Aaron vs. Erin pronunciation

[NotUrsula]

I have heard people who think that "pen" and "pin" sound exactly the same.

Which is why it is important to be specific when you are looking for an inkpen.



Seriously, I'm guilty of the pen/pin thing (I say inkpen to differentiate -- yes, I admit it.), but I use three different and specific pronunciations for Mary, marry and merry, and "err" and "air" do not sound the same to me.

 

[Diznygrl]

The only time I ever hear words like Barry/berry pronounced with a very distinctive difference is when I'm watching stuff like Cake Boss, so the whole East Coast thing explains a lot.

 

[KristaTX]

Aaron, Erin, Barren, Baron, Heron, Karen, Darren - all pronounced the same way for me. But not Warren. It's pronounced like War. But Barren is not pronounced like Bar.

I can't even figure out how some of you are saying the words above where they don't sound alike. Unless you are saying them like the British say Harry, but I've never heard anyone say the names above that way. I say Harry as "hair-ee", but I've noticed on the Harry Potter movies that they say "Hah-ree", like how I pronounce "sorry" (which is not the way Canadians say it!).

Yes, heretic = hair-etic.
Yes, error = air-or and erroneous = air-oneous.

Me, too.

On the other hand, I say "pen" and "pin" the same way, but I can hear the difference and pronounce them differently if I wanted to. But to me "pen" if I say it the way where it doesn't sound like "pin", it sounds like I am saying "pan" .

 

[KristaTX]

Oh yeah - I forgot erase. I pronounce it "ee-race" with equal emphasis on both syllables.

 

[SunFloridaDisney]

You say potato, and I say potahto . . .

 

[kaytieeldr]

Here's an article about Mary/Marry/Merry from http://www.pronuncian.com/Podcast/Default.aspx?Episode=123 :

I'm one of the 57% of Americans who pronounce the words merry, marry, and Mary the same. When two sounds that were, at one time, pronounced differently, start being pronounced the same, we say a merger has occurred.

Simply because (even a majority of) people do something a certain way doesn't make it right. Many drivers run red lights. Many more roll through stop signs. Probably more than 57% of drivers speed. Doesn't make it the correct behavior.

They're three different words with different pronunciations.

Aaron and Erin are different words with different pronunciations.

 

[SunFloridaDisney]

Simply because (even a majority of) people do something a certain way doesn't make it right. Many drivers run red lights. Many more roll through stop signs. Probably more than 57% of drivers speed. Doesn't make it the correct behavior.

They're three different words with different pronunciations.

Aaron and Erin are different words with different pronunciations.

Traffic rules that regulate safety and language guidelines are a bit different.

If you speed, you can get a ticket, or worse, injure someone.

Language is subject to dialects, accents, etc. and I can tell you that if you came to visit my town, and pronounced Aaron and Erin differently, then YOU would be the one "not right", although being the friendly accepting people that we are, we would overlook the fact that your speech sounds odd to us. I would NEVER say you are wrong, just DIFFERENT. And what is wrong with that?
Isn't variety the spice of life?

 

[KristaTX]

Simply because (even a majority of) people do something a certain way doesn't make it right. Many drivers run red lights. Many more roll through stop signs. Probably more than 57% of drivers speed. Doesn't make it the correct behavior.

They're three different words with different pronunciations.

Aaron and Erin are different words with different pronunciations.

You're right. Everyone else on this thread and in the world who pronounces words differently from you is wrong. And so are the dictionaries that suggest pronunciations that you don't like.

Language never changes. It is not fluid. Nothing about English has ever changed since, hmmm, well, I'll just go with the tower of Babel.

Is that what you want everyone to agree with? That language doesn't change??

Do you speak like a Brit? Because they're probably closer to what's original (whatever "original" could possibly be) than people who speak American English.

 

[KristaTX]

What about to/too/two and they're/their/there? Do they all sound different to some people, also? Those are also sets of three different words.

 

[SunFloridaDisney]

You're right. Everyone else on this thread and in the world who pronounces words differently from you is wrong. And so are the dictionaries that suggest pronunciations that you don't like.

Language never changes. It is not fluid. Nothing about English has ever changed since, hmmm, well, I'll just go with the tower of Babel.

Is that what you want everyone to agree with? That language doesn't change??

Do you speak like a Brit? Because they're probably closer to what's original (whatever "original" could possibly be) than people who speak American English.

 

[kaytieeldr]

What about to/too/two and they're/their/there? Do they all sound different to some people, also? Those are also sets of three different words.

No, those are actual homophones.

 

[PrincessBelle39]

Not particularly the same. Here's how I do it:

Aaron -- The double "a" is like the a in cat, hat, fat, or bat. The "ron" part is like run, but kind of swallowed, with one of those upside-down e things (I believe it's called a schwa or something like that.)

Erin -- The "e" is like the e in pet or the ea in feather (which I pronounce the same), and the "i" is an ultra-short i, even shorter
than the i in minute.

Native Texan here, so your mileage may vary.

Erin is a girl's name, and Aaron is a boy's name. I could see a boy named Erin, but I could also see him catching some flack for it in school.

Easier to quote this post than retype. Agree 100% I have never heard them pronounced the same.

 

[ICF]

Simply because (even a majority of) people do something a certain way doesn't make it right. .....
They're three different words with different pronunciations.

Simply because you think the above is true doesn't make it right.....

 

[blana]

This thread has me cracking up.

I am in the camp of Erin = Heron and Aaron = Baron. Great examples.


However, my friend Erin is married to a man from the midwest with a brother named Aaron and he (the husband) pronounces both his wife AND his brother's name the same. I am fairly certain he is the only person who calls his wife "Air-en" though. We are in New England.

My name is Karen and everyone I know pronounces it so it rhymes with barren. My college roommate was from North Carolina and called me Care-in and it drove me crazy.

I am always interested in how people in other parts of the country pronounce things.

*laughs* And every one of the words you just listed rhyme when I say them. Well, there is a slight difference between Baron & barren, but not in the A sound area.

 

[Patience]

I think I pronounce Aaron and Erin slightly differently but very slightly. I pronounce Aaron as Air-un and Erin as Air-in. Aaron is a boy's name, Erin is a girls name.

As for marry, mary and merry, they are all pronounced the same to me.

I live in the south so many people pronounce pen as pin, although I don't.

 

[erincon23]

I am Erin air-in.

I hate when people call me R-in.

Aaron is pronounced both Aaaa-Ron or air-in here.

As one Erin to another, this!

BTW, my DGF, who picked my name (he was from Ireland), always called me Mary, which was my mother's name. Mom says there's an Irish tradition that the first girl in the family (which I was) is named Mary.

 

[RitaZ.]

Simply because (even a majority of) people do something a certain way doesn't make it right.

Linguists don't view dialect variations as wrong or incorrect. Check out the Telsur Project, conducted by the University of Pennsylvania, which confirmed that vowel articulation in the US isn't static. You can read about the chain shift and vowel mergers and view maps that demarcate the various dialectal regions in the US. Enjoy!

 

[KBoopaloo]

I had a chat at work this morning about this thread and it led us off on a tangent about a million other words and names.

So here is a question...how do you say the word "aunt"?

(I say it "Ah-nt" not "Ant")

 

[KristaTX]

Ant.

 

[sunshinehighway]

I had a chat at work this morning about this thread and it led us off on a tangent about a million other words and names.

So here is a question...how do you say the word "aunt"?

(I say it "Ah-nt" not "Ant")

Ah-nt