” (crawling insect). Now I am hearing Americans say “ont”, (as in Ontario, Canada) sort of British style.
What he said. Kinda sounds like there is an “r” in it but to a native Englishman you clearly aren’t saying “aren’t”. Overall pronunciation is otherwise the same though.
If speaking to someone who doesn’t know one’s family, how do you differentiate between your female relative and your pet ant in conversation ?
As in: “I took Ant Mildred for a walk this morning.” or “The cost of feeding my Ants is going through the roof.”
Some regional accents in the UK, or at least in England, shorten the long “ah” sound in words like “aunt” and “bath” to the vowel sound in “hat”.
Time was, “au” seems to have been used to signify the long “ah” sound. I’m told my grandmother used to speak about “lahndry”, and I’ve seen old newsreels of upper crust ladies about to smash a bottle of champagne over a ship and speaking about “lahnching”.
Here’s some rough regional maps of the pronunciation of “aunt.” About 10% pronounce it “ahnt.” Like F.U. Shakespeare, in my region (Chicago), I’ve noticed the difference in pronunciation among whites vs African-Americans.
When I was a little kid, my big sister informed me that the word “aunt” was supposed to be pronounced like the insect “ant.” I didn’t believe her, because I had heard it pronounced like “ain’t” by everyone I knew and had never heard this weird “ant” pronunciation.
My wife grew up in Connecticut and always pronounced in awn’t. That still seems to me an odd pronunciation. Here in Upstate NY that’s almost unheard of. I would certainly notice if other people started talking like my wife.
All I can think of is that tv series seem to star only people from Britain these days, so maybe that’s what the OP is hearing.