A closer look at the "father"/"bother" merger

For this variable, southern NH stands out as clearly different from all surrounding regions: VT, MA and even northern NH. These two graphs (NH / MA) were used to investigate the possibility that the striking difference in responses to the question, "Do 'father' and 'bother' rhyme?" between southern NH and the Boston area of MA is due to a change in progress in NH.

A clear pattern of young and/or female speakers reporting a merger would indicate that change away from the Boston pattern is in progress. Such a trend is observed, but the distinction is not particularly strong.

As the first graph below shows, there is a suggestion of a change in progress among the women: Nashua and Manchester, 2 of the 4 regions in southern NH, show a decrease in percentage of reported mergers that is inversely proportional to age. In contrast, the Seacoast area, surprisingly, shows NO reported mergers among the youngest people. In the north, fewer speakers report a merger, and there is no clear pattern of age-grading.

Percent reported "father"/"bother" merger by age and region, for women

•  Blue "X"'s indicate that 0 or 1 people are in that category and therefore the response may not be representative of the region.
•  The regions to the left of the red vertical line are in southern NH, those to the right are in the north

The change in progress is more apparent among the men: for each region in southern NH, there is a decrease in percent of respondents reporting the merger that corresponds to increase in age. See graph below. (The 100% reported merger for the 41+ age group in Manchester is represented by only 2 speakers and is therefore not reliable.) Also, note that far fewer northern speakers report a merger, and no clear pattern of age-grading is evident.

Percent reported "father"/"bother" merger by age and region, for men