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Do words like "happier", "carrier", and "easier" rhyme with "hear" do they rhyme with "nuclear"?
Another way to ask that is: in "happier", "carrier", and "easier", is there the same vowel /i/ as in "happy", "carry" and "easy" or does it turn into a /ɪ/ before R as in "here", "near", "beer"?
Thanks
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At least here, "happier", "carrier", and "easier" have two different kinds of pronunciation, depending on the overall level of "carefulness" on the part of the speaker, specifically:
"happier" : [ˈhɛ̯æpiːʁ̩ː], [ˈhɛ̯æpjʁ̩ː]
"carrier" : [ˈkʰɛ̝ːʁiːʁ̩ː], [ˈkʰɛ̝ːʁjʁ̩ː]
"easier" : [ˈiːziːʁ̩ː], [ˈiːzjʁ̩ː]
Note that all these words have underlying /i/ in the dialect here, but there is another phonological at work here that causes unstressed /i/ after a consonant and before another vowel to be realized as [j] rather than have its own syllable nucleus in non-careful speech.
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For me, they all have the same final vowel as 'nuclear', rather than 'hear'.
happier [hapi.@`]
carrier [k_hE:@`)i.@`]
easier [i:zi.@`]
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Actually, I should note that these words differ from words like "hear" or "nuclear" (which rhyme here), which end in [ɪːʁ] or [iːʁ̩ː] in free variation here (and which phonemically can be considered as ending in /ir/ here).
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For me, those words all have the same final two syllables as "nuclear". I have:
happier [ˈhæpiɚ]
carrier [ˈkʰæɹiɚ]
easier [ˈiːziɚ]
nuclear [ˈnuːkliɚ]
hear [ˈhɪɚ]
I think this scheme is the same for all dialects (or most): for example, the Cambridge Online Dictionary transcribes "carrier" as /ˈkʰæɹiə/.
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Hmm... so it seems that you guys actually have a merger of historical /iːər/ and /iːr/, whereas my dialect does *not* merge historical /iːər/ and /iːr/ even though it does like most NAE dialects merge historical /iːr/ and /ɪr/.
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Now from thinking about the diachronics of it all, assuming a historical unconditional shift of iːr > iːər common to at least all NAE dialects, what really has happened here is that my own dialect must have reversed this shift at a later date *except* where there was an intervening morpheme boundary, thus restoring the distinction between the two in many positions.
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Sorry, I don't understand.
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I don't understand what Travis means by those mergers, but I do understand the answers to my question. Now I know how they are expected to be pronounced, generally speaking. Thanks.
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Ignore my comments, because I missed that you guys do not rhyme "nuclear" and "here" (and am so used to "nuclear" and "here" rhyming here).
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I am from California and "here" and "nuclear" aren't even close for me. "nuclear" rhymes with "happier", "carrier", and "easier".
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"I am from California and "here" and "nuclear" aren't even close for me. "nuclear" rhymes with "happier", "carrier", and "easier". "
I'm from Washington state and the same applies based on my experience.
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I'm from Texas and it's the same for me.
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Do most people in Texas say "nukular"?
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