`==Possible outline==  *settlement history *a dialect area in formation and largely undefined: settlement populations too young and too new *vocabulary: words originating in the West (and more recently in Calif.) *phonology & phonetics: **Unlike the North, cot-caught merger and no NCS **Unlike the South, no glide deletion of /ai/ **Not clearly distinct from either Canada or the Midland: ***Unlike Canada, little Canadian raising ***some speakers have the Canadian shift, but /ɑ/ is fronter than in Canada ***Unlike the Midland, /ou/ is not fronted and the cot-caught merger is complete (but not in San Francisco or (?) L.A.) **But /u/ is fronted like in most of North America **Some speakers have the pin-pen merger *Local dialects: **California **Pacific Northwest **Utahnics **Recent studies of Oregon and Arizona Jack() `