line-loin merger

noun

The phonemic merger between the diphthongs /aɪ/ and /ɔɪ/ that occurs for speakers of Southern English English, Irish English, Newfoundland English, and Caribbean English making "line" and "loin" homophones.

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Meanings

noun
  1. human sciencesThe phonemic merger between the diphthongs /aɪ/ and /ɔɪ/ that occurs for speakers of Southern English English, Irish English, Newfoundland English, and Caribbean English making "line" and "loin" homophones.

    The most frequently paraded example of apparent merger in English in the Labovian literature is the line—loin merger in Essex, England (see Labov, Yaeger, and Steiner 1972; Nunberg and Labov 1972; Nunberg 1980); the label stands for the coalescence of /oy/ and /ay/.

    1991, Birch Moonwomon, Sound Change in San Francisco English, volume 1, page 57
Cite this entry
APA

line-loin merger. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/line-loin%20merger

MLA

“line-loin merger.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/line-loin%20merger. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “line-loin merger,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/line-loin%20merger.

Source: line-loin merger on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.