[13] Some Western New England speakers show the "generating conditions"[10] for the Northern Cities Vowel Shift (or NCVS: the defining feature of the Great Lakes region's modern dialect) in backing of /ɛ/ (to [ɛ~ɜ]), possible fronting of /ɑ/ to [ɑ̈], and tensing all instances of /æ/ to something like [ɛə].
Though actually variable, these features occur among Western New England speakers just enough to suggest that they may be the "pivot conditions"[vague] that influenced the NCVS in the Inland North, likely beginning in the early twentieth century.
[16] However, some younger Southwestern New England speakers have diverged away from both of these features, which Boberg at least partly foresaw;[17] such variables are discussed in greater detail below.
Since the mid-twentieth century, Vermont speakers have largely avoided stigmatized local features, and now follow the rhotic r of the rest of Western New England.
[22] Today, a dwindling, generally rural, older, and male segment of the northern Vermont population, best studied in the Northeast Kingdom, uniquely pronounces /aʊ/ with a raised starting point as [ɛʊ] (e.g. in "cows"; pronunciations by a female and male speakerⓘ) and /aɪ/ (e.g. in "lie") with a backer, raised, or somewhat more rounded starting point as [ɒɪ~əɪ].
[26] Southwestern Vermont (centered on Rutland) shows a universal /æ/ raising to [ɛə] and /ɑ/ fronting to [ɑ̈], but then oversteps and defies the logical direction of the Northern Cities Vowel Shift by producing a cot–caught merger to [ɑ̈].
Albany English shows Southwestern New England English's slight backing of /ɛ/ (to [ɛ~ɜ]) and possible fronting of /ɑ/ to [ɑ̈],[3] but New York City's caught vowel [ɔə] and, though having a continuous short-a system, still shows influence from New York City's short-a split system.