Linguistics Student Maps Out Us English Differences

[MissScripture]

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

The driving here gets pretty screwy :(

They are death traps, here. My husband was just commenting on how they might keep traffic flowing when people get used to them, as we were waiting to enter one last weekend, and the guy in the roundabout stopped to wait for us to come in... :doh:

[Basilisa Marie]

In the northwest, the only distinct things we say seem to be "fewd" instead of "food" (a sort of "ew" instead of a hard "oo" like you'd get in the midwest) and "tink you" instead of "thank you."  :P  

[ToJesusMyHeart]

I have an announcement:

 

IT'S POP!!!!!!!

Wrong. 

 

Y'all is a good word. I wish it was part of my dialect.

Make it part.

 

Soda!!!

:like2:

 

Don't forget "all y'all" for a larger group.

Exactly. 

 

How does one pronounce "Mary, merry, and marry" differently? I can't figure out a way to do it that sounds remotely intelligible.

I had the same confusion. I tried what EmilyAnn said, and my mouth was unable to make different sounds for each word still. I want to hear this. 

 

For the record, it's "cray-awn" not "cran" or "cray-ahn."

Nope. It's "cran" and I'm born and raised Texan. According to the map I'm saying it weird for my state and I should move to Wisconsin.

 

I concur.

 

Also, yay for Wisconsin and Rhode Island. BUBBLER!

 

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

I was baffled to learn there's another way.

 

How do you pronounce it? Like bean?

My question exactly. 

 

I really was intrigued by the "pajama" map and this one (esp. the author's title comment):

 

 

This survey rocks. I'm a geography major. Thank you for sharing!!! :)

[Vincent Vega]

Seems like a cheaper version of this (much older) study, but perhaps I'm missing something.

http://www4.uwm.edu/FLL/linguistics/dialect/maps.html

 

[AnneLine]

Wouldn't have gotten the 2nd part of the '3 faces of Mary/Merry/Marry except one of our parish priests pointed out he'd begun life in the New Jersey area, noting that how he said 'Hail Meeeeeeery' gave him away.   And so does MEEEEEEEry Christmas! 

 

Now I dread when he is leading the Rosary.....  we have a MEEEEERy time as you can imagine...

Edited June 6, 2013 by AnneLine

[WillT]

This survey rocks. I'm a geography major. Thank you for sharing!!! :)

I grew up in the part of MS where the map says the "devil beating his wife" phrase is popular. I've only heard it once in my life and that was from a friends grandmother almost 15 years ago. Of course she added "with a frying pan. " When I asked what it meant she said, "It's hotter than a cast iron skillet in Hell." Which, if you've ever been in such a situation, you would have to agree.

I always enjoyed geography. Edited June 7, 2013 by WillT

[WillT]

The devil's beating his wife at my house right now. :|

[CrossCuT]

rotfl

[WillT]

And he's at it again. Geez. Enjoying the sauna like conditions outside though.

[CrossCuT]

Its raining here too :(

[ToJesusMyHeart]

I am still wondering, how is "been" pronounced, if not "ben" ...??

 

Bean?

[Nihil Obstat]

I am still wondering, how is "been" pronounced, if not "ben" ...??

Bean?

Around here you will often hear it pronounced as "bin".

[ToJesusMyHeart]

Oh, yes, upon closer examination I say "bin" rather than "behn" 

 

But...bean? Really? 

[WillT]

Oh, yes, upon closer examination I say "bin" rather than "behn"

But...bean? Really?

Yeah, I would consider "bin" the standard pronunciation. "Bean" is the only other possibility I can come up with and that just seems ridiculous.

[Nihil Obstat]

Pronouncing it as "ben" is also fairly common, although less so in my area.
It also depends on the context of the word, in terms of what sounds are coming before or after. There are some cases in which I will say "bin", some where "been" sounds more natural, and perhaps a couple where I would say "ben", although I cannot think of any.
Been, by and large, will also be more characteristic of careful speech, whereas bin/ben, whatever, will come up more in fast speech. Nothing unusual about that.

[EmilyAnn]

I am still wondering, how is "been" pronounced, if not "ben" ...??

 

Bean?

Been and bean should be pronounced the same. 

 

Or sometimes here 'been' is pronounced like 'bin' but that comes across as "common". 

Edited June 10, 2013 by EmilyAnn

[xTrishaxLynnx]

This is like the word "can" around here. I often say "I can help you" just as I would say "I would like a can of soda" and I have a friend who is bothered by this because she says it should be pronounced the same as "ken." I don't disagree that for the sake of the flow of a sentence it should be allowable, and I know that I also pronounce it that way sometimes; I just don't really think about it and my natural speech patterns somehow cause me to go back and forth between the two.

[PhuturePriest]

This is like the word "can" around here. I often say "I can help you" just as I would say "I would like a can of soda" and I have a friend who is bothered by this because she says it should be pronounced the same as "ken." I don't disagree that for the sake of the flow of a sentence it should be allowable, and I know that I also pronounce it that way sometimes; I just don't really think about it and my natural speech patterns somehow cause me to go back and forth between the two.

 

In my area, you pronounce it both ways. As Nihil points out, it depends on the situation and context. If you're speaking fast, "ken" is the way you generally say it around here. But I prefer "can" myself.

[xTrishaxLynnx]

Been and bean should be pronounced the same. 

 

Or sometimes here 'been' is pronounced like 'bin' but that comes across as "common". 

"common" as in what? Uneducated? Slang?

 

Or are you referring to the sound at the end of the word "common?" lol

Edited June 10, 2013 by xTrishaxLynnx

[Nihil Obstat]

This is like the word "can" around here. I often say "I can help you" just as I would say "I would like a can of soda" and I have a friend who is bothered by this because she says it should be pronounced the same as "ken." I don't disagree that for the sake of the flow of a sentence it should be allowable, and I know that I also pronounce it that way sometimes; I just don't really think about it and my natural speech patterns somehow cause me to go back and forth between the two.

Your friend is wrong in saying that it should be pronounced that way. :P There are many different pronunciations of lots of words, all of which are correct.