# UNIFON Question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 26, 2011, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unifon-question/569059 "2011-01-26T16:24:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zyanthia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Zyanthia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyanthia)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unifon-question/569059/1 "2011-01-26T16:24:32Z")
While reading the thread about starting their own alphabet, there was a link to Unifon. I never heard of it, so I went and read. I noticed on the page they have two vowel sounds, when for the ‘A’ in all, one for the ‘O’ in on. To me, this vowel sound is the same and, when I looked it up on [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com), all is spelled phonetically awl; on is spelled phonetically awn. This leads me to believe it is the same vowel sound. What is the difference in the vowel sound that UNIFON thinks they need two letters to represent? ---
**Author:** ![umop\_ap\_sdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dbc845/32.png) [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unifon-question/569059/2 "2011-01-26T16:31:54Z")
To me they’re very different sounds, but some people pronounce them the same. My “on” has the same vowel as “hot”, but I’ve heard some people without the [low back vowel merger](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonological_history_of_the_low_back_vowels#Cot-caught_merger) pronounce “on” as “awn”. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unifon-question/569059/3 "2011-01-26T16:47:01Z")
> [@Zyanthia](#): > > While reading the thread about starting their own alphabet, there was a link to Unifon. I never heard of it, so I went and read. I noticed on the page they have two vowel sounds, when for the ‘A’ in all, one for the ‘O’ in on. > > To me, this vowel sound is the same and, when I looked it up on [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com), all is spelled phonetically awl; on is spelled phonetically awn. This leads me to believe it is the same vowel sound. > > What is the difference in the vowel sound that UNIFON thinks they need two letters to represent? It sounds like your dialect has a “caught-cot” merger. In many English dialects, these two sounds are different – _all_ and _caught_ would be [ɔl] and [kɔt] (open-mid back rounded vowel); _on_ and _cot_ would be [ɒn] and [kɒt] (open back rounded vowel). If you’re American, then it’s possible you’re using an unrounded low-back vowel for both: [ɑl] [ɑn] [kɑt]. ---
**Author:** ![Zyanthia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Zyanthia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyanthia)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unifon-question/569059/4 "2011-01-26T17:26:28Z")
You hit the nail on the head. Everything they said about the Caught/cot merger is exactly how I talk, thank you! ---
**Author:** ![majorbett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@majorbett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/majorbett)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2011, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unifon-question/569059/5 "2011-05-13T03:31:59Z")
The o in \*on can be ahn or awn. In Merriam-Webster, the dominant pronunciation is awn /ôn/ but in Thorndike-Barnhart, the preferences are reversed. The need for a symbol for both /A/ and /O/ is more evident in a word such as \*not. Pronouncing the word as nawt /nOt/ would confuse \*not and \*naught. Here is the complete grapheme-phoneme table for Unifon. [![](https://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e25/majorbett/GP-table/luv-gtabl.gif) ](https://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e25/majorbett/GP-table/luv-gtabl.gif) Malone chose o for /A/ and x (a lambda in the Unifon script) for /O/. I have no problem with on for ahn but I do have a problem with \*\*or \*\*for ahr \*are. Malone was probably concerned about words such as \*ball where the alternative would be **bol** for ball instead of bxl, where the x references an A form. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2011, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unifon-question/569059/6 "2011-05-13T04:07:45Z")
Why, oh why, do I have Comic Sans installed on this computer? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2011, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unifon-question/569059/7 "2011-05-13T16:55:30Z")
Obviously, so you can enjoy **majorbett** ’s post as it was originally intended!