What is the difference between marry and Mary?
In many British (and some American) accents, ‘marry’ (and other ‘-arry’ words) are pronounced with the same vowel in ‘cat;’ ‘merry,’ (and other ‘-erry’ words) are pronounced with the same vowel in ‘pet;’ and ‘mary’ (and other ‘-ary’ words) is pronounced with the same vowel as that found in ‘fair.
Are Mary and Merry homophones?
Merry, marry, and Mary are homophones to me, however, depending on how you heard each of them growing up, you might pronounce all three differently. The spelling of homophones is useful when demonstrating that the spelling of a word is determined by what you mean rather than by what you hear.
What is the meaning of Mary merry?
Choose the Right Synonym for merry merry, blithe, jocund, jovial, jolly mean showing high spirits or lightheartedness. merry suggests cheerful, joyous, uninhibited enjoyment of frolic or festivity. a merry group of revelers blithe suggests carefree, innocent, or even heedless gaiety.
Is it Merry Christmas or marry?
For these folks “merry” has the vowel /e/ (the same sound as in “met”), “marry” has /æ/ (like in “mat”), and “Mary” has /ei/ (like in “mate,” where it’s actually two sounds — you start with /e/ and slide up). This was the norm all over America around seventy years ago.
What is the transcription of Mary?
Below is the UK transcription for ‘mary’: Modern IPA: mɛ́ːrɪj. Traditional IPA: ˈmeəriː 2 syllables: “MAIR” + “ee”
What is the meaning of marry Me?
1 to take (someone as one’s husband or wife) in marriage. 2 tr to join or give in marriage. 3 tr to acquire (something) by marriage.
What is the meaning of marry and merry?
Marry is a verb meaning (1) to become someone’s husband or wife, and (2) to officiate at a marriage ceremony. The adjective meaning jolly or festive is spelled merry, with an e.
Do you pronounce marry merry and Mary the same?
Do you pronounce ‘marry,’ ‘merry,’ and ‘Mary’ the same? I do, which makes me a fairly typical American. That being said, I represent a generation shift. The Linguistic Atlas of New England, published in the 1930’s, showed that the region I grew up in still made a distinction between these three words.
How is the name Merry pronounced in The Hobbit?
Tolkien pronounced the name of his character Merry in this clipped fashion, but he also had the old-style r often enough. For a living example, you can hear Larry King pronounces his own name Larry, which would rhyme with to marry, not with Mary.
Is the word Mary the same as mate?
Mary has the same vowel as mate or may, so IPA /eɪ/ or /e/, depending on just how glide-y you are feeling. Not that almost anyone still does that, but some do. Once you have that down, you can practice saying “I’ll marry merry Mary” so that all three sound different using the schema given above.
What’s the difference between marry and Merry in IPA?
In IPA, [ˈmɛɹi] versus [ˈmɛːɹi ~ ˈmɛəri]. However, in American accents the long-short vowel distinction is generally less important that across the pond. This explains the “Mary”-“merry” merger (and also the related “nearer”-“mirror” merger), but not why “marry” should also be merged.