Why GOAT and GOAL don't sound the same (even though the dictionary says they should)

Why "goat" and "goal" share the same IPA in dictionaries but sound different in modern British English. A clear explanation using IPA and real speech.

The Glenfinnan Viaduct, Scottish Highlands - the bridge made famous by the Hogwarts Express

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Listen to this article · 5:15IPA (発音記号)

Why 'goat' and 'goal' don't sound the same (even though the dictionary says they should).

Something I talk about a lot is how the IPA, or the International Phonetic Alphabet, is a great method for checking the pronunciation of English words.

If you look a word up in the dictionary, you can check the phonetic spelling next to the normal spelling and then you know how to pronounce that word.

Well, I am very sorry to say that occasionally that's not absolutely the case. Sorry.

Let's take the example of two words: 'goat' and 'goal'. Here are their spellings in IPA: /ɡəʊt/ and /ɡəʊɫ/.

So they're almost identical, right? You've got the /ɡ/, you've got the double vowel - or diphthong - in the middle with this schwa /ə/ and the upsilon /ʊ/ together (that's this 'oh' sound, created when you have the schwa and upsilon next to each other, denoted by this symbol: /əʊ/) and then one ends with a dark 'l' (/ɫ/) and one ends in a /t/.

So presumably that means they sound the same. But then you listen closely to someone speaking modern, natural (southern) British English. And they do not actually sound the same.¹

/ɡəʊt/ and /ɡəʊɫ/.

The vowel in 'goal' feels different. It's shifted a bit. So if you've noticed this, you're definitely not imagining things. And it also doesn't really mean that the IPA is wrong. Let me explain.

What's happening is that in real English pronunciation, in English language, like all languages, things shift over time.

If you listen to the way that our late queen (Elizabeth II) spoke, you will hear her very crisp, old-fashioned, received pronunciation and she would probably be pronouncing 'goat' and 'goal' in exactly the same way.²

Let me channel my grandmother: 'goat', 'goal'. Something like that.

Over time, language changes. And sometimes language changes because it's easier to make one sound over another. And this is actually what's happening here.

But why has this happened?

Well, firstly, in our standard day-to-day pronunciation the /əʊ/ sound has shifted. It's not what it was in, for example, the 1950s. The new /əʊ/ sound is simply more difficult to pronounce immediately in front of a dark 'l' /ɫ/, which is the consonant we have at the end of 'goal'.

When we make this 'dark /l/' (/ɫ/), the back of the tongue pulls up towards the soft palate.

Now, if you try to pronounce 'goal' as someone with modern received pronunciation would pronounce 'goat', you'll feel your tongue has to move quite a lot. From the middle position of /ə/, back towards /ʊ/, and then even further back and up for the /ɫ/. And that is quite a workout.

What most speakers do instead is make the vowel easier. They start it further back in the mouth, closer to /ɒ/ (or even /ɔː/, depending on the speaker). This way, the tongue is already on the path to the /ɫ/. The result is that 'goal' comes out more like /gɒʊɫ/ instead of /gəʊɫ/.

The dictionary isn't lying - both words are based on the same 'goat diphthong' /əʊ/. But in natural, modern English - and this is exactly the kind of detail we explore here at 'Pronunciation with Ellie' - that double vowel sound shifts a little when it shows up in front of dark /l/ (/ɫ/).

It's just the mouth taking a shortcut.

And that's why 'goat' and 'goal' don't sound the same, even though the IPA makes them look identical.

You'll notice the same thing if you compare 'boat' and 'old'. In the dictionary they both have /əʊ/ as their central vowel but, in real speech, 'old' usually comes out closer to /ɒʊ/, again because that /ɫ/ pulls the vowel backwards in the mouth. 'Boat' keeps the standard /əʊ/.

So what about you?

Take a moment and try saying 'goat' and 'goal' out loud right now. Do they sound the same to you? Or can you hear and feel that little difference in the vowel sound? How about 'boat' and 'old' (or even 'bowl')? I'd love to know what you notice.

Subscribers can share their experiences in the comments below - and I'll reply to each one.

The International Phonetic Alphabet is still the most reliable way to understand how English words are pronounced. Once you learn the IPA symbols, you can open a dictionary and unlock the pronunciation of (well, nearly) any word you see.

Next steps

If you'd like to know what in your own speech is making your listener work harder, my Written Diagnostic Report is the place to start. You send me two short recordings, and I write up the three patterns creating the most friction - and what to work on first.

And if you'd like the next article, you can sign up below.

1. Before dark L, as in "hold", the GOAT vowel starts further back in the mouth. Wells says this is now a regular part of RP, at least for speakers born since the early 1980s. Wells, J. C. (2011, 3 May). The evidence of the vows. John Wells's phonetic blog. phonetic-blog.blogspot.com/2011/05/evidence-of-vows.html. ↩
2. Wells notes that older RP did not have this vowel before dark L, though many other British accents did. Of two speakers he compares, the one born in 1950 does not use it and the one born in 1982 does. Same source as note 1. ↩

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