will/we'll

Luiz   Thu Jan 21, 2010 12:26 am GMT
I sometimes tend to confuse we'll with will when hearing spoken English, not always but I think it may be a problem with some dialects that pronounce them the same. Do you know if that is correct, that is, is there any dialect in which they're prononunce the same?

For example, I was just hearing:

"The rest we'll carry"

I thought that the person had said "will carry" but it turned out that it was "we'll carry".
Drew   Thu Jan 21, 2010 12:58 am GMT
I can think of a few people I've met who've pronounced them very similarly. It may be a subtle accent change, I don't know. I think it's also common among younger kids still learning to speak.
Uriel   Thu Jan 21, 2010 1:42 am GMT
There are lots of people in the US whose we'll and will sound very similar, as do their still and steal, pill and peel, etc.
Guest.   Thu Jan 21, 2010 3:12 am GMT
I pronounce "will" as /wIl/ and "we'll" as /w@l/.
estvn   Thu Jan 21, 2010 3:30 pm GMT
i use [wEl] for "will" and [wi@l] for "we'll"
so, i fall under definitely distinct from each other
Another Guest   Fri Jan 22, 2010 12:41 am GMT
I think that most people don't clearly distinguish them, especially in casual speech. And if they're trying to speak formally, they wouldn't say "we'll" to begin with; they'd say "we will". I don't think that, as Uriel implies, it has to do with the still/steal merger. I would find pronouncing "we'll" and "wheel" as homophones to be a bit odd. If I were to pronounce "we'll" differently from "will", it would only be to stretch out the middle vowel so that the word approaches two syllables.

I find estvn's transcriptions quite odd. [wEl] I would hear as "well". "Will" is [wIl], and "we'll" is [wIl], [wI\Il], or [w@l]. [w@l], however, I might hear as "wool".

Speaking of which, do you consider "they're" and "there" to be homophones? I would think that people who distinguish between "we'll" and "will" would also distinguish between these two.
estvn   Fri Jan 22, 2010 3:37 am GMT
separate, "they're" and "there" aren't homophones, 1st is diphthongish E@ and 2nd is more a monophthong E, but in quick speech they can be close cause the @ gets elided.