Home: Forum: English: Very/Vary

Very/Vary

Kirk   Mon Dec 19, 2005 12:50 am GMT

<<Most Americans use either the "trap" vowel for "vary/various" (like I do) and some use the "dress" vowel. >> Most Americans I've heard use the "dress" vowel there. <<JC Wells also claims that Americans rhyme 'mirror' with 'nearer'. I don't. Not when I'm speaking GenAm and not when I'm speaking RP. I've always used "near" for "nearer" and "kit" for "mirror".>> Where are you from? I have [I] for "nearer" and "mirror." Note that what Wells references tends to be the majority American pronunciation and by no means represents all Americans.

Jim   Mon Dec 19, 2005 1:40 am GMT

As a speaker of Australian English, I pronounce them differently. very ==>> /verI/ ==>> [ver\i] vary ==>> /ve:rI/ ==>> [ve:r\i] Also merry ==>> /merI/ ==>> [mer\i] Mary ==>> /me:rI/ ==>> [me:r\i] marry ==>> /m{rI/ ==>> [m{r\i]

SpaceFlight   Mon Dec 19, 2005 2:14 am GMT

They're the same for me: very = /ve@`i/ vary - /ve@`i/ Also merry - /me@`i/ Mary - /me@`i/ marry - /me@`i/ Jim, Does your accent lack happy tensing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_English_language#Up_through_American.2FBritish_split_.28c._AD_1600.E2.80.931725.29, or were those /I/s at the end of those words typos?

Jim   Mon Dec 19, 2005 5:17 am GMT

SpaceFlight, Your link doesn't work as you'd intended it. "Happy tensing (the term is from Wells 1982): final lax [I] becomes tense [i] in words like happy. ... it is uniformly present in ... Australian English," I speak AusE. Must have been typos.

SpaceFlight   Mon Dec 19, 2005 5:21 am GMT

Why is it not working the way I intended it to work?

SpaceFlight   Mon Dec 19, 2005 5:22 am GMT

Wikipedia must be limited in the way it's links work, I guess.

andre in usa   Mon Dec 19, 2005 6:19 am GMT

No, I don't have the furry-ferry merger. I guess it's just that one word, bury. But I am from Philadelphia.

andre in usa   Mon Dec 19, 2005 6:21 am GMT

The above post is a response to "Guest." <<Do you have the furry-ferry merger?http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English-language_vowel_changes_before_historic_r#Furry-ferry_merger>>

César   Mon Dec 19, 2005 2:20 pm GMT

To me, the "e" in "very" is the same as in "get;" and the "a" in "vary" is the same as in "cat." Since I learned standard American English I decided to stick to the dictionary as best I could. Check http://dictionary.cambridge.org/.

Sho   Mon Dec 19, 2005 4:50 pm GMT

I pronounce them both the same way... very & vary /vEri/ or /vE@`i/

Corrs   Fri Jan 13, 2006 12:28 am GMT

I pronounce them differently: very - /vE4i/ vary - /veri/

Corrs   Fri Jan 13, 2006 12:29 am GMT

<<very - /vE4i/ vary - /veri/>> Typo. very - /vE4I/ vary - /verI/

Jim   Fri Jan 13, 2006 12:34 am GMT

No Mary-marrry-merry merger for me. I pronounce "very" and "vary" differently: the vowel in the latter is longer.

Jim   Fri Jan 13, 2006 1:39 am GMT

I've repeated myself. It's best to read the thread before you post.

Jim   Fri Jan 13, 2006 1:57 am GMT

P.S. I've moved "Happy-tensing". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonological_history_of_the_high_front_vowels#Happy_tensing