[Pronunciation] aunt

[Saki6]

How do AmE speakers pronounce the word "aunt"?
/ænt/ or /ɑnt/ ?

[andrewg927]

I pronounce it like awnt

[probus]

My apologies for not being proficient in phonetic notation.

For the great majority or us, the insect and the sister of our mother are are the same: ANTs. But we have a minority who insist that our biological relatives are not ANTs but AWNTs. I am not quite sure who they are: New Englanders or United Empire Loyalists perhaps?

[Amigos4]

The word “aunt” has two correct pronunciations in AmE: ANT (like the insect) and AHNT.
Both pronunciations are given, in that order, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (4th ed.) and Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (11th ed.).
The first (ANT) is by far the predominant American pronunciation. The second (AHNT) is common in the Northeast, some Southern dialects, and among African Americans.