british english - Pronunciation of "lorry", "worry" and "sorry"


I have always pronounced lorry as "lur-ee" (as if to rhyme with worry), for as long as I can remember. Everyone else I know pronounces it as "lor-ee" (as if to rhyme with sorry).


Which one is correct, and why would the pronunciation of the vowel differ between sorry and worry when their spellings differ only in a consonant?



Answer



I don't do "correct", but I've never heard anybody pronounce "lorry" to rhyme with "worry".


I believe that the difference is because of the lip-rounding of the /w/. Many words starting with "w", "wh", "sw", "qu" or "squ" have different vowel sounds from similar words with a different consonant.


Eg



  • watch, what vs patch, thatch, pat, that

  • war, warm, swarm vs far, farm

  • worth, worm vs forth, form


(There are exceptions to this rule).


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