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amn't, aunt
It is not uncommon among older people or rural people (my grandmother used it) in the US to use 'a'nt' (pronounced with the short flat 'a' to rhyme with the usual US pronunciation of can't) not only for 'are not', but also for 'am not' and 'is not'. From this, I take it that 'a'nt' is a variant pronunciation of 'ain't', which is used for all numbers, persons and genders, mostly by the under-educated (schoolmarms used to go off the wall over 'ain't') but which is becoming more and more tolerated.
'Aunt' is generally pronounced the same way, with the short, flat 'a' sound, except that there are those who insist on the deep 'a' to rhyme with Brit pronunciation of 'can't'. This is thought by most USers to be hoity-toity, except, interestingly enough, among the black population where, in the black US usage, it is regularly prounced with the deep vowel sound.
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Carpal Tunnel
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except that there are those who insist on the deep 'a' to rhyme with Brit pronunciation of 'can't'. This is thought by most USers to be hoity-toity,
Not in New England, BobY, where you hear the aunt/Brit-cawn't almost exclusively. Not hoity toity at all.
Using Ant for Aunt in NE marks you as a non-Yankee! In other words, a tourist -- or as the Tourism Industry would have us say : a "visitor."
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Wow - I would concur on the New England pronunciation of "aunt" as ahnt, but do not agree on the pronunciation of "can't" in that fair corner of our land. Growing up in Boston, where they'd write "aren't I?" but say "aaahhhn't I?", I heard can't pronounced to rhyme with ant or pant, almost without exception.
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New England auntsDear Wow, allow me to suggest in the most respectful manner and with all due deference to your seniority and erudition, that New England constitutes a minority of the U.S. Hence, I stand by my assertion that the great majority of USers do not pronounce 'aunt' like 'cawn't'. I realize you are in the land of the bean and the cod, where the Cabots speak only to Lodges and the Lodges speak only to God, but you have to face the statistical facts. 
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journeyman
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In reply to:
Ain't
My recollection (alas, becoming, with the inexorable march of Time, ever less trustworthy) is that Lord Peter himself occasionally uses "ain't" though only and properly (as I remember?) in the first person singular. It follows then, if it was good enough for him and his Creators (God and Ms Sayers) then of course ......
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Carpal Tunnel
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where the Cabots speak only to Lodges and the Lodges speak only to God
"Here's to the City of Boston,
Home of the bean and the cod,
Where Lowells speak only to Cabots
And Cabots speak only to God."
but you have to face the statistical facts
Phooey!
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I'm with you wow! Phooey! Here I am in western Wisconsin, using the Ahnt pronunciation too because it sounds more repectful than Ant. Got nothin' to do with hoity toity!
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Carpal Tunnel
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Well, I just got here. Missed all the fun. All I can contribute is that "ahnt" is as common in Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi as is "ant." Black folks and older white folks mostly use the former. I actually® did field research on the pronunciation of this word in the SE US states (some 25 years ago), I'll see if I can dig it up. Also, you who have faster computers/connections than mine (and that would be practically everybody here) can go to: http://polyglot.lss.wisc.edu/dare/dare.html and check out amn't and aunt -- though, on second thought, you *may have to buy the book or go to the library. Last time I checked, there weren't many entries on the web site.
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Also late to the party, but I find this discussion fascinating; always something for me to learn from all of you! Can't say I ever heard anyone use "amn't" - unless of course I didn't realize it because of the pronunciation. I would have to agree that it just sounds wrong to me.
I weigh in with the "ant" pronunciation of "aunt," but my husband (born and raised, as I was, right here in metro Detroit) has always pronounced it "ahnt." I guess that makes it a familial rather than regional difference, since we come from very similar backgrounds.
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Carpal Tunnel
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but I want you to understand that the correct sound is the same a-sound as in flack, not flock!
Here in Zild, "Aunt" and "can't" rhyme - "ahnt" and "cahnt." Rhyming them with ant would brand one as a West Islander (shudder)!
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