american english - How are 'marry', 'merry', and 'Mary' pronounced differently?


The way I pronounce these words is the same. Similarly for other words like these: I pronounce ferry and fairy the same, carrot and caret. Yet, dictionaries show different pronunciations for these words:


For example, Merriam-Webster gives:


\ˈma-rē\ for marry, \ˈmer-ē\ for merry and \ˈmā-rē\ for Mary


The American Heritage Dictionary gives:


(măr′ē) for marry, (mĕr′ē) for merry and (mâr′ē) for Mary


When I listen to the recordings, they all sound the same to me. How do you pronounce them differently? Who pronounces them this way?




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