Linguistics Student Maps Out Us English Differences

[EmilyAnn]

How? I know "Merry" is sometimes pronounced "murry", but how do you pronounce "Mary" and "marry" differently? Most people in America pronounce all three words like "Mary".

 

That's not how you say "merry". And Mary and marry are completely different!

 

Mary is pronounced like mare with a 'y' sound at the end. 

Marry has the same 'a' sound as 'sad'

Merry has an 'eh' sound at the vowel

[Not The Philosopher]

I appreciate y'all because English no longer being able to distinguish between second person plural and singular is just silly.

[WillT]

That's not how you say "merry". And Mary and marry are completely different!

Mary is pronounced like mare with a 'y' sound at the end.
Marry has the same 'a' sound as 'sad'
Merry has an 'eh' sound at the vowel

Interesting. It just sounds funny when I try to say them differently.

[homeschoolmom]

The Wisconsin Bubbler

 

[Aloysius]

 

 

fixed.

 

yinz are welcome.

[Ice_nine]

we call them rotaries, but they are also fondly referred to as traffic circles of death.

 

The driving here gets pretty screwy :(

[PhuturePriest]

That's not how you say "merry". And Mary and marry are completely different!

 

Mary is pronounced like mare with a 'y' sound at the end. 

Marry has the same 'a' sound as 'sad'

Merry has an 'eh' sound at the vowel

 

Not in America, they're not. "Mary" and "Marry" are pronounced the same exact way, with the "Mare" noise.

Edited June 5, 2013 by FuturePriest387

[Ice_nine]

I lurve linguistix :)

[Clare Brigid]

What about yous?  Did yous run out of colors?

[Byzantine]

What about yinz?

[Nihil Obstat]

Not in America, they're not. "Mary" and "Marry" are pronounced the same exact way, with the "Mare" noise.

You will probably find subtle regional variation that is not adequately captured by spelling, if you were to dig a bit deeper.

[xTrishaxLynnx]

I think its safe to say that a very large number of us say POP

 

Define "very large number." The most populous areas seem to call it soda. :P

 

[PhuturePriest]

 

Define "very large number." The most populous areas seem to call it soda. :P

 

 

 

If you look at the map, it appears the blue and the red are about dead-even.

[Spem in alium]

I say y'all and I am not even American, purely because I think it sounds cool. 

 

Do some of y'all seriously call a roundabout a traffic circle?

 

And a drive through liquor store exists?

 

This is all quite baffling.

 

How do you pronounce them the same? I would pronounce each of those words differently. 

 

I concur.

 

Also, yay for Wisconsin and Rhode Island. BUBBLER!

 

Am I understanding correctly that in some areas "Been" is pronounced "Ben"?

[xTrishaxLynnx]

If you look at the map, it appears the blue and the red are about dead-even.

 

The most populous areas seem to call it soda. :P

[homeschoolmom]

 

 

Am I understanding correctly that in some areas "Been" is pronounced "Ben"?

Of course...

[WillT]

I concur.

Also, yay for Wisconsin and Rhode Island. BUBBLER!

Am I understanding correctly that in some areas "Been" is pronounced "Ben"?

How do you pronounce it? Like bean?

[PhuturePriest]

 

 

You mean the most liberal areas? That's not helping your cause out too much.

[PhuturePriest]

 

Am I understanding correctly that in some areas "Been" is pronounced "Ben"?

 

Absolutely. That's how everyone I know pronounces it, unless we're making fun of British people.

[MissScripture]

I concur.

Also, yay for Wisconsin and Rhode Island. BUBBLER!

Am I understanding correctly that in some areas "Been" is pronounced "Ben"?

Did no one use it when you were here? That is totally how I say it!