The Mary-Marry-Merry Merger

[mia1181]

How do you say these three words?

Mary

Marry

Merry

I say them all exactly the same way!

Does anyone else? What about 2 out of 3?

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Date: 3/7/2009 3:13:28 AM
Author:mia1181
How do you say these three words?


Mary


Marry


Merry


I say them all exactly the same way!

Does anyone else? What about 2 out of 3?

I definitely say the first two the same way! I just sat here saying those out loud, lol. I think I pronounce the third one a little different but I talk so fast anyway that you really can''t tell!

 

[Lorelei]

All differently.

 

[JulieN]

I say merry differently than Mary/Marry.

You should ask a Scottish person to say these words! The difference is astounding.

 

[Deelight]

Date: 3/7/2009 5:40:36 AM
Author: Lorelei
All differently.

Ditto, TWINS

 

[zoebartlett]

I say "Mary" and "marry" the same way (with the long a sound) but I say "merry" with a short e sound.

 

[neatfreak]

I say them all differently too.

Mary- Mare-re
Marry-Mah-re
Merry-Meh-ry

 

[Maisie]

Date: 3/7/2009 5:59:55 AM
Author: Deelight

Date: 3/7/2009 5:40:36 AM
Author: Lorelei
All differently.

Ditto, TWINS

Triplets!

 

[icekid]

all the same, for me. I grew up in upstate NY

 

[iheartscience]

Date: 3/7/2009 3:13:28 AM
Author:mia1181
How do you say these three words?

Mary

Marry

Merry

I say them all exactly the same way!

Does anyone else? What about 2 out of 3?

I say them all exactly the same, too!

 

[Haven]

Date: 3/7/2009 9:26:43 AM
Author: thing2of2

Date: 3/7/2009 3:13:28 AM
Author:mia1181
How do you say these three words?
Mary
Marry
Merry
I say them all exactly the same way!

Does anyone else? What about 2 out of 3?

I say them all exactly the same, too!

Thritto!

 

[E B]

Date: 3/7/2009 10:11:42 AM
Author: Haven

Date: 3/7/2009 9:26:43 AM

Author: thing2of2

Date: 3/7/2009 3:13:28 AM

Author:mia1181

How do you say these three words?

Mary

Marry

Merry

I say them all exactly the same way!

Does anyone else? What about 2 out of 3?

I say them all exactly the same, too!

Thritto!

Quad...ritto?

 

[Kaleigh]

Date: 3/7/2009 9:02:21 AM
Author: neatfreak
I say them all differently too.

Mary- Mare-re
Marry-Mah-re
Merry-Meh-ry

Me too!!

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 3/7/2009 5:59:55 AM
Author: Deelight

Date: 3/7/2009 5:40:36 AM
Author: Lorelei
All differently.

Ditto, TWINS

Hiya Bruddah!!

 

[Maria D]

3 distinctly different ways:

Mary -- mare (female horse) - ee
marry -- using the same "a" sound you would hear in "apple": mar - ree
merry -- using the same "e" sound you sould hear in "met": mer -ree

Actually, hearing these three words pronounced the same way is a personal pet peeve of mine! My husband pronounces Mary as Merry. Good old Merry Tyler Moore.

We both grew up in Massachusetts, about 40 miles apart, so go figure.

oh, and both a's in Maria are pronounced as "uh": Muh - ree - uh

 

[Deelight]

Date: 3/7/2009 10:18:39 AM
Author: Lorelei

Date: 3/7/2009 5:59:55 AM

Author: Deelight

Date: 3/7/2009 5:40:36 AM

Author: Lorelei

All differently.

Ditto, TWINS

Hiya Bruddah!!

Hi Bruddah Lozza

 

[phoenixgirl]

Mary - rhymes with airy
Marry - similar to above but with more of an "ah" as in "that"
Merry - rhymes with berry

 

[AprilBaby]

All three different!

 

[Tuckins1]

In my flat mid-western accent, they pretty much all three sound the same.

 

[Maria D]

Date: 3/7/2009 12:04:45 PM
Author: phoenixgirl
Mary - rhymes with airy

Marry - similar to above but with more of an ''ah'' as in ''that''

Merry - rhymes with berry

To me the a in "that" and the a in "apple" are the same! But of course, since I grew up just south of Boston, ''ah'' rhymes with car...

Don''t ask me how I pronounce "idea!"

 

[mia1181]

Ah I love this question! And love reading your responses!

In highschool my Latin teacher told us about this and I didn''t really "get it" then, because well everyone I knew said all three words the same way. But now that I have been different places in the country I love to hear the differences in accent.

I am from Western New York and we have a midwesternish accent.

I also found this quiz:
http://www.gotoquiz.com/what_american_accent_do_you_have

 

[lyra]

This is why English is a difficult second language to teach! I say them all the same I think, but I harbour different feelings when I say merry, so maybe it comes out slightly different.

 

[AmberGretchen]

I say them all the same way, and it drove my stepmother NUTS when I was growing up - I still can''t pronounce them differently even if I try

 

[elrohwen]

I'm pretty sure they all sound the same when I say them out loud, but in my head I'm pronouncing them slightly differently, if that makes any sense

If any sounds different, it would be "merry" for the same reasons others have mentioned.

 

[purselover]

I pronounce them all the same, and I had no idea some people pronounced all 3 differently, I can''t imagine what that sounds like

 

[Steel]

Differently here too.


Many dictionary sites offer aural pronouncation; I use dictionary.com, just hit the little speaker icon for uk/us pronounciation.


Simples!

 

[AGBF]

Date: 3/7/2009 3:13:28 AM
Author:mia1181
How do you say these three words?

Mary

Marry

Merry

I say them all exactly the same way!

Does anyone else? What about 2 out of 3?

There is a test that will pinpoint the region of the US from which your accent comes. It tells you which regional accent you have based on your answering questions like this one. I will look for it. It may have been posted on Pricescope before.

I pronounce "Mary" and "merry" exactly the same way, with a long "a" sound: "mare-y".

I pronounce "marry" as a shorter sound: with the "a" being the sound in "tax".

Am I the first to pronounce the words this way?


Deborah

 

[AGBF]

Date: 3/8/2009 5:43:55 AM
Author: AGBF

There is a test that will pinpoint the region of the US from which your accent comes. It tells you which regional accent you have based on your answering questions like this one. I will look for it. It may have been posted on Pricescope before.

Take The Quiz!


Then report back to this thread and tell us what regional accent you have as well as how you pronounce your three above words!


Deborah

 

[AGBF]

Date: 3/7/2009 12:04:45 PM
Author: phoenixgirl

Mary - rhymes with airy
Marry - similar to above but with more of an 'ah' as in 'that'
Merry - rhymes with berry

Phoenix-This didn't help me because I didn't know how you pronounced "berry'! I wasn't sure, at first, if you were the first person to pronounce the words the way I did, in other words. Then I realized that you must not be. If you pronounced the words the way I do, you wouldn't have written out "airy" next to "Mary" and then put "berry" next to "merry". You must say, "meh-ry" for "merry", while I say "mare-y" .

So I think I am still alone in my pronunciation so far in this thread!

Deb

 

[AGBF]

Date: 3/7/2009 12:53:59 PM
Author: mia1181

I also found this quiz:
http://www.gotoquiz.com/what_american_accent_do_you_have

mia, I didn''t see this right away! I am afraid that our links to quizzes may get buried in this thread, so I am going to post a new topic that is just about the quiz for regional accents. The credit for it is all yours! I thank you for starting this wonderful discussion!

Deborah