A really thorough linguistic survey

MadTomVane · 08-28-2005, 12:48 AM

If you've been around other boards like UniLang you've probably seen this done. But since I haven't found one here, here's mine. Surveys like these have been circulating on such boards and I'm contributing, since I am compiling results of some of the pairs and putting them on a website.

This is how it works. I list a bunch of pairs of words, and you indicate if you distinguish them in pronunciation. For most of these that means you indicate if the words rhyme, but for others there are some different instructions.

First tell us where you grew up, or if you're not a native English speaker, where you learned to speak English.

Now for the pairs of words.
don-dawn
hill-heel
berry-Barry
copy-coffee (do the o's sound different?)
horse-hoarse
hot-caught
horror-explorer
morning-mourning
sock-talk
fairy-ferry
on-dawn
hurry-furry
which-witch (are the w and wh different?)
pen-pin
loss-sauce
fell-fail
mirror-nearer
bat-bath (do the a's sound different?)
pull-pool
dew-do
cheer-chair
pull-pole
father-bother
kit-bit
vein-vain
look-Luke
cord-card
father-gather
source-sauce
bad-lad
nose-knows
court-caught
Sam-psalm
pane-pain
libel-bible
look-luck
tenor-tenner
hair-her
hurt-dirt
bred-bread
roof-hoof
tide-tied
can (verb "able to")-can (metal container)

Janne Huttunen · 03-09-2006, 01:23 PM

what will You say about the ideas in pages www.jannehuttunen.com

JH

chinoise · 03-10-2006, 09:16 AM

Hi, MadTomVane,

Are you a native English speaker?

I'm from Hong Kong, not a native English speaker, and learned English at school. This survey is based on standard pronunciation, British or American, I think. Some pairs are too diff to be mixed up, whereas some are very similar, but some pairs have the same pronuciations, like court-caught, pane-pain, source-sauce.

I can tell the diff of most pairs, except for don-dawn and which-witch (I think Americans emphasize the h more than British people), but then I can always check up their pronunciations with a dictionary. But even with native English speakers, their pronunciations do vary, and many British have very heavy local accents, the northern they are the heavier their accents, which may be intelligible even to their countrymen elsewhere. Even with local London people there's a group of h-droppers (forgot the name given to this group).

That is, you may have 10 variations or more in pronunciation of one single word, even with native English speakers from the same country!

catachrest · 04-24-2006, 05:19 PM

I'm Canadian, native Anglophone, and grew up on the prairies.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadTomVane

If you've been around other boards like UniLang you've probably seen this done. But since I haven't found one here, here's mine. Surveys like these have been circulating on such boards and I'm contributing, since I am compiling results of some of the pairs and putting them on a website.

This is how it works. I list a bunch of pairs of words, and you indicate if you distinguish them in pronunciation. For most of these that means you indicate if the words rhyme, but for others there are some different instructions.

First tell us where you grew up, or if you're not a native English speaker, where you learned to speak English.

Now for the pairs of words.
don-dawn - If I'm thinking about it I do, but in casual conversation probably not
hill-heel - definite difference
berry-Barry - no difference
copy-coffee (do the o's sound different?) - very very very slight difference
horse-hoarse - slight elongation of the vowel in hoarse
hot-caught - slight elongation of the vowel in caught
horror-explorer - no difference
morning-mourning -no difference
sock-talk - no difference
fairy-ferry - very slight difference
on-dawn - no difference
hurry-furry - no difference
which-witch (are the w and wh different?) - sometimes yes sometimes no
pen-pin - yes, definite difference
loss-sauce - very slight difference
fell-fail - yes, definite difference
mirror-nearer - no difference
bat-bath (do the a's sound different?) - very slight difference
pull-pool - definite difference
dew-do -yes, dew has a glide “djuw”
cheer-chair - yes definite difference
pull-pole - yes definite difference
father-bother - very slight difference
kit-bit - no difference
vein-vain - no difference
look-Luke - definite difference
cord-card - definite difference
father-gather - definite difference
source-sauce - definite difference
bad-lad -no difference
nose-knows - no difference
court-caught - definite difference
Sam-psalm - definite difference
pane-pain - no difference
libel-bible - no difference
look-luck - definite difference
tenor-tenner - no difference, but my dialect doesn’t really use the word “tenner”
hair-her - definite difference
hurt-dirt - no difference
bred-bread - no difference
roof-hoof - yes difference, but I have been teased about this by my friends who say ‘roof’ with a long o. I think this one may originate in my mother’s slight Newfoundland accent.
tide-tied - no difference
can (verb "able to")-can (metal container) - no difference

checento · 12-14-2006, 06:06 PM

hmmm well sort of .....

08-28-2005, 12:48 AM	#1 (permalink)
MadTomVane Junior Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 9 MadTomVane is an unknown character at this point	A really thorough linguistic survey If you've been around other boards like UniLang you've probably seen this done. But since I haven't found one here, here's mine. Surveys like these have been circulating on such boards and I'm contributing, since I am compiling results of some of the pairs and putting them on a website. This is how it works. I list a bunch of pairs of words, and you indicate if you distinguish them in pronunciation. For most of these that means you indicate if the words rhyme, but for others there are some different instructions. First tell us where you grew up, or if you're not a native English speaker, where you learned to speak English. Now for the pairs of words. don-dawn hill-heel berry-Barry copy-coffee (do the o's sound different?) horse-hoarse hot-caught horror-explorer morning-mourning sock-talk fairy-ferry on-dawn hurry-furry which-witch (are the w and wh different?) pen-pin loss-sauce fell-fail mirror-nearer bat-bath (do the a's sound different?) pull-pool dew-do cheer-chair pull-pole father-bother kit-bit vein-vain look-Luke cord-card father-gather source-sauce bad-lad nose-knows court-caught Sam-psalm pane-pain libel-bible look-luck tenor-tenner hair-her hurt-dirt bred-bread roof-hoof tide-tied can (verb "able to")-can (metal container)
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03-09-2006, 01:23 PM	#2 (permalink)
Janne Huttunen Junior Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 5 Janne Huttunen is an unknown character at this point	If interested on linguistics what will You say about the ideas in pages www.jannehuttunen.com JH
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03-10-2006, 09:16 AM	#3 (permalink)
chinoise International Forum Fan Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 511 Blog Entries: 1 chinoise has a spectacular aura about	Hi, MadTomVane, Are you a native English speaker? I'm from Hong Kong, not a native English speaker, and learned English at school. This survey is based on standard pronunciation, British or American, I think. Some pairs are too diff to be mixed up, whereas some are very similar, but some pairs have the same pronuciations, like court-caught, pane-pain, source-sauce. I can tell the diff of most pairs, except for don-dawn and which-witch (I think Americans emphasize the h more than British people), but then I can always check up their pronunciations with a dictionary. But even with native English speakers, their pronunciations do vary, and many British have very heavy local accents, the northern they are the heavier their accents, which may be intelligible even to their countrymen elsewhere. Even with local London people there's a group of h-droppers (forgot the name given to this group). That is, you may have 10 variations or more in pronunciation of one single word, even with native English speakers from the same country!
(Offline)

12-14-2006, 06:06 PM	#5 (permalink)
checento Brand New Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 2 checento is an unknown character at this point	i dont know what u mean hmmm well sort of ..... Last edited by checento; 12-14-2006 at 06:08 PM.
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