Some people seem to think "pin" and "pen" are pronounced differently.

[raccoon]

If you ask me, there is no difference.

And if there is, I can't hear it. LOL

[Iggo]

1. Pinnsylvania?

[unblock]

2. my mother insists that mary, marry, and merry all sound different.

all the same to me

[brush]

27. Marry sounds different. The other two are the same.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

32. We'll all be making merry when I marry Mary Mack.

I likewise tend to pronounce all three words the same, but please listen to this and hear the difference. Plus, it's a delightful song.

[3catwoman3]

37. Delightful to be sure.

Thanks for putting that up.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

40. I absolutely love it.

What I like best is that it helps me to distinguish those three words. I can hear the differences with no problem, but I don't pronounce them that distinctively.

I can recall many years ago hearing people pronounce a relative's name "Mary" with that distinctive sound. I was fascinated because it was sufficiently different from what I was used to -- Mary, merry, marry -- all sounding alike. I know that context is almost always sufficient, but I'm thrilled to preserve the different pronunciations.

Another example. Many years ago I had an anthropology teacher who talked about having to friends, one with the first name Barry, another with the last name Berry. She could never tell which one her other friends were talking about, and they were always befuddled that she could not distinguish between them. In her case, she could not hear the difference, which when I say those two names in my head, I can clearly hear.

[HopeAgain]

3. Homonym

"each of two words having the same pronunciation but different meanings, origins, or spelling (e.g., to, too, and two); a homophone."

[Phentex]

6. doesn't apply to pin and pen

unless you are in the south

[zanana1]

65. Not homonyms.

Pin and Pen have a completely different sounds. (I'm in New England).

[smirkymonkey]

66. Same here - totally different.

I took a swing at a pinata in Pennsylvania? Would they say penata in Pennsylvania or pinata in Pinnsylvania?

[Phentex]

67. That's what I was saying...

not sure why the person above thinks I was saying they are homonyms.

[demigoddess]

84. yes, regional differences

I learned them differently. Yet, I have heard people pronounce pen as pin. Kind of like when my husband say exscape for escape. He's from NY. drives me crazy.

[Phentex]

85. Some people in the south think set and sit sound the same...

not all but I have heard people use them the same way. Set down in that chair and set your drink on the table.

[eppur_se_muova]

73. Homophones.

ho·mo·phone
ˈhäməˌfōn,ˈhōməˌfōn/
noun
noun: homophone; plural noun: homophones

each of two or more words having the same pronunciation but different meanings, origins, or spelling, e.g., new and knew.
each of a set of symbols denoting the same sound or group of sounds.




hom·o·nym
ˈhäməˌnim,ˈhōməˌnim/
noun
noun: homonym; plural noun: homonyms

each of two or more words having the same spelling but different meanings and origins (e.g., pole1 and pole2); a homograph.
each of two words having the same pronunciation but different meanings, origins, or spelling (e.g., to, too, and two); a homophone.

[Phentex]

86. exactly

[zanana1]

88. Nope. Homonyms. nt

[eppur_se_muova]

90. The definitions I posted (courtesy of Google) say "both". nt

[raging moderate]

4. It depends on your dialect.

These two words are very distinct in some American dialects, but not in others. The same is true of Mary, merry, and marry.

[Mme. Defarge]

5. Right, like there's a difference between

Don and dawn.

[Leith]

24. You're from Western PA, Aren't You?

Just like my husband and his family. It gives me a little smile when he talks about his uncle "Dawnie."

He still can't tell the difference between "caught" and "cot."

[Mme. Defarge]

25. Portland, OR

[Leith]

30. Never Mind

I don't know anything about that.

It can be a real time for me with the in-laws, but it's getting better.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

33. I have a friend who's from western PA.

His name is Don, and sometimes when he calls me he announces himself as Dawn.

I try not to tease him too much.

I spent the first fourteen years of my life in upstate NY (Utica and nearby), then moved to Tucson, AZ. I joke that for the first two years there I had no friends because no one could understand me when I spoke, even my French teacher, no matter which language I used.

It was there that I first heard people pronounce pen and pin exactly the same.

The up side of moving to Tucson was that almost all of my NY accent was done away with in a couple of years. Every so often, but very rarely any more, someone with a good ear will correctly guess where I'm originally from.

I am fascinated by accents. I don't have a very good ear myself, and I'll confuse accents that are actually quite distinctive, but the entire topic of language, linguistics, accents, and the likes completely captivate me.

[Drahthaardogs]

72. I grew up out west, and pen and pin are pronounced differently

Pen, sounds like enter

Pin, sounds like in.

Same in Santa Fe, Phoenix, Omaha, and Cheyenne. I have no idea why this would not be true in Tuscon

[Dulcinea]

92. I pronounce "caught" and "cot" the same.

Yes, I'm originally from Pittsburgh, but have lived in Atlanta for 28 years. My pronunciation has modified a bit over time, but I haven't acquired a drawl. When I go back to visit, I pick up my old dialect all over again!

I also had an Uncle Donny, pronounced Dawny. It's all the same.

"Pin" & "pen" have different vowel sounds to me, but not to my Georgia-bred friends!

[citood]

7. Larry the Cable Guy had a bit on this

It dealt with how he would pronounce the name Peg...the punch line was that it depends on what she looks like.

[zanana1]

89. Classy

[C_U_L8R]

8. That's why there are inkpens

[alarimer]

9. Pronouncing "winch" and "wench" the same can get you in trouble.

Especially if, in a written document, you use "wench" when you mean "winch." Not the same thing. At all.

[jmowreader]

28. You just brought back a small Army memory...

After Berlin I went to Fort Drum and was made a "squad leader" in a 44-soldier company. I had three subordinates and one Humvee shelter carrier with a winch because that's what you drive in a place that gets four feet of snow a day.

First Monday there, we went to the motor pool for that grandest of Army Traditions, Motor Stables...where you inspect your truck very thoroughly and fill out an equipment inspection report, DA Form 2404. There's a place for equipment nomenclature, and the troop writing the 2404 wrote, "Shelter Carrier, w/Wench, M1042."

I handed the form back. "This vehicle does not have a wench."
"Oh yes! It has a wench!"
"No it doesn't."
"It has a wench! Want me to show it to you?"
"No, it has a WINCH. A wench is something else entirely."

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

34. Important point.

It's not so bad if you pronounce it wrong, so long as you spell it correctly.

[yellowcanine]

76. And then some say wrinch when they mean wrench. Take a wrinch to that wench I say.

[yellowcanine]

77. Some people think "bury" and "berry" are pronounced differently.

Just sayin'.

[yellowcanine]

78. I picked some blueburries down by the crik.

[TreasonousBastard]

10. Pronounciation can be dangerous-- I once saw a guy almost get his ass kicked in a diner...

by a black waitress when he lazily pronounced "Nicaragua".

[WinkyDink]

21. In this case, "lazily" was probably correct, Spanish-wise!

[zipplewrath]

11. What dialect

There is a distinct difference in "Walter Cronkite" english. Not sure in eastern Tennessee.

[Tiggeroshii]

12. No difference

Depending on where you are from and how you get up saying it

Linguists call it a penpin

[GBizzle]

13. What do you think of "cot" and "caught"?

They definitely sound different to me.

[raccoon]

16. Me too. Caught to me is said "cawt." Nt

[Ron Obvious]

14. All the supposed homonyms mentioned in this thread sound different when I say them.

Bloody pack of Visigoths in here today.

[sinkingfeeling]

15. Totally different pronunciation.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

17. Yep, as alike as "covfefe" and "santorum"

they sound exactly alike.

[Docreed2003]

26. Lol...pretty sure I interpreted that much dirtier than you intended....

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

45. Both terms are wide open to interpretation. nt

[Docreed2003]

47. It was the sounds alike part that got me...lol

[LanternWaste]

18. The educated say "get", in Texas we say "git."

The educated say "get", but in Texas we say "git."

Then again, we also pronounce Montague as "MON-tayg," which made for some odd-sounding high school read-alongs in Lit class; "Thou villain MON-tayg,—Hold me not, let me go..."

[WinkyDink]

22. Never mind ruining the Iambic Pentameter. ;-)

[Skittles]

19. my first week in Texas

Last edited Wed May 31, 2017, 07:02 PM - Edit history (1)

someone asked me if I had a pin - I was like, er, a what? a PIN? they kept saying yes.......took me way too long to figure out they were TRYING to say "PEN"

[bluecollar2]

55. you found one that could write?

Congratulations....

You met a Democrat....

Rare breed.

[Skittles]

56. now now

I've lived in Texas a long time, there are way more Dems here than people know

[bluecollar2]

57. I know...

I lived there for almost 25 years.

But the level of corruption and incompetence soured me.

After Ann Richards and Molly Ivins passed the decline became complete.

[Skittles]

60. I do hear you

the politics are becoming increasingly fascist

Abbott makes me SICK

[bluecollar2]

61. Abbott

Paxton, Cornyn, Cruz, the texas Supreme Court, The Court of Appeals...

The whole place has become a cesspool.

Texas Democrats are some of the best but if I had to go back the only place I'd go would be down to the border..

[WinkyDink]

20. "Pin" is not pronounced as the writing utensil "pen." Not correctly, anyway.

[brush]

31. I don't hear a difference. Explain pls.

[3catwoman3]

36. Do you go...

..."in" the house, or "en" the house?

For those of us who do pronounce these differently and hear them differently, the writing implements is pronounced like "pending" without the -ing ending, or like in 'tent' or 'rent' or 'sent' or 'bent.'

The fastening device would be like "inn," as in "no room at the inn," or 'sin,' or 'win.'

[brush]

42. Sorry, still don't hear a difference.

[raccoon]

48. Me either. nt

[MiltonBrown]

58. Ben went to the store. He found a good deal in the thrift shop bargain bin.

Ben, bin don't sound the same to me.

[raccoon]

62. Must be genetic. nt

[Phentex]

68. Were you a terrible spiller in school? Did your teacher throw your book out the wendow?

[raccoon]

69. No, I never spilled anything. Lol nt

[Doc_Technical]

23. Some math for you,

Sex and foe is tin.

[lunasun]

29. Um not around hear, I mean here........:)

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

35. This thread is exactly why it's not remotely feasible to

try to go to spelling English phonetically.

Even those here who pronounce pin and pen exactly the same, will recognize the difference in writing. Or the marry, merry, Mary example. There are lots of other such examples, where the spelling preserves the original differences in pronunciation, which are sometimes preserved in certain populations.

English is a very peculiar language, and some of our spellings preserve the language of origin, some of them preserve an older pronunciation, and some help preserve an older meaning. Okay, some some of our spellings could be simplified, but if we attempted to go to a purely phonetic system, something an Aussie would write would be totally incomprehensible to someone from the Deep South, just for one example.

I used to think that things like TV and movies were eliding differences in pronunciation of our language, and I've realized recently that that's not very true. Certain extreme accents seem to have been lost, but other differences have not only become entrenched but seem to have deepened.

The nature of language is continual change. Modern technology has slowed it down somewhat, but not completely.

[Doreen]

38. I always thought it was odd when my grandmother would call Washington Warshington

or say she needed to wash warsh something.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

39. Ahhh. Again I first heard that pronunciation

(warsh for wash) when I moved to Tucson from upstate New York. Naturally, to me, it sounded wrong.

[luvMIdog]

52. oh I saw an episode on Matlock about that lol Was she from Arkansas?

[rainy]

41. Pronounced correctly they are different

Think of pen sound with p eh n
And pin sound with p in

[brush]

43. Still don't hear a difference. It's in the mind of the speaker I guess.

[rainy]

44. try saying in then etch

Try saying in then etch. Notice the difference in the i and e sound now? You are just saying pen wrong that's why it sounds like pin😀 We pretty much all pronounce it wrong.

[brush]

46. Nah, any difference is in the mind of the speaker

English has its quirks — read and reed, red and read, and so on like pin and pen.

Go to the links below for the pronunciations of both pin and pen — no difference

http://www.bing.com/search?q=pen&pc=cosp&ptag=C8N0566D010916A316A5D3C6E&form=CONMHP&conlogo=CT3210127

http://www.bing.com/search?q=pin&qs=n&form=QBRE&sp=-1&pq=pin&sc=9-3&sk=&cvid=D3951651D13442C9BC9CBD0ABB9838B8

[Codeine]

50. Wait; you seriously don't hear the difference

between those two sound files?

[NCjack]

53. OK -- how about flower and flour?

[skippercollector]

49. living in ohio

I've lived in Cincinnati all my life. Everyone I know, including me, pronounces pin and pen differently, as they do than and then.
However, no one I know who is a native has ever pronounced Mary/merry/marry differently, nor have I ever heard anyone say cot/caught or Don/dawn differently. Even if I heard someone with a different accent try to teach me how to differentiate between them, I doubt I'd be physically able to do so.
I remember I once heard on TV shows where Bette Davis said "May-ry" and Ray Bolger said "Say-rah."

[MiltonBrown]

59. Don Dawn- Con Yawn

cot caught- got taught

This thread really puzzles me.

[guillaumeb]

51. What is your point?

Or pint?

Or pent?

Or pant?

Or punt?

[samnsara]

54. i make pin a little more nasaly.(is that a word?)

[retread]

63. "...I can't hear it." You can hear one of them drop. n/t

[Glorfindel]

64. What an interesting thread...thanks for starting it, raccoon.

I'm from the southern Appalachians and pronounce "pin" and "pen" the same. However, I don't pronounce "pet" and "pit" or "peg" and "pig" the same.

[ailsagirl]

70. I definitely pronounce them differently

"pen" to rhyme with "when"

"pin" to rhyme with "win"

[aikoaiko]

71. My son came home from Georgia preschool one day with a new saying.

"You git what you git and don't have a fit"

My southern wife applauded him for learning a rhyme.

I had to tell her that the saying only rhymes in the south.

[IronLionZion]

74. If you think a pin is mightier than a sword

you might be in for a bloody mess.

Do farm animals live in a pig pin?

Does the president pen medals onto soldiers?

[yellowcanine]

81. How many angels can fit on the head of a pig pin?

[greymattermom]

75. My Canadian husband

teased this Kentucky girl into saying "pen" and "pin" differently. It took awhile, but I learned. I had never heard "feh". I thought he made it up.

[yellowcanine]

79. And some say that "roof" rhymes with "woof." But maybe they are spoofin.

[yellowcanine]

80. So do they pronounce penthouse as pinthouse?

[Phentex]

82. There does not seem to be a difference in hearing the sounds

according to the OP. May as well be the same letter... which would make pronouncing other words very difficult as well. Like well and will.

[yellowcanine]

83. Witch and Which get a lot of people.

When I was a kid I had a book titled "Which is Witch?"

[Brother Buzz]

87. A stickin' pin or a writin' pin?

Sometimes, some of us need clarification.

[NCTraveler]

91. Good friend of mine from GA would always differentiate by saying.

Ink pen or stick pin.