Late-cafe merger

The late-cafe merger is the merger of /e/ and /ɛ̝ /. Some Scottish English speakers distinguish the vowels in "late" /let/, "gate" /get/, "made" /med/, "flare" /fler/, "reggae" /rɛge/ and "maze" /mez/ from the vowel in "there" /ðɛ̝r/, "re", /rɛ̝ / "cafe" and "Santa Fe" /fɛ̝/. /ɛ̝/ is a vowel in between /ɛ/ and /e/.