Aaron vs. Erin pronunciation

[goofy4tink]

I pronunce them differently.

Ahrun - male

Ehrin - female

Yep...they are pronounced differently. And one is male, one is female. And they have completely different derivatives.

 

[design_mom]

Simply because most people are too lazy (yes, really) to enunciate correctly doesn't make a pronunciation or usage correct. Especially everyone who went through the entire public school system in this country - and most particularly native English speakers - learned proper pronunciation. That includes long and short vowels, diphthongs, vowels followed by a consonant...

Boy, that's kind of rude. Accents/dialects vary throughout the country. Seems to me that *most* people say them very similarly, except for people from the Northeast. My college linguistics professor said I had no regional accent (It wasn't a compliment. He considered me "linguistically impoverished" because of it ). I say the words VERY similarly.

And, for the record, I learned in school that marry/merry and berry/bury and vary/very were homophones.

Honestly, Barry/berry hairy/Harry marry/merry.....the difference in pronunciation is so incredibly slight it's barely detectable.

Me, too. I don't think I pronounce them *exactly* the same, but it's close enough that I'd you'd probably need to depend on context to figure them out.

(I think I pronounce Mary and marry the same. Merry is ever-so-slightly different, but not enough to really count.)

 

[blana]

Same pronunciation. However, my mother always pronounced Aaron as A-run and Erin as Air-in. Drove my brother's friend Aaron crazy.

Oh, and Aaron for males only & Erin for girls only.

 

[Allison]

Boy, that's kind of rude. Accents/dialects vary throughout the country. Seems to me that *most* people say them very similarly, except for people from the Northeast. My college linguistics professor said I had no regional accent (It wasn't a compliment. He considered me "linguistically impoverished" because of it ). I say the words VERY similarly.

Typical for a thread. Some people (and this is a generalization) can enjoy a thread and have an interesting discussion and recognize differences over such a minor thing are ok. Others take things way too seriously. I think they need a good strong margarita.

And yes, I pronounce them the same (that goes for Barry and berry too) and so does everyone I have ever been around that pronounced these words.

Maybe I need my hearing checked.

 

[mjkacmom]

Very different, and marry, merry, and Mary are also very different. I took a phonics class in college, and when it came to exams, we all had to pronounce the words we wrote in the phonetic alphabet, because since we were from different areas, our answers would be different. North Jersey and South Jersey, close geographically, have different patterns of speech.

 

[antmaril]

Aaron = male. Erin = female, both pronounced air-in.

This.

 

[Scurvy]

I think it depends on where you are from. I am from the south, they are all pretty much pronounced the same. I have many friends from up north and I know that they would pronounce them differently, I can hear it in my head. So I guess what I am saying is if I heard a distinct difference in the two. Barry/berry and Aaron/Erin. I just think the person has a northern accent and nothing else. Around here Aaron/Erin are pronounced the same. We have a very good friend named Barry, and he pronounces it sounding like Berry, he is VERY southern. Southern gentleman accent. Again, I think that is the difference. Like like people formEngland say pasta differently from us, us should like the "a" in the word cat.

I'm Southern, so I understand what you are saying. I don't think I worded my last post well. I do understand why people say those words the same way. I'm used to Southern accents. What surprises me so much is the number of people who are astonished that they could be pronounced differently. I think most people are aware that they have regional accents. I think most people also know that the way they pronounce things might be normal and accepted for their accent while not actually being the "correct" pronunciation for someone with no accent. So while you might pronounce Barry and Berry the same way in some areas, you'd also realize that technically they aren't really supposed to sound identical. Like "pin" and "pen", which many people say the same way even though they know they are really supposed to be pronounced differently. It just sounds weird to them to say "pin" and "p-eh-n" so they end up saying "pin" for both, though they know that isn't technically correct. The number of people who can't understand how words like that could possibly sound different just surprises me. Regional accents are great, and interesting, so I'm not saying people shouldn't use them. But there's a difference between "This is how I say this word" and "I don't see how this word could correctly be pronounced any differently" and it's the latter response I don't understand.

It sort of reminds me of a few of the girls in my college class that focused on public speaking and proper pronunciation. They would say lots of words in very strong accents- like oil or wash for example. And even though they could sound out the individual parts of the word, they wouldn't put it all together to sound like the correct pronunciation without a strong accent. So you'd get "w-ahhh-sh", "w-ahhh-sh", "warrsh". Over and over again. Or "Oy-l", "Oy-l", "ohl". And when other people said them correctly, the girls would say they couldn't understand how those words could possibly be supposed to sound like that.

 

[Phatoomch]

Aaron pronounced "Air en" and its a male name.

Erin is prounounced "Err in" and its a female name.

Thats how I have always known them to be pronounced.

But then I'm British and American/British phonics can be very different. My daughter was put into speech because certain letters she pronounced differently - I had to 'prove' it was because she lived with British parents to get her released

 

[Poohforyou]

Honestly, Barry/berry hairy/Harry marry/merry.....the difference in pronunciation is so incredibly slight it's barely detectable.

I'm not ragging on you or anyone else who thinks they're pronounced the same because that's a result of accents and what you were exposed to as you learned to speak. However, if you were to say the words the way a dictionary shows they should be said using proper english they do not sound alike. The one that is probably closest is Mary vs. merry but even those do have a different tonation.

 

[design_mom]

I'm not ragging on you or anyone else who thinks they're pronounced the same because that's a result of accents and what you were exposed to as you learned to speak. However, if you were to say the words the way a dictionary shows they should be said using proper english they do not sound alike. The one that is probably closest is Mary vs. merry but even those do have a different tonation.

With all due respect, this is from the Merriam-Webster online dictionary. They show two acceptable pronunciations for each, and one of them is identical across both words. And the "pronounced similarly" version is the first option. It's the "pronounced differently" version that's the alternate pronunciation.

Your way (pronounced differently) is not "right." It's just different.

mer·ry adj \ˈmer-ē, ˈme-rē\
mar·ry verb \ˈmer-ē, ˈma-rē\

vary verb \ˈver-ē\
very adj \ˈver-ē, ˈve-rē\

bar·on noun \ˈber-ən, ˈba-rən\
her·on noun \ˈher-ən, ˈhe-rən\
According to the first pronunciation listed for each of these, they rhyme.

 

[Poohforyou]

With all due respect, this is from the Merriam-Webster online dictionary. They show two acceptable pronunciations for each, and one of them is identical across both words. And the "pronounced similarly" version is the first option. It's the "pronounced differently" version that's the alternate pronunciation.

Your way (pronounced differently) is not "right." It's just different.

mer·ry adj \ˈmer-ē, ˈme-rē\
mar·ry verb \ˈmer-ē, ˈma-rē\

vary verb \ˈver-ē\
very adj \ˈver-ē, ˈve-rē\

bar·on noun \ˈber-ən, ˈba-rən\
her·on noun \ˈher-ən, ˈhe-rən\
According to the first pronunciation listed for each of these, they rhyme.

I guess we can go round and round with this but I'll stick with The Oxford English dictionary. It has only one pronunciation and they're as follows:

merry Pronunciation: /ˈmerē/
marry Pronunciation: /ˈmarē/
Mary Pronunciation: /ˈme(ə)rē/

 

[Scurvy]

With all due respect, this is from the Merriam-Webster online dictionary. They show two acceptable pronunciations for each, and one of them is identical across both words. And the "pronounced similarly" version is the first option. It's the "pronounced differently" version that's the alternate pronunciation.

Your way (pronounced differently) is not "right." It's just different.

mer·ry adj \ˈmer-ē, ˈme-rē\
mar·ry verb \ˈmer-ē, ˈma-rē\

vary verb \ˈver-ē\
very adj \ˈver-ē, ˈve-rē\

bar·on noun \ˈber-ən, ˈba-rən\
her·on noun \ˈher-ən, ˈhe-rən\
According to the first pronunciation listed for each of these, they rhyme.

Oddly, though, if you listen to their audio pronunciation of "vary" and "very" they are definitely different. They may be pronounced similarly but they are not the same.

 

[Phatoomch]

I guess we can go round and round with this but I'll stick with The Oxford English dictionary. It has only one pronunciation and they're as follows:

merry Pronunciation: /ˈmerē/
marry Pronunciation: /ˈmarē/
Mary Pronunciation: /ˈme(ə)rē/

Its an international English thing. Above is how I pronounce those words and I don't think they sound similar as a PP suggested, they are distinctly different to me and that is because I am British - our schools use the Oxford English Dictionary.

However, when I hear an American say those words, they do sound very similar. Like I said in my previous post, pronuniciation was a problem for my daughter when she started school here.

There is no right or wrong. One is the English way, one is the American English way

 

[design_mom]

Oddly, though, if you listen to their audio pronunciation of "vary" and "very" they are definitely different. They may be pronounced similarly but they are not the same.

Yes. That is odd, especially since I don't think their recording of "vary" matches their written presentation (they only offer one choice of pronunciation for vary and it includes the "e" sound.)

For the record, I do say very and vary slightly differently, but probably not enough that you could tell unless I said the two words one after the other. The vowel sound in vary is said more in the front of the mouth, while very is said more in the back of the mouth.

Regarding Merriam-Webster vs. Oxford dictionaries. I'm not sure I'd go to Oxford for American English pronunciations. If you're talking Queen's English, then I would say "fine." According to Oxford, the American pronunciation of "butter" includes a D sound, but not a T sound. And the U in nurse makes the same sound as the U in strut. (I say "nerse"). According to Oxford, Amercians pronounce "rabbit" like rab-butt, instead of rab-bit.

 

[Phatoomch]

Yes. That is odd, especially since I don't think their recording of "vary" matches their written presentation (they only offer one choice of pronunciation for vary and it includes the "e" sound.)

For the record, I do say very and vary slightly differently, but probably not enough that you could tell unless I said the two words one after the other. The vowel sound in vary is said more in the front of the mouth, while very is said more in the back of the mouth.

Regarding Merriam-Webster vs. Oxford dictionaries. I'm not sure I'd go to Oxford for American English pronunciations. If you're talking Queen's English, then I would say "fine." According to Oxford, the American pronunciation of "butter" includes a D sound, but not a T sound. And the U in nurse makes the same sound as the U in strut. (I say "nerse"). According to Oxford, Amercians pronounce "rabbit" like rab-butt, instead of rab-bit.

Exactly. Until I moved here I did not realise just how different pronunciations are - prior to living here I thought the difference between us was purely accent but it so isn't, its actually quite fascinating.

Also proved very challenging when helping my daughter with spelling tests in her early grades - I sounded out totally different from her so I had to be careful.

 

[luvsJack]

Okay, not picking on this poster. Just using the post to vent

Simply because most people are too lazy (yes, really) to enunciate correctly doesn't make a pronunciation or usage correct. Especially everyone who went through the entire public school system in this country - and most particularly native English speakers - learned proper pronunciation. That includes long and short vowels, diphthongs, vowels followed by a consonant...

Neither is properly pronounced that way (quoting this poster for convenience only, realizing many others have used the same sample). Aaron rhymes with baron; Erin rhymes with heron (in both rhymed words, the 'o' is elided).

In all reality, anyone's name is pronounced the way their parents intended the name to be pronounced. So your really rude implication that anyone that pronounces something different than you do is lazy, isn't really correct.

I have known kids with these names and it just depends on how the parent pronounces as to how I say it. Otherwise, I pronounce them the same.

Its like my brother's name--Dwayne. Some people name their son Dwayne and pronounce it with a long e (Deewayne) some do not add an e sound at all. (my brother's name was without the long e sound)

It should be the preference of the parent.

 

[Maridw]

Pronounced the same, but Aaron - male and Erin - Female.

That's the way I have always pronounced them unless I am over emphasizing the pronunciation of the name Aaron to distinguish between the two.

 

[ilovemk76]

In all reality, anyone's name is pronounced the way their parents intended the name to be pronounced. So your really rude implication that anyone that pronounces something different than you do is lazy, isn't really correct.

I have known kids with these names and it just depends on how the parent pronounces as to how I say it. Otherwise, I pronounce them the same.

Its like my brother's name--Dwayne. Some people name their son Dwayne and pronounce it with a long e (Deewayne) some do not add an e sound at all. (my brother's name was without the long e sound)

It should be the preference of the parent.

My parents did not pronounce my name the traditional way. When I entered kindergarten, I changed my name's pronunciation to the traditional way. It is MY preference and not my parent's to how MY name is pronounced.

 

[2girls4me]

In the same respects, as Aaron and Erin. My name is Sarah. Pronounced Sa-rah. I hate and despise when anyone says "Sea-rah". There is no E anywhere in my name.

I see Aaraon and Erin the same way.

 

[NotUrsula]

...

But then I'm British and American/British phonics can be very different. My daughter was put into speech because certain letters she pronounced differently - I had to 'prove' it was because she lived with British parents to get her released

I had the same issue as a child; it was especially an issue with the way that I said "Tuesday" for some reason. I ended up essentially living my life split down the middle for a few years: I used one set of rules at home and one at school, especially when it came to table manners. (By the time I hit HS my teachers no longer cared about things like that, but my mother still did, and she didn't suffer disobedience gladly. Mum's way prevailed.)

I'll never forget the time in 2nd grade when my father took a dictionary to a teacher meeting to prove to the teacher that it was correct for me to add those extra u's to words like colour.