u/21Nobrac2

Hello all! I'm working on an interview project for a class and have been listening to my own voice a lot lately, and I realized I pronounce 'pull' and 'poll' identically, with a realization roughly like my syllabic L in words like apple. (I'd approximate it as [(ə)ɫ] but I'm no expert.)

I seem to do this with any GOAT or STRUT vowel before an /l/. Cult and colt. Mull (as in mull over) and mole.

Now, how bizarre is this? Is this a well known merger that just hasn't made its way into dictionaries? (Every dictionary I look at shows these pairs with separate pronunciations.) I'll have to pay attention to those around my area to see if they do this, too. My interviewee did not, but she also grew up Kentucky, so very different dialect.

I'm from the PNW of the United States.

Edit: I forgot to add, I found info for a "hole-hull" merger here. But it's talking about l-vocalization which is not the case for me. Same merger, different final realization I guess.