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Analysis of US English Talking Dictionary "Awe" Phoneme Dropping
Truespel analysis of "awe-dropping" in US English talking dictionaries  390c9c4bfaad6f257404085b0595ec7b.png
by Thomas Zurinskas
Problem:  Some US dialects are dropping the "awe" ~au phoneme, replacing it with "ah" ~aa.
In talking dictionaries the speakers are sometimes prone to doing this
even though the phonetics shown is ~au, not ~aa.  This is not good, 
Below are 145 words containing ~au out of the 5k top words of US English, 
by Collins Cobuild.   I estimate these 5k words make up about 90% 
of words in common text (books, mags, newsprint).  
There are 336,173 instances of appearance of ~au in the database.
I listened to three talking dictionaries below (for up to 60%of words):
1  Merriam -Webster (m-w.com)
2 American Heritage (ahdictionary.com)
3 The Free Dictionary (thefreedictionary.com)  (click US flag)
Analysis
1 Dictionary  2, 3 did not awe-drop but for one female said ~u for ~au in "off"
2 Dictionary 1 had 3 females and 1 swap ~aa in place of ~au.
3 Female voices tend to be weaker in pronouncing ~au and are prone tp ~au drop.
4 Dictionary voices should follow phonetic notation without dialect influence.  Under 3% of "awe" phonemes were mispronounced.
instance count 100% (2.2%) out of 15,392,580 instances
word list count 145 (2,9%) for the top 5,000 words
data ~au words ~au
count rank tradspel truespel  count % accum  1 MW sex 2 A H sex 3 TFD sex
1 34 all ~aul 64,138 18.5% 18.5% ~au m ~au m ~au f
2 117 also ~aulsoe 16,217 4.7% 23.2% ~au m ~au m ~au f
3 129 long ~laung 14,187 4.1% 27.3% ~au m ~au m ~au f
4 130 off ~auf 14,065 4.1% 31.4% ~au m ~au m ~u f
5 141 thought ~thhaut 12,890 3.7% 35.1% ~au m ~au m ~au f
6 152 always ~aulwaez 11,796 3.4% 38.5% ~au m ~au m ~au f
7 179 small ~smaul 9,312 2.7% 41.2% ~au m ~au m ~au f
8 203 almost ~aulmoest 8,419 2.4% 43.6% ~au m ~au m ~aa f
9 206 often ~aufin 8,354 2.4% 46.0% ~au m ~au m ~au f
10 221 water ~wauter 7,746 2.2% 48.3% ~aa f ~au f ~au f
11 227 called ~kauld 7,503 2.2% 50.4% ~aa f ~au m x x
12 245 saw ~sau 6,949 2.0% 52.5% ~au m ~au m ~au f
13 258 already ~aulrredee 6,478 1.9% 54.3% ~au m ~au m ~au f
14 315 along ~ullaung 5,268 1.5% 55.8% ~aa m ~u m ~au f
15 318 although ~aultthoe 5,216 1.5% 57.4% ~au m ~au m ~au f
16 338 across ~ukraus 5,050 1.5% 58.8% ~aa f ~au m ~au f
17 364 talk ~tauk 4,663 1.3% 60.2% ~au f ~au m ~au f
18 375 gone ~gaun 4,537 1.3% 61.5% ~au m ~au m ~au f
19 385 brought ~braut 4,424 1.3% 62.7%
20 392 office ~aufis 4,349 1.3% 64.0%
21 405 call ~kaul 4,260 1.2% 65.2%
22 415 longer ~launger 4,116 1.2% 66.4%
23 464 lost ~laust 3,729 1.1% 67.5%
24 468 wrong ~raung 3,707 1.1% 68.6%
25 526 talking ~taukeeng 3,273 0.9% 69.5%
26 576 strong ~straung 2,933 0.8% 70.4%
27 591 law ~lau 2,880 0.8% 71.2%
28 605 walked ~waukd 2,803 0.8% 72.0%
29 642 cause ~kauz 2,593 0.7% 72.8%
30 672 wall ~waul 2,474 0.7% 73.5%
31 689 cost ~kaust 2,410 0.7% 74.2%
32 772 walk ~wauk 2,140 0.6% 74.8%
33 788 hall ~haul 2,107 0.6% 75.4%
34 838 caught ~kaut 1,985 0.6% 76.0%
35 855 fall ~faul 1,923 0.6% 76.5%
36 876 ought ~aut 1,868 0.5% 77.1%
37 915 daughter ~dauter 1,782 0.5% 77.6%
38 927 offer ~aufer 1,757 0.5% 78.1%
39 957 talked ~taukd 1,702 0.5% 78.6%
40 983 coffee ~kaufee 1,663 0.5% 79.1%
41 999 offered ~auferd 1,641 0.5% 79.5%
42 1046 ball ~baul 1,577 0.5% 80.0%
43 1059 costs ~kausts 1,555 0.4% 80.4%
44 1080 bought ~baut 1,532 0.4% 80.9%
45 1158 walking ~waukeeng 1,423 0.4% 81.3%
46 1186 walls ~waulz 1,397 0.4% 81.7%
47 1189 soft ~sauft 1,392 0.4% 82.1%
48 1200 officer ~aufiser 1,382 0.4% 82.5%
49 1218 loss ~laus 1,365 0.4% 82.9%
50 1244 caused ~kauzd 1,341 0.4% 83.3%
51 1314 dog ~daug 1,278 0.4% 83.6%
52 1384 taught ~taut 1,205 0.3% 84.0%
53 1409 smaller ~smauler 1,191 0.3% 84.3%
54 1412 Rudolph ~ruedaulf 1,190 0.3% 84.7%
55 1438 drawn ~draun 1,168 0.3% 85.0%
56 1440 tall ~taul 1,167 0.3% 85.4%
57 1489 audience ~audeeyints 1,135 0.3% 85.7%
58 1519 thoughts ~thhauts 1,114 0.3% 86.0%
59 1521 cross ~kraus 1,114 0.3% 86.3%
60 1554 draw ~drau 1,090 0.3% 86.6%
61 1568 awful ~aufool 1,076 0.3% 87.0%
62 1569 alternative ~aultternitiv 1,076 0.3% 87.3%
63 1629 officers ~aufiserz 1,031 0.3% 87.6%
64 1651 laws ~lauz 1,019 0.3% 87.9%
65 1821 calls ~kaulz 917 0.3% 88.1%
66 1829 falling ~fauleeng 913 0.3% 88.4%
67 1838 august ~augist 910 0.3% 88.6%
68 1895 drawing ~draueeng 883 0.3% 88.9%
69 1934 calling ~kauleeng 865 0.2% 89.1%
70 1975 causes ~kauziz 841 0.2% 89.4%
71 1992 fallen ~faulin 834 0.2% 89.6%
72 2007 altogether ~aultuggether 828 0.2% 89.9%
73 2022  false ~fauls 821 0.2% 90.1%
74 2046 dogs ~daugz 813 0.2% 90.3%
75 2047 cloth ~klauthh 813 0.2% 90.6%
76 2071 salt ~sault 801 0.2% 90.8%
77 2095 strongly ~straunglee 787 0.2% 91.0%
78 2098 crossed ~krausd 786 0.2% 91.3%
79 2171 abroad ~ubrraud 758 0.2% 91.5%
80 2175 broad ~braud 757 0.2% 91.7%
81 2284 fault ~fault 713 0.2% 91.9%
82 2358 raw ~rau 678 0.2% 92.1%
83 2410 offering ~aufereeng 664 0.2% 92.3%
84 2436 Australia ~austrralyu 657 0.2% 92.5%
85 2444 fought ~faut 654 0.2% 92.7%
86 2486 sought ~saut 642 0.2% 92.9%
87 2534 dawn ~daun 631 0.2% 93.0%
88 2672 Paul ~paul 594 0.2% 93.2%
89 2702 song ~saung 584 0.2% 93.4%
90 2743 offices ~aufisiz 572 0.2% 93.5%
91 2747 autumn ~autim 572 0.2% 93.7%
92 2750 paused ~pauzd 571 0.2% 93.9%
93 2765 stronger ~straunger 567 0.2% 94.0%
94 2856 so-called ~soe-kauld 552 0.2% 94.2%
95 2949 recall ~rikkaul 532 0.2% 94.4%
96 2971 overall ~oeveraul 529 0.2% 94.5%
97 3003 belong ~beellaung 524 0.2% 94.7%
98 3063 author ~authher 513 0.1% 94.8%
99 3087 waters ~wauterz 508 0.1% 95.0%
100 3094 talks ~tauks 507 0.1% 95.1%
101 3150 boss ~baus 498 0.1% 95.2%
102 3200 pause ~pauz 488 0.1% 95.4%
103 3255 daughters ~dauterz 478 0.1% 95.5%
104 3264 offers ~auferz 476 0.1% 95.7%
105 3276 falls ~faulz 474 0.1% 95.8%
106 3287 football ~footbaul 471 0.1% 95.9%
107 3308 lawyer ~lauyer 468 0.1% 96.1%
108 3321 exhausted ~igzzaustid 466 0.1% 96.2%
109 3356 automatically ~autimmatiklee 460 0.1% 96.3%
110 3394 long-term ~laung-term 452 0.1% 96.5%
111 3444 softly ~sauftlee 445 0.1% 96.6%
112 3456 Boston ~baustin 444 0.1% 96.7%
113 3493 causing ~kauzeeng 438 0.1% 96.9%
114 3551 foster ~fauster 428 0.1% 97.0%
115 3621 belonged ~beellaungd 418 0.1% 97.1%
116 3775 lawyers ~lauyerz 395 0.1% 97.2%
117 3811 straw ~strau 390 0.1% 97.3%
118 3856 launched ~launchd 384 0.1% 97.4%
119 3886 altar ~aulter 379 0.1% 97.5%
120 3911 crossing ~krauseeng 376 0.1% 97.7%
121 3912 balls ~baulz 376 0.1% 97.8%
122 3913 Warsaw ~worsau 375 0.1% 97.9%
123 3962 assault ~ussault 371 0.1% 98.0%
124 3989 lawn ~laun 366 0.1% 98.1%
125 4052 walks ~wauks 358 0.1% 98.2%
126 4057 los ~laus 358 0.1% 98.3%
127 4077 automatic ~autimmatik 356 0.1% 98.4%
128 4105 awkward ~aukwerd 353 0.1% 98.5%
129 4217 alright ~aulrriet 341 0.1% 98.6%
130 4294 alongside ~ullaungsied 333 0.1% 98.7%
131 4318 losses ~lausiz 330 0.1% 98.8%
132 4365 belongs ~beellaungz 326 0.1% 98.9%
133 4373 broadcasting ~braudkasteeng 325 0.1% 99.0%
134 4415 alter ~aulter 321 0.1% 99.1%
135 4430 alcohol ~alkuhaul 319 0.1% 99.2%
136 4477 recalled ~rikkauld 315 0.1% 99.2%
137 4595 songs ~saungz 304 0.1% 99.3%
138 4600 alternatives ~aultternitivz 304 0.1% 99.4%
139 4601 altered ~aulterd 304 0.1% 99.5%
140 4700 inaudible ~innaudibool 294 0.1% 99.6%
141 4724 automobile ~autumoebbeel 292 0.1% 99.7%
142 4725 Australian ~austrralyin 292 0.1% 99.8%
143 4970 drawer ~draur 273 0.1% 99.8%
144 4992 appalling ~uppauleeng 272 0.1% 99.9%
145 4998 sauce ~saus 271 0.1% 100.0%