tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2851981677644878233.post2079795145052419522..comments2023-10-25T02:16:28.192-06:00Comments on Ryan's linguistics blog: Mary, merry, and marryRyan Denzer-Kinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04015316224715016479noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2851981677644878233.post-573856426857472112013-10-03T19:20:59.573-06:002013-10-03T19:20:59.573-06:00"If someone pronounces them the same, that..."If someone pronounces them the same, that's not a dialect, that's being inarticulate."<br /><br />Given that 1. the merger is well-documented by linguists and 2. it's done by over half of Americans (with even more pronouncing either merry or marry like Mary), I don't think that's a defensible position.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2851981677644878233.post-48763896898530051632013-10-03T19:19:47.190-06:002013-10-03T19:19:47.190-06:00"If someone pronounces them the same, that..."If someone pronounces them the same, that's not a dialect, that's being inarticulate."<br /><br />Given that 1. the merger is well-documented by linguists and 2. it's done by over half of Americans (with even more pronouncing either merry or marry the same as Mary), I don't think that's a defensible position.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2851981677644878233.post-69838841494553520562013-06-06T15:36:13.003-06:002013-06-06T15:36:13.003-06:00#15 here is relevant: http://spark-1590165977.us-w...#15 here is relevant: http://spark-1590165977.us-west-2.elb.amazonaws.com/jkatz/SurveyMaps/Ryan Denzer-Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015316224715016479noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2851981677644878233.post-9059540927586481092013-06-05T20:02:23.733-06:002013-06-05T20:02:23.733-06:00Yep, just had this discussion with my boyfriend. H...Yep, just had this discussion with my boyfriend. He is an American, I am Russian, who studied British English in school. To me all three words are different, to him - all the same.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14699659869465078037noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2851981677644878233.post-10647617826375842712012-05-12T21:52:35.363-06:002012-05-12T21:52:35.363-06:00Interesting, Ryan ... my mother is from New York ...Interesting, Ryan ... my mother is from New York and has the three-way distinction with rhotic /r/. For me, "marry" and "Mary" are the same /meri/, but "merry" is (slightly) different /mɛri/. The vowel /e/ in /meri/ is not at all diphthongized and significantly lower than canonical /e/, but still higher than /ɛ/. For me, people who merge all three use my /e/ not /ɛ/ sound. E.g. I remember once hearing a teacher speaking about a friend named "Barrel" and it took a few minutes before I realized this was actually "Beryl".UrbanVagabondhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12785106679306885678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2851981677644878233.post-88403550737792855552010-07-30T10:36:53.386-06:002010-07-30T10:36:53.386-06:00All of my friends, especially my friends from the ...All of my friends, especially my friends from the midwest and the west coast, constantly make fun of me for my strong New York accent. They pretend they can't understand me sometimes, but I always tell them that their speech is actually more confusing than mine. I never realized I say these three words differently, but I do. How interesting.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01235739135737364795noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2851981677644878233.post-84737215011548122622010-04-18T13:17:02.465-06:002010-04-18T13:17:02.465-06:00Not all rhotic accents in the United States have t...Not all rhotic accents in the United States have this merger, however. It's most common in the Midwest.pure_mercuryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16874155873747335435noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2851981677644878233.post-61019342827456747772010-03-02T16:54:34.120-07:002010-03-02T16:54:34.120-07:00Mary, Merry, and Marry are all pronounced differen...Mary, Merry, and Marry are all pronounced differently. If someone pronounces them the same, that's not a dialect, that's being inarticulate.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2851981677644878233.post-83732367643506597632009-12-28T20:22:00.819-07:002009-12-28T20:22:00.819-07:00I should mention that my professor was also Americ...I should mention that my professor was also American.Robert Morrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17268126695913379212noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2851981677644878233.post-2670631559800399352009-12-27T22:10:33.322-07:002009-12-27T22:10:33.322-07:00"is an American thing"
That seems to co..."is an American thing"<br /><br />That seems to contradict your explanation for why it happens- which is a shame, because it was a very neat one!Alex Casehttp://www.tefl.net/alexcasenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2851981677644878233.post-56291240707850898692009-12-27T11:37:16.303-07:002009-12-27T11:37:16.303-07:00I'm from northern New Jersey, I pronounce all ...I'm from northern New Jersey, I pronounce all my r's, and I pronounce these three words differently. My parents were from NYC and Long Island, if that means anything. *shrug*Jeffnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2851981677644878233.post-38793315039241592922009-12-26T17:01:43.740-07:002009-12-26T17:01:43.740-07:00The last two commenters are quite right; I should ...The last two commenters are quite right; I should have stated that the merger is an American thing.Ryan Denzer-Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015316224715016479noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2851981677644878233.post-85813003575238866292009-12-26T16:29:30.245-07:002009-12-26T16:29:30.245-07:00The merger us only found in North Anerican rhotic ...The merger us only found in North Anerican rhotic dialects. Other rhotic accents ( eg in Scotland or Ireland ) have not undergone the merger.vphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16647609487352038948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2851981677644878233.post-85822977375098498772009-12-26T14:31:00.347-07:002009-12-26T14:31:00.347-07:00As a native speaker of British English, these 3 wo...As a native speaker of British English, these 3 words are very different to me. I'm not 100% on the IPA but I think it's the same as your father's pronunciation.<br />I think this is standard British English and most Brits would pronounce it this way.Bennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2851981677644878233.post-32033737836369248242009-12-26T13:44:19.590-07:002009-12-26T13:44:19.590-07:00Much to my horror, the professor in my first-ever ...Much to my horror, the professor in my first-ever phonetics course was a rhotic speaker (like me) but had this three-way distinction (unlike me).<br /><br />I can produce the disctinction (though the "e" versuse "epsilon" one I really have to strain to make), but doing so makes me sound distinctively grandma-esque or not-from-here (I'm from the midwest US) to my ears.Robert Morrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17268126695913379212noreply@blogger.com