# American accents: "ear" and "air" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 7, 2022, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-ear-and-air/974503 "2022-11-07T10:53:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2022, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-ear-and-air/974503/21 "2022-11-07T17:11:31Z")
> [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](#): > > It’s not just drawing them out. Somehow, to my delicate ears, he misses the way Mary is pronounced, even when he tries to sound more natural about it. It sounds a little off to me too, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone else pronounce it quite the way he does. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2022, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-ear-and-air/974503/22 "2022-11-07T17:29:29Z")
Cot and caught are very different to my ears. In a weird way I wish there was some vowel blending in my accent that others distinguish. I would find it a challenge to learn to discern it. FTR I’m originally from NYC/Long Island. I grew up in Brooklyn though I have parents with foreign accents. Plus I’ve always been a bit of a chameleon accent wise, somehow adapting parts of speech from areas I’ve lived in for a length of time. In college I had a girlfriend who said my accent confused her because it sounded like (and I quote) “I didn’t come from anywhere”. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2022, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-ear-and-air/974503/23 "2022-11-07T17:34:40Z")
I think I pronounce Mary and marry the same, with a broader ‘a’, and merry with a short ‘e’ sound. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2022, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-ear-and-air/974503/24 "2022-11-07T17:58:24Z")
> [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](#): > > > [@pulykamell](#): > > > > One possibility is do you distinguish the vowel in “caught” vs “cot.” In my dialect they are different. > > Absolutely no difference to me. I would like to hear someone pronouncing them differently to see if I could even pick up on it. Try this guy, about 50-55 seconds in – he says both “cot” and “caught” twice: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/dtO0s7pXkaE/hqdefault.jpg "Cot-Caught") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtO0s7pXkaE) At 2:07 he says “hot” and “dog”, with the same difference. Or this one – the ‘cot’ vowel in “hot”, and the ‘caught’ vowel in “dogs”. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/3fQwJdXFQlU/hqdefault.jpg "VINTAGE 1967 ARMOUR HOT DOGS COMMERCIAL - KIDS MARCHING & SINGING") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fQwJdXFQlU) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2022, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-ear-and-air/974503/25 "2022-11-07T18:00:35Z")
I did this one many years ago for the Dope: [Click here for COT-CAUGHT HOT-FOUGHT mp3](https://www.peterpawinski.com/cotcaught.mp3) ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2022, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-ear-and-air/974503/26 "2022-11-07T18:27:03Z")
Thanks! These are great examples although your time cue was off for the first video. You need to watch a bit earlier in the video to hear him use the distinct “cot” and “caught” phonemes. he clearly pronounces “caught” to rhyme with “fraught” in that first video, which for me isn’t naturally the case. I can absolutely hear the difference in the vowel sounds in the Armour Hot Dogs commercial. I pronounce “hot” and “dogs” with the same vowel sounds, as near as I can tell, but I can hear distinct differences in the commercial. I doubt I would have noticed the difference without specifically listening for it even though i would have sensed that the singer has an accent different than mine. ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2022, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-ear-and-air/974503/27 "2022-11-07T18:28:46Z")
Another great example. I’m sorry I didn’t notice your post before posting myself. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2022, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-ear-and-air/974503/28 "2022-11-07T18:39:43Z")
OP chiming in here (when i really ought to be working). Wow, I didn’t expect so many responses! Thank you all! I have quite a bit to catch up on tonight. I had heard of Mary/merry/marry before, and now’s the time to look at it again! ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2022, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-ear-and-air/974503/29 "2022-11-07T20:58:58Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > What browser are you using? Firefox, Mac, running noscript; but the noscript listed nothing blockable on the first site, and only a couple which I unblocked on the other. > [@BwanaBob](#): > > In college I had a girlfriend who said my accent confused her because it sounded like (and I quote) “I didn’t come from anywhere”. I grew up about 70 miles north of New York City, in a rural area, with a grandfather living next door who had a strong Yiddish accent; my mother was from Omaha; my father had learned Very Standard American English; and my parents had friends, in addition to local friends and friends from New York City where they’d lived previously, from various places in Europe. In addition I went to school in Massachusetts, in Maine, and in Rochester NY; and then moved to the Finger Lakes. I’m not good at other people’s accents. But wherever I’ve been in the world, the minute I open my mouth, people know I must be from Someplace Else; though they don’t know where. It occurs to me that I’ve now stayed put for over 30 years and people do now occasionally ask me whether I grew up here; so the effect must have been fading. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2022, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-ear-and-air/974503/30 "2022-11-07T21:02:52Z")
I remember being home for the summer from college and having a similar discussion over dinner about the names “Aaron” and “Erin.” I hear a difference, and my sister doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2022, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-ear-and-air/974503/31 "2022-11-07T21:08:52Z")
My stepdaughter is named Erin and she has a cousin named Aaron. We’re all from the northeast but Aaron’s family unit moved to Tennessee. When we visited many years ago hilarity ensued when anyone called either of them. To my ears, the Tennessee folk pronounced both as “Air-rin”. They wound up distinguishing them by saying “the boy Aaron” or “the girl Erin”. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2022, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-ear-and-air/974503/32 "2022-11-07T21:18:16Z")
Yeah, I would pronounce both the same (Chicago, Inland Northern American/Great Lakes accent). Same as with Carrie and Kerry. I don’t notice the difference. If I try, I can pronounce it with an “eh” sound, and I wouldn’t be surprised if sometimes I do in rapid speech, but typically it’s the “air” sound for both. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2022, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-ear-and-air/974503/33 "2022-11-07T21:40:25Z")
My understanding is that, for those who don’t have the merger, the difference between the vowels in _merry, marry, Mary_ is the same difference as the difference between _met, mat, and mate_. Accordingly, that is how I pronounce it when talking about the merger. I personally can hear the difference in how a Brit says _hairy_ vs. _Harry_. But they sound like variations of the same vowel to me. If someone who was mimicking a British accent mixed them up, I wouldn’t notice. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2022, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-ear-and-air/974503/34 "2022-11-07T22:01:07Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > the difference between the vowels in _merry, marry, Mary_ is the same difference as the difference between _met, mat, and mate_. Not exactly. It’s correct that the difference between merry and marry is the difference between met and mat, their respective vowels being [ɛ] and [æ]. However Mary doesn’t have the vowel of “mate”; no English speaker says “may-ree”. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2022, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-ear-and-air/974503/35 "2022-11-07T22:22:37Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > I’ve lived in northern New Jersey for most of my life, and the way most locals speak has always sounded pretty normal so me. I have known many former residents of New Jersey and I would never refer the their accent as normal. New Jersey is different from New York, which is different from all the other NE American accents, but none are what I would call normal, generic American. Khakis to me are biege colored pants. In New Jersey they are what you start an automobile with. Jersey is one of the most identifiable regonal accents to me. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2022, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-ear-and-air/974503/36 "2022-11-07T22:36:18Z")
> [@hibernicus](#): > > > [@BigT](#): > > > > the difference between the vowels in _merry, marry, Mary_ is the same difference as the difference between _met, mat, and mate_. ⁢ > > Not exactly. It’s correct that the difference between merry and marry is the difference between met and mat, their respective vowels being [ɛ] and [æ]. However Mary doesn’t have the vowel of “mate”; no English speaker says “may-ree”. ⁢ They don’t use the diphthong, no. But I understand it is the same initial vowel, i.e. /e/, rather than the /ɛ/ of met. It would be like the _eh_ often used by Canadians. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2022, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-ear-and-air/974503/37 "2022-11-07T22:49:16Z")
> [@hibernicus](#): > > no English speaker says “may-ree”. Careful about making absolute statements … next thing you know you’ll run into someone who does. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2022, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-ear-and-air/974503/38 "2022-11-07T22:58:24Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > Khakis to me are biege colored pants. In New Jersey they are what you start an automobile with. That’s in Boston! ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2022, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-ear-and-air/974503/39 "2022-11-08T00:28:50Z")
In my Philly accent, Mary, marry, merry all quite different, but the last is exactly the same as Murray. Anyone else find that? The difference between cot and caught is the same as between ah and aw. And for me, sad does not rhyme with bad. The latter is, with some exaggeration, more like bayd. And can (modal) is not the same as can (noun and verb), Same difference, the latter is sort of like cayn. As for ear and air, totally different. Same for beer and bare/bear. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2022, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-ear-and-air/974503/40 "2022-11-08T01:26:30Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > In my Philly accent, Mary, marry, merry all quite different, but the last is exactly the same as Murray. Anyone else find that? My mid-Ohio accent has “Mary”, “marry”, “merry” all as /mɛɹi/, while “Murray” is /məɹi/. I rhyme “Murray” with “furry”; do you? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-ear-and-air/974503.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-accents-ear-and-air/974503.md?page=3)