Merry, Mary, and Marry

Most Americans will say merry, Mary, and marry the same, but in some parts of the US - especially the northeast - and in many other countries, they...

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Rhotic vs Non-Rhotic Accents

One major subdivision of accents/dialects is whether they are rhotic or non-rhotic: do they drop their R's or not? When the R's drop after vowels (...

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Broad vs Narrow Transcription of R

  I had a question from someone about why they see different symbols for the R sound even though people are talking about the same one... The symbo...

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Front Vowel Lowering in Northern Irish Accents

The front vowels in Northern Irish accents tend to lower, having a cascading effect on the one that typically occurs below. When one vowel moves, i...

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Nasalizing Vowels

  There are three nasal consonants that are common for English speakers, but often we carry over that nasality into vowels, especially the vowels t...

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Showing Length with IPA Transcriptions

Here's a quick overview of how to show the length of a sound using the IPA: I also get into what tends to make a vowel longer and what tends to mak...

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Dark-L vs Light-L

An L at the beginning of a word is commonly a "light-L" whereas an L at the end of a word is commonly a "dark-L" - pulled back in the throat. It's ...

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