English Vowels: Their Surface Phonology and Phonetic Implementation in Vernacular Dialects

http://www.tomveatch.com/Veatch1991/titlepage.html

A dissertation submitted by Thomas Clark Veatch to The Department of Linguistics at The University of Pennsylvania. In the first part the author establishes a phonological framework for English vowels and a phonetic theory for understanding the articulatory significance of acoustic measurements. The second part investigates differences and similarities in these phonetic and phonological aspects in several dialects: Chicago White English, Los Angeles Chicano English, Anniston (Alabama) English, and (Kingston) Jamaican (mesolectal) Creole. It is a long and technical study.