Author Topic: why/when did US change "s" to "z"? (Read 17010 times)

Grakthis · « **Reply #30 on:** June 28, 2006, 07:06:22 am »

Quote from: "MeganJane"

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.

Ryou-Neko · « **Reply #31 on:** June 28, 2006, 10:31:16 am »

Quote from: "Grakthis"

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.

coprat24 · « **Reply #32 on:** June 30, 2006, 04:44:29 am »

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.

Grakthis · « **Reply #33 on:** June 30, 2006, 06:50:19 am »

Quote from: "coprat24"

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.

Ryou-Neko · « **Reply #34 on:** June 30, 2006, 07:07:15 am »

The Earth is our mother
We must pro-te-ect her

MeganJane · « **Reply #35 on:** June 30, 2006, 06:45:20 pm »

Quote

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.

Jessica · « **Reply #36 on:** May 31, 2007, 10:51:18 pm »

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.

tylor2000 · « **Reply #37 on:** June 01, 2007, 02:30:48 am »

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.

tylor2000 · « **Reply #38 on:** June 01, 2007, 12:10:52 pm »

I'm sorry guys...I'm just fed up.

I consider a webster's dictionary pretty useless.

Grakthis · « **Reply #39 on:** June 01, 2007, 01:18:21 pm »

Quote from: "Will"

Quote from: "TSE"
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.

Twilight_Angel · « **Reply #40 on:** June 02, 2007, 01:10:39 am »

Quote from: "zurielshimon"

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

LimeTwister · « **Reply #41 on:** June 02, 2007, 10:06:01 am »

because they're not pronounced according spelling...

they're not pronounced MA and ME...

zurielshimon · « **Reply #42 on:** June 03, 2007, 11:59:15 pm »

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.

amberbeads · « **Reply #43 on:** June 04, 2007, 06:34:07 am »

Quote from: "LimeTwister"

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.

PintOGuinness · « **Reply #44 on:** June 08, 2007, 12:11:13 pm »

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.

News:

Author Topic: why/when did US change "s" to "z"? (Read 17010 times)

LimeTwister