The PIN/PEN merger refers to when people rhyme the words “pen” and “pin,” usually pronouncing the “eh” vowel in “pen” more like the short “ih” vowel in “pin.” This usually happens in words which end in “m” or “n.” Rhyming PIN and PEN is a well documented feature of African American Language (AAL) (Jones, 2020; Coggshall & Becker). It is also associated with dialects of Southern White Vernacular English (Coggshall & Becker, 2010).
However, AAL speakers in New York City and Northern California typically do not rhyme PIN and PEN (Jones 2020). Black speakers of AAL in Eastern New England are also not expected to rhyme PIN/PEN (Austen, 2020).

We would not expect Black speakers in our Boston sample to rhyme PIN and PEN. When we look at our results, 29.76% of speakers did not rhyme PIN and PEN. Another 48.81% of speakers pronounced PIN and PEN almost completely distinctly. However, 8.33% of respondents rhymed PIN and PEN. This is to be expected, as Black speakers from New England may avoid rhyming PIN/PEN since it is often associated with Southern varieties of English (Coggshall & Becker, 2010).

- Austen (2020:123)
- Coggshall & Becker (2010:116)
- Jones (2020:12, 130)