# Do you pronounce "cot" and "caught" with different vowels, and if so... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 13, 2006, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-cot-and-caught-with-different-vowels-and-if-so/344259 "2006-02-13T10:10:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-cot-and-caught-with-different-vowels-and-if-so/344259/1 "2006-02-13T10:10:53Z")
…which vowel do you use in “Los” as in “Los Angeles”? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-cot-and-caught-with-different-vowels-and-if-so/344259/2 "2006-02-13T10:17:55Z")
All the same to me. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-cot-and-caught-with-different-vowels-and-if-so/344259/3 "2006-02-13T10:36:04Z")
All three are different to me. The “o” in Los Angeles is about half-way between the other two. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-cot-and-caught-with-different-vowels-and-if-so/344259/4 "2006-02-13T10:38:04Z")
I pronounce the ‘o’ in cot and Los in the same way. Caught is more ‘cawt’. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-cot-and-caught-with-different-vowels-and-if-so/344259/5 "2006-02-13T10:41:08Z")
Yes I pronounce cot and caught with different vowels. Cot rhymes with not, pot, lot, spot etc. Caught rhymes with thought, nought, taught, bought etc. In Los Angeles I use a vowel that’s pretty much the same as “cot”. Perhaps a tiny bit more closed. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-cot-and-caught-with-different-vowels-and-if-so/344259/6 "2006-02-13T11:17:10Z")
Longer “a” in caught. I think pronouncing them the same is more common in the US; I moved here from Scotland and this was one of the pronounciation difference I noticed. ---
**Author:** ![Sgt.Pepper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Sgt.Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sgt.Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-cot-and-caught-with-different-vowels-and-if-so/344259/7 "2006-02-13T11:32:52Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > Yes I pronounce cot and caught with different vowels. > > Cot rhymes with not, pot, lot, spot etc. > > Caught rhymes with thought, nought, taught, bought etc. > > In Los Angeles I use a vowel that’s pretty much the same as “cot”. Perhaps a tiny bit more closed. Wait, this may be because I’m just getting up, but the words in the ‘cot’ list rhyme with words from the ‘caught’ list. In fact, ‘not’ and ‘naught’ are pronounced the same, are they not? I wonder if these are just more examples of what the op has brought up. To me they’re all the same. ---
**Author:** ![Dusty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@Dusty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dusty)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-cot-and-caught-with-different-vowels-and-if-so/344259/8 "2006-02-13T12:31:24Z")
They’re all three different. “[Caught](http://m-w.com/cgi-bin/audio.pl?catch002.wav=caught)” rhymes with “taught”, “[cot](http://m-w.com/cgi-bin/audio.pl?cot00001.wav=cot)” rhymes with “spot”. The “Los” in Los Angeles is somewhere between the two, but nearer “caught”. > [@](#): > > …‘not’ and ‘naught’ are pronounced the same, are they not? To me? Yes, they are not; they’re not even similar. But I hear some places even pronounce “pin” and “pen” the same, so what do I know? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-cot-and-caught-with-different-vowels-and-if-so/344259/9 "2006-02-13T12:53:10Z")
> [@Sgt.Pepper](#): > > In fact, ‘not’ and ‘naught’ are pronounced the same, are they not? Do you pronounce “naughty” and “knotty” the same? ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-cot-and-caught-with-different-vowels-and-if-so/344259/10 "2006-02-13T13:19:50Z")
> [@Sgt.Pepper](#): > > Wait, this may be because I’m just getting up, but the words in the ‘cot’ list rhyme with words from the ‘caught’ list. In fact, ‘not’ and ‘naught’ are pronounced the same, are they not? I wonder if these are just more examples of what the op has brought up. > > To me they’re all the same. See this is the problem with comparing the pronunciation of words to other words that rhyme. Chances are that if a population pronounce _cot_ and _caught_ the same way, then they’ll pronounce everything else that rhymes with both words the same way as well. I pronounce _caught_ like _court_. Is _court_ the same as _cot_ to you as well? I pronounce _los_ to rhyme with _cot_. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-cot-and-caught-with-different-vowels-and-if-so/344259/11 "2006-02-13T13:25:10Z")
I agree with Dusty 100%. All three are different. Pen/pin and naught/not are different too. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-cot-and-caught-with-different-vowels-and-if-so/344259/12 "2006-02-13T13:30:41Z")
[Here’s](http://cfprod.imt.uwm.edu/Dept/FLL/linguistics/dialect/staticmaps/q_28.html) what a survey found on this issue. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-cot-and-caught-with-different-vowels-and-if-so/344259/13 "2006-02-13T13:41:03Z")
cot=“kaht”\* caught=“kawt” los=“lawse” (Sounds just like _loss_) \*Chicagoian, born and bred. This one even makes me wince, it’s so flat and harsh. 'Da Bearsh! ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-cot-and-caught-with-different-vowels-and-if-so/344259/14 "2006-02-13T14:13:00Z")
What **WhyNot** said – and I have a fairly generic East Coast accent. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-cot-and-caught-with-different-vowels-and-if-so/344259/15 "2006-02-13T14:20:54Z")
cot and caught are different, and Los is like neither cot rhymes with pot caught rhymes with fraught and Los sounds a little bit like “lows” but with a softer “s” Does that make any sense? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-cot-and-caught-with-different-vowels-and-if-so/344259/16 "2006-02-13T14:22:14Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > Yes I pronounce cot and caught with different vowels. > > Cot rhymes with not, pot, lot, spot etc. > > Caught rhymes with thought, nought, taught, bought etc. > > In Los Angeles I use a vowel that’s pretty much the same as “cot”. Perhaps a tiny bit more closed. NY/NJ guy here. I use the same pronunciations. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-cot-and-caught-with-different-vowels-and-if-so/344259/17 "2006-02-13T14:25:34Z")
Caught has the same vowel sound as “lost”. Cot has a shorter vowel sound, like not and pot. To me it’s “cot” and “cawt” for “cot” and “caught”. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-cot-and-caught-with-different-vowels-and-if-so/344259/18 "2006-02-13T14:31:23Z")
> [@jabiru](#): > > I pronounce the ‘o’ in cot and Los in the same way. Caught is more ‘cawt’. This fellow Sydneysider says them the same way. However, based on the concern raised that rhyming comparisons are going to be possibly worthless because of their being pronounced similarly by any given local population, I’ll try to “think like an American” here. For mine, I pronounce both ‘cot’ and ‘Los’ the with the same ‘o’ sound an American with a generic ‘newscaster’ non-regional accent would pronounce the first ‘o’ in “Boston”. It’s ‘kot’ and ‘Loss Angeleez’ to me. I have, however, heard Americans say “Lows Angeles”, which while closer (to my ears) to the proper Spanish, is also a little exaggerated. The Spanish ‘Los’ is just a fraction shorter and less full. ---
**Author:** ![Paranoid\_Randroid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paranoid_randroid/32/18_2.png) [@Paranoid\_Randroid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paranoid_Randroid)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-cot-and-caught-with-different-vowels-and-if-so/344259/19 "2006-02-13T14:34:01Z")
I pronounce “caught” with a _slightly_ nasal effect, and hold it just the tiniest bit longer, I think. “Cot” has the same vowel sound as “off” or the first part of “mafia”, and, incidentally, the “los” in “Los Angeles”. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-cot-and-caught-with-different-vowels-and-if-so/344259/20 "2006-02-13T14:35:17Z")
> [@jabiru](#): > > I pronounce the ‘o’ in cot and Los in the same way. Caught is more ‘cawt’. Yeah, that’s the phonetic explanation I was seeking. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-cot-and-caught-with-different-vowels-and-if-so/344259.md?page=2)