What is merry and marry?

Marry, Merry Marry: to wed. Merry: cheerful.

Are merry and marry homophones?

Merry, marry, and Mary are homophones to me, however, depending on how you heard each of them growing up, you might pronounce all three differently. The spelling of homophones is useful when demonstrating that the spelling of a word is determined by what you mean rather than by what you hear.

Is it Mary Merry Christmas?

‘ Again, people in America prefer to wish ‘Merry Christmas’ on the holiday season. Even popular English carol, ‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas’ which was introduced in the 1500s, uses the popular phrase. The word ‘merry’ stuck around in common phrases, as well as things like Christmas songs and stories.

What is the difference between merry and happy?

“Happy” is a word that describes an inner emotional condition, while “merry” is more of a behavior descriptor—something active and maybe even raucous. Consider, for example, the free-spirited act of “merry-making” versus the state of simply “being happy.”

Is Mary and Merry pronounced the same?

Americans vary in how they pronounce the words “merry,” “marry,” and “Mary.” A majority, 57%, of Americans pronounce all three words the same.

Are Mary and Merry pronounced the same?

In many British (and some American) accents, ‘marry’ (and other ‘-arry’ words) are pronounced with the same vowel in ‘cat;’ ‘merry,’ (and other ‘-erry’ words) are pronounced with the same vowel in ‘pet;’ and ‘mary’ (and other ‘-ary’ words) is pronounced with the same vowel as that found in ‘fair.

How do you say Mary in British?

2 syllables: “MAIR” + “ee”

What’s the difference between merry and happy?

Both happy and merry can mean “characterized by pleasure, joyous.” But happy tends toward quiet contentment and merry toward revelry. Making merry includes festive activities such as dancing, eating rich foods, and playing games with friends.

Why do we say merry?

What Does it Mean? The term Merry is used instead of Happy originally to denote the merrymaking of the holiday, like in the classic Christmas Carol ‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen’. Merry Christmas reflects that messages of love, joy and well wishes can be communicated irrespective of belief systems.

Should “marry” be merged with “Mary”?

This explains the “Mary”-“merry” merger (and also the related “nearer”-“mirror” merger), but not why “marry” should also be merged. In, say, RP, there is a problem syllabifying a word like “marry”. The word is pronounced /mæri/ and must be syllabified as either /mær.i/. What’s the problem?

What is the significance of the Mary-merry merger?

An interesting consequence of the Mary-Merry merger is that the word “err”, which traditionally had the NURSE vowel, now often has the SQUARE vowel in North America. This must be by back-formation from “error”, which by the Mary-Merry merger comes to rhyme with “rarer”.

What is the difference between Mary and Merry?

Mary = marry = something like /me̞ri/ 2. Merry = something like /mɛri/ That is, the two have vowels very similar to each other, but slightly different, in that the vowel of Mary and marry is slightly higher than the vowel of merry. Same length. It’s possible in fast speech for me, there may be a tendency for the two to merge.

Which states have a marry-Mary-merry merger?

The Marry-Mary-Merry merger is typical for most Americans. The Northeast maintains the distinction, and the Southeast has merged Mary and merry, but not marry. However, the West and Midwest pretty much have a complete merger.