English questions

[Zju]

Why do people mix up so many similar sounding words (their, they're, there, your, you're, etc. ect.), but never seem to mix up he's and his?

[bradrn]

Why do people mix up so many similar sounding words (their, they're, there, your, you're, etc. ect.), but never seem to mix up he's and his?

Most probably because he’s [çiːz] and his [çɪz] are both pronounced and spelled differently to each other, I’d imagine. (By comparison, their/they’re/there are near-homophones, while your/you’re are near-homographs.)

[Rounin Ryuuji]

It's also apparently easy for your brain to think a sequence of sounds and momentarily forget how to spell them into the word they want (I've sometimes produced a typographical error youre, no apostrophe, for both your and you're).

[Travis B.]

Why do people mix up so many similar sounding words (their, they're, there, your, you're, etc. ect.), but never seem to mix up he's and his?

Most probably because he’s [çiːz] and his [çɪz] are both pronounced and spelled differently to each other, I’d imagine. (By comparison, their/they’re/there are near-homophones, while your/you’re are near-homographs.)

IMD both sets of words are true homophones, as [ðɛ̝(ː)ʁˤ]~[d̥ɛ̝(ː)ʁˤ] and [jɔ(ː)ʁˤ]~[jʁ̩ˤ(ː)] respectively.

[Ryusenshi]

AFAIK their/they’re/there are true homophones in most varieties of English.

[Rounin Ryuuji]

All three are [ðɛ(ː)ɹ~ðɛəɹ] for me.

The same with your, you're, which are usually [jɔ(ː)ɹ~jɔəɹ] when stressed, and [jəɹ] when unstressed.

[Richard W]

AFAIK their/they’re/there are true homophones in most varieties of English.

They're and you're don't always fuse, but can remain disyllabic, so in that sense they're not fully homophonous with the possessives. Don't know if Greek-derived terminology can be stretched to cover this subtlety.

[Travis B.]

AFAIK their/they’re/there are true homophones in most varieties of English.

They're and you're don't always fuse, but can remain disyllabic, so in that sense they're not fully homophonous with the possessives. Don't know if Greek-derived terminology can be stretched to cover this subtlety.

What varieties do you speak of where this applies?

[zompist]

They're and you're don't always fuse, but can remain disyllabic, so in that sense they're not fully homophonous with the possessives.

I think I agree, but for me it's associated with stress: "They're crazy" [ðer] "They're crazy." [ðer̩]. And frankly it's hard to distinguish that from "They are crazy."

Stressed your is [jor], stressed you're is [jur]... though I wouldn't be surprised if I sometimes reverse them. Disyllabic [jur̩] for stressed you're only sounds fine too. Unstressed, both are [jr̩].

[bradrn]

AFAIK their/they’re/there are true homophones in most varieties of English.

They're and you're don't always fuse, but can remain disyllabic, so in that sense they're not fully homophonous with the possessives. Don't know if Greek-derived terminology can be stretched to cover this subtlety.

What varieties do you speak of where this applies?

I have [jo̞ː] your vs [jəː] you’re, and [ðe̞ː] there vs [ðəː] their/they’re (though the latter set do tend to merge).

[Richard W]

AFAIK their/they’re/there are true homophones in most varieties of English.

They're and you're don't always fuse, but can remain disyllabic, so in that sense they're not fully homophonous with the possessives. Don't know if Greek-derived terminology can be stretched to cover this subtlety.

What varieties do you speak of where this applies?

Most, it would seem. But with confidence, I spoke of my own. Morpheme boundaries can be quite resilient, at least when listening to one's own speech.

[Travis B.]

They're and you're don't always fuse, but can remain disyllabic, so in that sense they're not fully homophonous with the possessives. Don't know if Greek-derived terminology can be stretched to cover this subtlety.

What varieties do you speak of where this applies?

Most, it would seem. But with confidence, I spoke of my own. Morpheme boundaries can be quite resilient, at least when listening to one's own speech.

How often do you hear NAE varieties in everyday speech?

[Raphael]

Do people in Britain use the term "pupil exchange" for what people from the US would call a "student exchange" if it involves people who are "pupils" rather than "students" in British English?

[Raphael]

Is "melodramatic" an English word? Back in school, I once used it in English class, and the teacher, who was an exchange teacher from the USA, thought it wasn't.

[Linguoboy]

Is "melodramatic" an English word? Back in school, I once used it in English class, and the teacher, who was an exchange teacher from the USA, thought it wasn't.

LOL. It absolutely is. Did you you accent the wrong sylláble or something?

[Raphael]

LOL. It absolutely is. Did you you accent the wrong sylláble or something?

Probably. Oddly enough, it was during a discussion of our impressions of national characteristics of people from the USA.

[Rounin Ryuuji]

It's a fairly common word, I think.

[Linguoboy]

LOL. It absolutely is. Did you you accent the wrong sylláble or something?

Probably. Oddly enough, it was during a discussion of our impressions of national characteristics of people from the USA.

HOW DARE YOU!

[Travis B.]

LOL. It absolutely is. Did you you accent the wrong sylláble or something?

Probably. Oddly enough, it was during a discussion of our impressions of national characteristics of people from the USA.

HOW DARE YOU!

LOL

[Raphael]

Would you use the word "blog" to describe an individual blog post? I've seen people who do that, but I've also seen people who always use "blog post" or simply "post" instead. What's your personal preference?