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.
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”.
I think I pronounce Mary and marry the same, with a broader ‘a’, and merry with a short ‘e’ sound.
Try this guy, about 50-55 seconds in – he says both “cot” and “caught” twice:
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”.
I did this one many years ago for the Dope:
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.
Another great example. I’m sorry I didn’t notice your post before posting myself. Thanks!
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!
Firefox, Mac, running noscript; but the noscript listed nothing blockable on the first site, and only a couple which I unblocked on the other.
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.
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.
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”.
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.
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.
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”.
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.
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.
Careful about making absolute statements … next thing you know you’ll run into someone who does.
That’s in Boston!
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.
My mid-Ohio accent has “Mary”, “marry”, “merry” all as /mɛɹi/, while “Murray” is /məɹi/. I rhyme “Murray” with “furry”; do you?