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Other Topics => Completely Off-Topic => Topic started by: Jessica on May 27, 2006, 11:46:12 pm
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I've never really understood this.. does anyone really know?
words like personalise, realise, are spelled with a z instead of an s in the united states... why? i know we butchered the language but i just dont understand why we changed the spelling of things? also why did we get rid of the U in honour or colour ? i can't seem to find a good reason for it...
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I've never really understood this.. does anyone really know?
words like personalise, realise, are spelled with a z instead of an s in the united states... why? i know we butchered the language but i just dont understand why we changed the spelling of things? also why did we get rid of the U in honour or colour ? i can't seem to find a good reason for it...
Well that's an interesting question!!
I found that: http://www.33beat.com/American_English.html
That explains some things, probably not everything though. ;)
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I don't think there was a distinct time; it just sorta evolved. For example, "today" used to be spelled "to-day," etc. Not to mention we've been separated from England for a few hundred years, and there has been an influx of other languages. However, I am no language expert.
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On the link Ghisy posted: Merry, marry, and marry are NOT said the same, at least by anyone I know. Does anyone here do that? HOW are they said?
How they're said in "these parts": Merry like ferry, marry like carry, and Mary like dairy.
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I think it's because we didn't want to be similar to the British after the Revolutionary War.
I'll go look it up later.
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On the link Ghisy posted: Merry, marry, and mary* are NOT said the same, at least by anyone I know. Does anyone here do that? HOW are they said?
How they're said in "these parts": Merry like ferry, marry like carry, and Mary like dairy.
*my own edit.
Okay, now for the phonics portion of our show, C is going to show us how ANY of those sound different...
I pronounce merry, marry, and Mary the same along with ferry, carry, and dairy.
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For your information, the Americans did not change it. Neither did they change "colour" to "color". In Spanish, to realize is "realizar", as is virtually any other word ending in "ize" in American English. I believe the British lean more toward French etymology where the Americans lean more toward bypassing the French and going straight for Latin. Of course, if you're still looking for an answer as to why that is, I guess I could finger Noah Webster, who put it into print big-time back in the early days of an America finding its own way in the world.
And by the way, "marry", "merry", and "Mary" sound identical to me. So do "wail" and "whale", but not "well". But "chock" and "chalk" are very noticibly different, as are "dawn" and "don". It actually bothers me when someone pronounces them to where I can't tell the difference.
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I think it's because we didn't want to be similar to the British after the Revolutionary War.
I'll go look it up later.
Lmao, thats absolutely hilarious. What do you think they did? Sat around and said 'ooh i know what we could do to make ourselves different to that lot, let's change S to Z in every word'? I think not.
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I think it's because we didn't want to be similar to the British after the Revolutionary War.
I'll go look it up later.
Lmao, thats absolutely hilarious. What do you think they did? Sat around and said 'ooh i know what we could do to make ourselves different to that lot, let's change S to Z in every word'? I think not.
You forgot to miss alot of U's out :D
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I think it's because we didn't want to be similar to the British after the Revolutionary War.
I'll go look it up later.
Lmao, thats absolutely hilarious. What do you think they did? Sat around and said 'ooh i know what we could do to make ourselves different to that lot, let's change S to Z in every word'? I think not.
Duh! lol
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Blame Noah Webster.
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I didn't really believe that, but my History teacher just said that and the entire class just took it in. :oops:
But Will's right. You do have to blame Noah Webster.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_english#Differences_between_British_English_and_American_English
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On the link Ghisy posted: Merry, marry, and marry are NOT said the same, at least by anyone I know. Does anyone here do that? HOW are they said?
How they're said in "these parts": Merry like ferry, marry like carry, and Mary like dairy.
Same here, in Australia (and no, we don't talk like "Australians" do in the movies.... at least not in Adelaide... movies with fake Australians make me cringe... their accents are HIDEOUS!)
Okay, now for the phonics portion of our show, C is going to show us how ANY of those sound different...
I pronounce merry, marry, and Mary the same along with ferry, carry, and dairy.
Well, I had an American friend who couldn't pronounce another friend's name, which is Cary. Her name sounds the same as "carry". But the American friend said it like "Kerry", with an "eh" sound after the C. When we told her it was Cary like "Carry", with an "a" sound as in "cat", she argued that it is the same and she couldn't even hear a difference, and got shitty with us. So...? I'm confused because Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City is pronounced "Carry" on the show, but some characters occasionally call her "Kerry". It's so confusing. I mean, I've never heard anyone say "I'm KERRYing a baby" or "I have a pet CET" or anything like that. (Although maybe New Zealanders might say it like that...?) Hmmm. What's the deal with that?
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I say Carry and Kerry the same...
Not like "cat" though...It's the same name with different spelling.
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On the link Ghisy posted: Merry, marry, and Mary are NOT said the same, at least by anyone I know.
Native Californians pronounce all three the same way.
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On the link Ghisy posted: Merry, marry, and marry are NOT said the same, at least by anyone I know. Does anyone here do that? HOW are they said?
How they're said in "these parts": Merry like ferry, marry like carry, and Mary like dairy.
Same here, in Australia (and no, we don't talk like "Australians" do in the movies.... at least not in Adelaide... movies with fake Australians make me cringe... their accents are HIDEOUS!)
Okay, now for the phonics portion of our show, C is going to show us how ANY of those sound different...
I pronounce merry, marry, and Mary the same along with ferry, carry, and dairy.
Well, I had an American friend who couldn't pronounce another friend's name, which is Cary. Her name sounds the same as "carry". But the American friend said it like "Kerry", with an "eh" sound after the C. When we told her it was Cary like "Carry", with an "a" sound as in "cat", she argued that it is the same and she couldn't even hear a difference, and got shitty with us. So...? I'm confused because Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City is pronounced "Carry" on the show, but some characters occasionally call her "Kerry". It's so confusing. I mean, I've never heard anyone say "I'm KERRYing a baby" or "I have a pet CET" or anything like that. (Although maybe New Zealanders might say it like that...?) Hmmm. What's the deal with that?
It's the R that throws things off for us. In Tennessee, you would hear someone say "kerrying a baby", perhaps even "kerrin' a baby" due to lazy-tongue. In Tennessee (as well as most neighboring states), care is "ker", Clara is "klera", rare is "rer", and ware and where are both pronounced "wer". But the A before most any other letter is not altered such. Up north, I've heard people say "beckpeck" for the thing they carry books and stuff in, and in New Zealand, they do say "ket" for the the four-legged critter with pointy ears, whiskers, and a tail.
By the way, here's my Kiwi accent: My till-i-fa-oon's naut wicking.
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Oh I'm loving this thread!
I'm reading a bunch of interesting stuff about accents :D
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well, good question, but i think the culture is not the same in US and england.but, here in brazil we talk portuguese but our portuguese there is some words that are diferent in portugal, and our pronouce is diferent too...
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On the link Ghisy posted: Merry, marry, and Mary are NOT said the same, at least by anyone I know.
Native Californians pronounce all three the same way.
yes.. i say them all the same.
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By the way, here's my Kiwi accent: My till-i-fa-oon's naut wicking.
My... telephone's not...working? Hmmm, took me awhile. Sounds Scottish to me..... but that's from reading, not from actually hearing. Actually, that sounds FAKE AUSTRALIAN! (emphasis on the FAKE.)
Man, this is all so confusing. let's just say all of us are right.
I still don't get how a soft "a" sound as in CAT can sound like "eh" though... but there are many more important things in this life!
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I say Carry and Kerry the same...
Not like "cat" though...It's the same name with different spelling.
Actually, it's not. Well, I'm not disputing the fact that maybe for any Cary/Carrie/Kerry/Carey who lives where you are, it is the same, but my friend's name is Cary, like "Carry", not "Kerry", and it has been that way her whole life! I wouldn't tell you how to pronounce your own name.
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I still don't get how a soft "a" sound as in CAT can sound like "eh" though... but there are many more important things in this life!
Speak for yourself. This keeps me up nights.
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MeganJane wrote:
I still don't get how a soft "a" sound as in CAT can sound like "eh" though... but there are many more important things in this life!
Speak for yourself. This keeps me up nights.
LMAO! :lol:
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the whole marry merry and mary thing is just americans pronouncing names wrong.for example the name craig is pronounced creg by americans for some weird reason.the ai is like the e in "hey". oh and that kiwi accent thing is nothing like scottish dude.sorry man,lol.
while i'm on the subject,sort of,my sisters boyfriend was chatting to an american in new york and was asked where he was from.he said scotland and then the american said,"wow,you speak really good english."
which begs the question,do americans even understand what the uk,great britain and scotland,england,wales,northern ireland and the republic of ireland are?
the british flag is made up of the english,scottish and northern ireland flag.wales was just too late to be incorporated into the flag if i remember correctly.
the british isles aka great britain is made up of three countries which are scotland,england and wales. the united kingdom is the united kingdom of great britain and northern ireland.the republic of ireland is not part of the uk.
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the whole marry merry and mary thing is just americans pronouncing names wrong.for example the name craig is pronounced creg by americans for some weird reason.the ai is like the e in "hey". oh and that kiwi accent thing is nothing like scottish dude.sorry man,lol.
while i'm on the subject,sort of,my sisters boyfriend was chatting to an american in new york and was asked where he was from.he said scotland and then the american said,"wow,you speak really good english."
which begs the question,do americans even understand what the uk,great britain and scotland,england,wales,northern ireland and the republic of ireland are?
the british flag is made up of the english,scottish and northern ireland flag.wales was just too late to be incorporated into the flag if i remember correctly.
the british isles aka great britain is made up of three countries which are scotland,england and wales. the united kingdom is the united kingdom of great britain and northern ireland.the republic of ireland is not part of the uk.
the vast majority of us do, but alas - there are stupid people left in the world who do not, such as George Bush, who asked Charlotte Church what state Wales is in. :roll:
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which begs the question,do americans even understand what the uk,great britain and scotland,england,wales,northern ireland and the republic of ireland are?
I contend that many do. I also contend that you have no idea what the phrase "begs the question" means.
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i do,after some research,lol.it's widely used as i used it and is accepted.
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it's widely used as i used it and is accepted.
It's widely used and accepted by people who don't know better. That doesn't mean that the usage is correct. The phrase doesn't even make sense the way you (and others who don't know better) use it. It just sounds like it might.
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Well, I had an American friend who couldn't pronounce another friend's name, which is Cary. Her name sounds the same as "carry". But the American friend said it like "Kerry", with an "eh" sound after the C. When we told her it was Cary like "Carry", with an "a" sound as in "cat", she argued that it is the same and she couldn't even hear a difference, and got shitty with us. So...? I'm confused because Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City is pronounced "Carry" on the show, but some characters occasionally call her "Kerry". It's so confusing. I mean, I've never heard anyone say "I'm KERRYing a baby" or "I have a pet CET" or anything like that. (Although maybe New Zealanders might say it like that...?) Hmmm. What's the deal with that?
I have no pronunciation distinction between Cary and Kerry. Both are Care-ee. I don't know anyone who says Kee-ree or anything like that.
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the whole marry merry and mary thing is just americans pronouncing names wrong.for example the name craig is pronounced creg by americans for some weird reason.the ai is like the e in "hey". oh and that kiwi accent thing is nothing like scottish dude.sorry man,lol.
while i'm on the subject,sort of,my sisters boyfriend was chatting to an american in new york and was asked where he was from.he said scotland and then the american said,"wow,you speak really good english."
which begs the question,do americans even understand what the uk,great britain and scotland,england,wales,northern ireland and the republic of ireland are?
the british flag is made up of the english,scottish and northern ireland flag.wales was just too late to be incorporated into the flag if i remember correctly.
the british isles aka great britain is made up of three countries which are scotland,england and wales. the united kingdom is the united kingdom of great britain and northern ireland.the republic of ireland is not part of the uk.
Can you name all 50 US states?
You can't?!? What kind of ignorant brit are you?!?
See where I am going with this?
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I say Carry and Kerry the same...
Not like "cat" though...It's the same name with different spelling.
Actually, it's not. Well, I'm not disputing the fact that maybe for any Cary/Carrie/Kerry/Carey who lives where you are, it is the same, but my friend's name is Cary, like "Carry", not "Kerry", and it has been that way her whole life! I wouldn't tell you how to pronounce your own name.
There is absolutly no possible way in fuck-all that you could hear the difference between those two pronunciations, and neither could your friend.
K-eh-rry and K-a-rry are so indistinguisable from eachother, that if your friend acts like it matters, then it's cause she's a flipping drama queen and she needs to get over it before someone punches her in her nose for being a brat.
Different people have different accents, and she needs to accept that people are going to pronounce her name with their native accent.
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There is absolutly no possible way in fuck-all that you could hear the difference between those two pronunciations, and neither could your friend.
K-eh-rry and K-a-rry are so indistinguisable from eachother, that if your friend acts like it matters, then it's cause she's a flipping drama queen and she needs to get over it before someone punches her in her nose for being a brat.
Different people have different accents, and she needs to accept that people are going to pronounce her name with their native accent.
Thank god somebody is saying something sensible. If you don't know how to pronounce their name (which I'm sure you could figure out...Cary and Kerry or even Carry sound almost the same) then stop your complaining and ask the damn person.
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man,people get so defensive eh?haha!
anyway,no i can't name all 50 states but at least i know where the united states are on a map.and i know that you speak english too.
let's just remember that countries,languages and accents don't matter.we're all human beings.we all share the same world.
remember why we're all here.
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man,people get so defensive eh?haha!
anyway,no i can't name all 50 states but at least i know where the united states are on a map.and i know that you speak english too.
let's just remember that countries,languages and accents don't matter.we're all human beings.we all share the same world.
remember why we're all here.
OK.
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The Earth is our mother
We must pro-te-ect her
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MeganJane wrote:
Quote:
I say Carry and Kerry the same...
Not like "cat" though...It's the same name with different spelling.
Actually, it's not. Well, I'm not disputing the fact that maybe for any Cary/Carrie/Kerry/Carey who lives where you are, it is the same, but my friend's name is Cary, like "Carry", not "Kerry", and it has been that way her whole life! I wouldn't tell you how to pronounce your own name.
There is absolutly no possible way in fuck-all that you could hear the difference between those two pronunciations, and neither could your friend.
K-eh-rry and K-a-rry are so indistinguisable from eachother, that if your friend acts like it matters, then it's cause she's a flipping drama queen and she needs to get over it before someone punches her in her nose for being a brat.
Different people have different accents, and she needs to accept that people are going to pronounce her name with their native accent.
I live in Australia, and I have a different accent than you. In my accent, and my friends', there is a difference between the two names. So there is a way in fuck-all that we could hear the difference. The way we talk, it is a very distinguishable difference. We had never met anyone who couldn't pronounce it before (ie. the American). So it was strange at first, but it doesn't really matter. I also said in that post that I wasn't disputing the fact that in places other than Australia, it may be pronounced differently than it is here. So there's no need for you to get upset about it. Just accept the fact that some people have different accents to you, and the names are different in my native tongue. I'm sure this little topic is not important enough for you to go on about any further.
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most americans cant even name all of the states in their own country. it's sad really. and it's probably a bit more difficult to remember the names of 50 states then it is to name the 4 countries in the united kingdom.
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I think it is because on issues like this Americans use stupidity in the name of progress. Just ask George Bush. He'll show you...or at least be an example....
I still use English(British) conventions in spelling, despite people telling me I'm wrong.
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I'm sorry guys...I'm just fed up.
I consider a webster's dictionary pretty useless.
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On the link Ghisy posted: Merry, marry, and Mary are NOT said the same, at least by anyone I know.
Native Californians pronounce all three the same way.
Merry and Mary are slightly different, but I am not sure the difference would be audible if the person weren't trying to emphasize it.
it's like "meh-ry" and "mare-ie."
Also, I think I already told MJ up there that her friend is an uptight bitch, but I'm gonna say it again for good measure.
I also, I personally know two Australian natives who's accents sound like the accents in the movies.
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For your information, the Americans did not change it. Neither did they change "colour" to "color". In Spanish, to realize is "realizar", as is virtually any other word ending in "ize" in American English. I believe the British lean more toward French etymology where the Americans lean more toward bypassing the French and going straight for Latin. Of course, if you're still looking for an answer as to why that is, I guess I could finger Noah Webster, who put it into print big-time back in the early days of an America finding its own way in the world.
And by the way, "marry", "merry", and "Mary" sound identical to me. So do "wail" and "whale", but not "well". But "chock" and "chalk" are very noticibly different, as are "dawn" and "don". It actually bothers me when someone pronounces them to where I can't tell the difference.
how is MA-rry <<pernounciation (spelling??)
and ME-rry
indentical in sound?? i mean i say them totally differently. Maybe its just my accent or something :S
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because they're not pronounced according spelling...
they're not pronounced MA and ME...
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Because an "A" before an "R" often sounds more like an "E". Examples:
Mary, Clara, Gary, clarity, area, stare, care, clarinet, embarrass, Harris, daring, &c.
The "AR" in those words in many, many regions is pronounced just as though it were "ER", just as "AIR" is in the following examples:
Air, dairy, fair, chair, McNairy, Baird, pair, &c.
If you don't believe me, listen to a few dozen American television programs. You'll hear it a lot.
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I don't think there was a distinct time; it just sorta evolved. For example, "today" used to be spelled "to-day," etc. Not to mention we've been separated from England for a few hundred years, and there has been an influx of other languages. However, I am no language expert.
right. in terms of evolution, the s going to z could be sonorization, which is a fancy way of saying your vocal cords vibrate when you pronounce something. it's likely that americans began pronouncing words this way so the spellings were changed.
and ou becoming just o is called monoptongation. it's also evolutionary.
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Give this a go:
http://www.gotoquiz.com/what_american_accent_do_you_have
It higlights just how different the accents are...
and as an FYI... I pronounce Mary, merry, marry identically.
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that quiz was soo cool...altough I got that I lived in um New Jersey/New York area...I live in Illinois so freaky. I am taking French at school and I confuse myself with spelling between English and French words sometimes but learning French enhances my Spanish because if I forget how to say something in French I just think of how you say it in Spanish and I get it or vice versa.
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Give this a go:
http://www.gotoquiz.com/what_american_accent_do_you_have
It higlights just how different the accents are...
and as an FYI... I pronounce Mary, merry, marry identically.
It pegs me as a Midlander, with Southern as my second-closest match, which is really good as I am a Southerner who doesn't sound quite so Southern when I'm away from home.
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I got "The Midland" or tv voice/ no accent as my highest match with a 3 way tie for second between "Philadelphia", "The Inland North", and "The South". That's pretty funny because Pete says I sound like I'm from the south, but I don't think I do =P
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Your Result: The West
Your accent is the lowest common denominator of American speech. Unless you're a SoCal surfer, no one thinks you have an accent.
ha! I don't have an accent :lol:
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I have a question
Why do we have to say "hanged" instead of "hung"? I just don't get it!
Damn it, it makes me angry it sounds wrong.
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I have a question
Why do we have to say "hanged" instead of "hung"? I just don't get it!
Damn it, it makes me angry it sounds wrong.
Hung is something on a hook. Hanged is a person convicted of murder or treason.
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I have a question
Why do we have to say "hanged" instead of "hung"? I just don't get it!
Damn it, it makes me angry it sounds wrong.
Hung is something on a hook. Hanged is a person convicted of murder or treason.
...I know the difference. But it just doesn't sound right!
"He was hanged" sounds so stupid.
I avoid that word!
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I have a question
Why do we have to say "hanged" instead of "hung"? I just don't get it!
Damn it, it makes me angry it sounds wrong.
Hung is something on a hook. Hanged is a person convicted of murder or treason.
...I know the difference. But it just doesn't sound right!
"He was hanged" sounds so stupid.
I avoid that word!
Hanged and hung are different forms of the same verb(if I'm not mistaken.) "Hanged" is in the past and ended in the past. "Hung" is something done in the past and is still hanging to this moment. Usually they take a person down after a while so most of the time people use "Hanged" to say they did it; unless he is still hanging in which case you would say he is hung *look there he is* :wink:
Most of the time when you hang a picture or whatnot on your wall it is still there because it is meant to be there a period of time. So most likely it would still be there. But if you are referring to the picture before the one currently up you might use "hanged" depending on how you constructed the sentence.
My grammer might be wrong so if anyone knows better feel free to correct me.
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Both "hung" and "hanged" are correct but they have different uses, it all depends on the context.
Check here: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hanged
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I did check that but I wonder if at one time there was a difference between the two because they follow a pattern in the english language. Maybe they were always confused so it became non-grammatical.
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At one time, flour and flower were both spelled flour, and weren't distinguished from one another.
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Well the third definition of hung lists it as the past tense and past participle so I guess the grammer still exists but has been eroded over time; most likely from people using it wrong.
For my part, I reversed the tenses even upon the case there was a difference because I made "hanged" the past participle in my explanation and examples.
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I have a question
Why do we have to say "hanged" instead of "hung"? I just don't get it!
Damn it, it makes me angry it sounds wrong.
Hung is something on a hook. Hanged is a person convicted of murder or treason.
...I know the difference. But it just doesn't sound right!
"He was hanged" sounds so stupid.
I avoid that word!
"Saddam Was Hung!" could be a viable Onion headline :lol: