When unstressed, the sound is often shortened to [ɔ] or [ö][53]; thus autumnal becomes [ɔ´tʌmnəl] or [ö´tʌmnəl]; or when stressed is [ɔː], unstressed [ɔ] or [ö] or [ə].
A variety of the open [ɔ], not equally open in all speakers of standard English, is the first element in the diphthong found in boy [bɔi]. The pronunciation [böi[53]] is also heard.
In vulgar speech [ɔi] sometimes becomes [ɑi]; thus boil is pronounced [bɑil]. Only in choir (also written quire) is this pronunciation current in good speech.
44. Utter the sound usually called "long o" and found in bode, boat, etc,; you will observe that the sound is not uniform, as the tongue rises a little before the consonant is reached.[54] Indeed the action of the tongue is quite similar to what we noticed in the case of [ei] in § 41; and also to [iːj] or [Iːi] in § 42, where, however, it is less obvious to the ear. The diphthongal character of the "long o" is so essential, that when a stranger merely says [oːnoː] for oh no! we at once recognise that he is not English.
The first element of this diphthong is a middle [o], sometimes a fairly close [o]; in standard English the [o] is never so close as in French [o] or in German [ɔː].[55] (Watch foreigners when they utter these sounds; notice how tensely they articulate, and how much more they round their lips than we do.) In cockney speech the first element is pronounced with the tongue lower and raised in front.—The second is a u sound; place a finger against the interval between the upper and lower teeth, and notice how they are brought a little closer towards the end of the diphthong. Observe also the action of the lips. The diphthong is longer before voiced than before voiceless continuants; verify this statement by saying, or getting others to say, bode and boat, goad and goat, robe and rope, brogue and broke.
In syllables that are weakly stressed, the first part of the diphthong becomes [o], [ö][56] or even [ə], the second part disappearing altogether. Thus fellow is in precise speech [feloːu], but in ordinary speech [felo, felö], and in careless (but not necessarily vulgar) speech [felə].[57] In "ladies' speech" the [öü] occurs even in stressed syllables, and may then be confidently described as a sign of affectation.
The prefix pro-, when stressed, is generally pronounced [prou]. In process and progress [prɔ] is sometimes heard; in the substantives project and produce it is the rule.