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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?

Zju wrote: ↑Sun Nov 06, 2022 2:49 am 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.)

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).

bradrn wrote: ↑Sun Nov 06, 2022 4:05 am

Zju wrote: ↑Sun Nov 06, 2022 2:49 am 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.

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

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.

Ryusenshi wrote: ↑Sun Nov 06, 2022 12:21 pm 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.

Richard W wrote: ↑Sun Nov 06, 2022 2:22 pm

Ryusenshi wrote: ↑Sun Nov 06, 2022 12:21 pm 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?

Richard W wrote: ↑Sun Nov 06, 2022 2:22 pm 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].

Travis B. wrote: ↑Sun Nov 06, 2022 3:25 pm

Richard W wrote: ↑Sun Nov 06, 2022 2:22 pm

Ryusenshi wrote: ↑Sun Nov 06, 2022 12:21 pm 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).

Travis B. wrote: ↑Sun Nov 06, 2022 3:25 pm

Richard W wrote: ↑Sun Nov 06, 2022 2:22 pm

Ryusenshi wrote: ↑Sun Nov 06, 2022 12:21 pm 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.

Richard W wrote: ↑Tue Nov 08, 2022 10:11 am

Travis B. wrote: ↑Sun Nov 06, 2022 3:25 pm

Richard W wrote: ↑Sun Nov 06, 2022 2:22 pm

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?

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?

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.

Raphael wrote: ↑Wed Dec 21, 2022 3:04 pm 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?

Linguoboy wrote: ↑Wed Dec 21, 2022 4:01 pm 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.

It's a fairly common word, I think.

Raphael wrote: ↑Wed Dec 21, 2022 4:07 pm

Linguoboy wrote: ↑Wed Dec 21, 2022 4:01 pm 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!

Linguoboy wrote: ↑Thu Dec 22, 2022 11:59 am

Raphael wrote: ↑Wed Dec 21, 2022 4:07 pm

Linguoboy wrote: ↑Wed Dec 21, 2022 4:01 pm 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

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?