Wine-Whine Merger

In the dialects of English which have the wine-whine merger, the two words are pronounced the same. In those which lack the merger, wine has a voiced labiovelar glide and whine has a voiceless one. The pairs Wales/whales, weather/whether, wear/where and which/witch are  homophones for those speakers who have the merger and distinct for those who do not.

The merger is present in the English of Australia, England, Jamaica, New Zealand, South Africa and Wales, and is widespread in the English of Canada and the United States. The merger is not found in Scotland and with the exception of Dublin, not found in Ireland.

The wine-whine merger is common in English. However, speakers of Scottish English lack the merger as well as most speakers of Irish English. In Canada and the United States, most speakers have the merger. Speakers with the wine-whine merger lack the voiceless labiovelar glide. This is an example of simplification.