"Behind"

I'm not sure if I will be able to explain this properly, because I don't know how to show English pronunciation by written symbols, but I will try.

I have noticed that some Americans pronounce "behind" more like "buhind" ("u" sounds a little bit like in "but") instead of "bihind" ("i" is pronounced like in "sit"). Is that correct? Because I was taught to pronounce it with that "i" sound.

Both of them are correct.This kind of pronunciation ("buhind" as you mentioned) mostly occurs in conversations when you want to talk quickly and casually.There are a lot of other words that have pronunciation like this.

In English there can often be a lot of variation between [@] and [I] in unstressed syllables - for example, many people would rhyme "Erin" and "heron", or "abbot" and "rabbit". The distinction seems to be a little more entrenched in British English, but most speakers of American and Australian English tend not to make the distinction.

Lazar,

I think your referring to the Lennon-Lenin merger, right? Here's an article about it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weak_vowel_merger.

I don't have the merger in my accent. For me these are:

Erin - /Er\_GIn/
heron - /hEr\_G@n/
abbot - /{b@t/
rabbit - /r{bIt/

<<rabbit - /r{bIt/>>

/r\{bIt/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weak_vowel_merger

Sanja, the pronunciation of the first vowel in "behind" can change slightly depending on emphasis or where it falls in the sentence or how quickly the speaker says it, or many other factors. Don't worry about it, just say it your way and you will get no funny looks -- no one will even notice it.

For me, ''behind'' definitely /bIhaInd/ (with the ''i'' in ''lid''), not */b@haInd/ (with the ''a'' in ''about''). I don't have the Lennon-Lenin merger.

<<For me, ''behind'' definitely /bIhaInd/ (with the ''i'' in ''lid''), not */b@haInd/ (with the ''a'' in ''about''). I don't have the Lennon-Lenin merger.>>

There should be an ''is'' between the ''behind'' and the ''definitely''.

I have the "Lennon-Lenin" merger, but it should be noted that doesn't apply to all cases where there's /@/. For instance, while I say ["lenIn] for "Lennon" and "Lenin" and have [bIt] as the final syllable in "abbot" and "rabbit," I don't have *[I"b{Ut] for "about." It's always [@"b{Ut] for me. I guess the "Lennon-Lenin" merger is most likely to occur after stressed syllables for me, but not before.

Altho this might sound contradictory (but really isn't because the original form is /I/, not /@/), I may have either [I] or [@] for the beginning syllable of "behind." Either sounds fine and I believe I interchange the two.

Thanks for the replies, everyone. :)