Do you distinguish in pronunciation between?

[Frances Thu Aug 11, 2005 4:42 am GMT]
Steve A - are you one of those people that says "hwine"?

For "whine", yes, for "hawaiian", no. :)

Wandering through the archives...

My answers are the same as Frances's, except I don't distinguish between "bad" and "lad" (and I don't have a difference in length of sound in bad like Steve A does).

I'm from Queensland, but have been told I sound like I'm from Melbourne. I can't remember who said that, and I can't pick it, myself.

I actually grew up not distinguishing between "wine" and "whine". But my maternal grandfather does, and I adopted the w/wh distinction as a tribute to him in my early 20s.

Rikyo --- Being told you "sound like you're from Melbourne" is probably completely meaningless. Most Australians don't really seem to get it accurately... It's apparently a common myth outside of Melbourne that Melburnians say "plarnt" and "commarnd" and "grarph" for "plant" and "command" and "graph". We don't, in fact, it's a common myth in Melbourne that's what you do up in Brisbane or over in Adelaide. (Of course, with the word "castle" how you say it kinda depends on which side of the Yarra you come from—on the North, we say it how god intended it, on the South, they say "carssle". Silly people.

In Melbourne we don't distinguish between "celery" and "salary", and that's about the only regionally valid basis you can have for considering someone to sound Melburnian. So unless you say them the same, you probably don't actually sound Melburnian. Oh, and we in Melbourne *do* distinguish between the vowels of "bad" and "lad", and the words "span" in the sentences "Many bridges span the Yarra River" and "I span around" are pronounced differently. If you don't do that, you don't sound Melburnian.

(As far as orthography is concerned, Melburnians have no trouble spelling "Melburnian" properly, but everyone else seems to think there's an "o" in the word. In fact, a Brisbanite once "corrected" me on my correct spelling of "Melburnian".)

I'm sure this has been done before but ...

''cot'' and ''caught''
''Mary'', ''marry'' and ''merry''
''card'' and ''cord''
The vowels in ''nearer'' and ''mirror''
The vowels in ''hurry'' and ''furry''
''pull'' and ''pool''
''tune'' and ''toon''
''do'' and ''dew''
The vowels in ''bad'' and ''lad''
The vowels in ''father'' and ''bother''

yes and

''pour'' and ''poor''
''wine'' and ''whine''
''horse'' and ''hoarse''
''loot'' and ''lute''
''rood'' and ''rude''

no.

''Lock'' and ''loch'' is a special case. I only distinguish them because I try. I don't have /x/ for any other English word except (the letter) "chi".

>I roll the "R" a wee bit

Don't worry too much; you'll grow out of it.

The only ones on that list that I distinguish between are:

cord and card,

and

pull and pool.

>In fact, a Brisbanite once "corrected" me on my correct spelling of "Melburnian".)

Not this one. If you have enough clothing to live there, you can call yourself whatever you like.

I more or less speak Received Pronunciation, and...

''cot'' and ''caught'' — YES, but 'caught' and 'court' are the same
''Mary'', ''marry'' and ''merry'' — YES, all different
''card'' and ''cord'' — YES
''pour'' and ''poor'' — NO
''wine'' and ''whine'' — NO
''horse'' and ''hoarse'' — NO
The vowels in ''nearer'' and ''mirror'' — YES
The vowels in ''hurry'' and ''furry'' — YES
''lock'' and ''loch'' — YES
''pull'' and ''pool'' — YES
''tune'' and ''toon'' — YES
''do'' and ''dew'' — YES
''loot'' and ''lute'' — NOT REALLY
''rood'' and ''rude" — NOT REALY
The vowels in ''bad'' and ''lad'' — NO
The vowels in ''father'' and ''bother'' — YES