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ᴍᴀʀʏ–ᴍᴀʀʀʏ–ᴍᴇʀʀʏ merger
The ᴍᴀʀʏ–ᴍᴀʀʀʏ–ᴍᴇʀʀʏ merger is a phonological merger found in some English accents.
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 notation 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 | ᴍᴀʀʏ–ᴍᴇʀʀʏ merger only |
| /eə/ [ɛə] | /eə/ [ɛə] | /eə/ [ɛə] | /e/ [ɛ] | 16 | ᴍᴀʀʏ–ᴍᴀʀʀʏ merger only |
| /e/ [ɛ] | /eə/ [ɛə] | /eə/ [ɛə] | /e/ [ɛ] | 1 | ᴍᴇʀʀʏ–ᴍᴀʀʀʏ merger only |
| /e/ [ɛ] | /e/ [ɛ] | /e/ [ɛə] | /e/ [ɛ] | 57 | Three-way merger |
Homophones or minimal pairs[edit | edit source]
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 | edit source]
- ↑ 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.
