"nearer" and "mirror" as well as "s

Do you rhyme "nearer" and "mirror", and similarly pronounced "serious" and "Sirius" the same way?

For me, they're different. "nearer" has the vowel in "beer" i.e. "neer-er", "mirror" has the vowel in "bit" i.e. "mihrer". Similarly, "serious" and "Sirius" are distinct for me, which "serious" having the vowel in "beer" and "Sirius" having the vowel in "bit".

Hello Vooger,

You are quite right - they are pronounced differently, in the way you suggest.

I pronounce "mirror" to rhyme with "nearer". I suppose that makes me wrong. Somehow I thought regional differences were not a question of right/wrong.

I suppose I should ask if you rhyme "Nevada" and "Prada". I don't.

"nearer" and "mirror" rhyme for me. "Serious" and "Sirius" are homophonous. They all have the vowel in "beer" for me.

Full vowel differentiation before /r/ is maintained everywhere outside North America, and also in Eastern New England, New York, and possibly the South. In the rest of North America, the following pairs are merged:
serious-Sirius: /i:/
marry-merry-Mary: /e:/
hurry-furry: /3`/

There is also the tory-torrent merger, which affects different parts of North America different ways. To find more, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English-language_vowel_changes_before_historic_r#Mergers_before_intervocalic_r

<<"nearer" and "mirror" rhyme for me. "Serious" and "Sirius" are homophonous. They all have the vowel in "beer" for me.>>

Do you mean you pronounce mirror as meerer? And Sirius as Seerious?

<<I suppose I should ask if you rhyme "Nevada" and "Prada".>>

I do.

<<I do.>>

So, given that the natives of that great state do not, and this appears to be a question of right/wrong now, who is wrong?

My point is... the "correct" pronunciation is something very difficult to declare, including "nearer/mirror" and "Nevada."

I use the "beer" vowel in nearer and a short vowel (as in "bit") in mirror.

But I don't say "seerious," I pronounce that word and Sirius the same.

One point, my AE version of a rhotic \r\ tends to lengthen and/or "darken" vowels a bit, so if you could magically cut-and-paste the vowel from "mirror" and insert it into "bit," it would sound a little warped I think.

Now is that screwed up, or what? I guess I'm not only "incorrect," I'm inconsistent as well.

<<Full vowel differentiation before /r/ is maintained everywhere outside North America, and also in Eastern New England, New York, and possibly the South.>>

I'm from Eastern New England.

<<I'm from Eastern New England>>

That would explain why serious and Sirious are different for you.

I'm from Massachusetts, so I maintain those distinctions.

"nearer" ["nI@`.@`]
"mirror" ["mI.r\@`]

"serious" ["sI@`.i.@s]
"Sirius" ["sI.r\i.@s]

Plus, of course:

"hurry" ["hV.r\i]
"furry" ["f3`.i]

"Mary" ["mE@`.i]
"merry" ["mE.r\i]
"marry" ["m{.r\i]

And since Josh brought up the Tory-torrent distinction, let me add that I have that one as well. "Tory" uses my merged "horse-hoarse" vowel, whereas "torrent" uses my merged "cot-caught" vowel.

"Tory" ["t_hO@`.i]
"torrent" ["t_hQ:.r\@nt]

Mirror and nearer are pronounced same way for me. Like mere and near also. I think serious is sirius. Yes, they are both same. Am I wrongs for these?.

(wrongs or wrong? It is plural, yes?)

I learn so much but my brain explodes.

Thank you
x

<<Mirror and nearer are pronounced same way for me. Like mere and near also. I think serious is sirius. Yes, they are both same. Am I wrongs for these?.

(wrongs or wrong? It is plural, yes?)

I learn so much but my brain explodes.

Thank you
x>>

Well, as I've written above, I'm inconsistant apparantly. "mirror" and "nearer" don't rhyme for me, but "serious" and "Sirius" do. "Mere" and "near" likewise rhyme for me. I'd say you're not wrong. And no, "wrongs" is never used in the way you've used it.

For what it's worth, here's what I get;

mirror/nearer - this doesn't rhyme
mere/near - this does rhyme
serious/sirius - this doesn't quite rhyme but it's pretty close when I say it fast.