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American
dictionaries
|
|
ɛ
|
|
dress /drɛs/
square /skwɛr/
cherry /ˈtʃɛri/
scary /ˈskɛri/
|
|
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American
dictionaries
|
|
æ
|
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carry /ˈkæri/
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|
|
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MWLD
|
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e
|
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cherry /ˈtʃeri/
scary /ˈskeri/
carry /ˈkeri/
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|
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Teflpedia
|
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æ
|
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carry /ˈkæriː/
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|
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Teflpedia
|
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e
|
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dress /dres/
cherry /ˈtʃeriː/
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Teflpedia
|
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eə
|
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square /skweər/
scary /ˈskeəri/
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In most of the United States and Canada /eə/ is merged with /æ/ and with /e/. For 57% of American and Canadian speakers Mary, merry and marry are homophones. In others marry is distinct (9%) and in others merry is distinct (16%).[1][2][3] Outside of North America (and also for 17% of Canadian and Americans) all three phonemes are distinct.[4]
Since there is no distinction between /e/ and /eə/ it can be said that in American English there is no phoneme /eə/, only /e/. However the diphtong [ɛə] is heard when a syllable ends with /r/, as in square [skwɛər]. Phoneticians say that /e/ followed by /r/ at the end of the syllable is realized as [ɛə]. In other words, broad notation is /er/ and narrow notation is [ɛər].
Most American dictionaries write marry as /ˈmæri/ because it's easy to go from /ˈmæri/ to [mɛri], but it would be impossible to know if [ˈmɛri] stands for /ˈmæri/ or /ˈmeri/ in those places that make the difference (26% of North Americans).
Merriam-Webster's Learner's Dictionary (MWLD) uses three symbols (narrow notation). /ɛ/ for "dress", /e/ for "scary", "carry" and "cherry", and /eɚ/ for "square".
| marry |
Mary |
mare |
merry |
% |
Alternative name
|
| /æ/ [æ] |
/eə/ [ɛə] |
/eə/ [ɛə] |
/e/ [ɛ] |
17 |
Three-way contrast
|
| /æ/ [æ] |
/e/ [ɛ] |
/e/ [ɛə] |
/e/ [ɛ] |
9 |
Mary–merry merger only
|
| /eə/ [ɛə] |
/eə/ [ɛə] |
/eə/ [ɛə] |
/e/ [ɛ] |
16 |
Mary–marry merger only
|
| /e/ [ɛ] |
/eə/ [ɛə] |
/eə/ [ɛə] |
/e/ [ɛ] |
1 |
Merry-marry merger only
|
| /e/ [ɛ] |
/e/ [ɛ] |
/e/ [ɛə] |
/e/ [ɛ] |
57 |
Three-way merger
|
Homophones or minimal pairs[edit]
The following words are homophones in some accents and minimal pairs in others
- /eə, æ, e/: Mary - marry - merry;
- /eə, æ/: hairy - Harry;
- /eə, e/: airer - error; fairy - ferry; vary - very;
- /æ, e/: Aaron - Erin; barrel - beryl; Barry - berry, bury; parish - perish;
References[edit]
- ↑ University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Harvard Dialect Survey (2003), Dialect Survey Results. 15. How do you pronounce Mary/merry/marry?
- ↑ Wikipedia, Mary-marry-merry merger.
- ↑ Pronuncian.com, 123: A Merry, Marry, Mary Christmas, December 23, 2010.
- ↑ John Wells, merry Mary and hairy Harry, 28 December 2010.
See also[edit]
