[Magdalen] Mary, Marry, and Merry

[Allan Carr]

Although it was a long time ago, I was married to a Mary for fifteen years. Thinking.about my pronunciation of her name, it varied all the way from may-ree to meh-ree depending on my mood, supplicating or demanding or maybe loving or angry.
I was from Toronto Ont and she was from Troy NY. I do know my Toronto accent changed quite a bit in the decade, mostly in Maryland, before I met her. May-ree-land sounds strange to me versus Meh-ruh-lin.

Allan Carr


> On May 14, 2020, at 8:42 PM, Ann Markle <ann.markle at aya.yale.edu> wrote:
> 
> Combine Buffalo with born and raised till age 26 in Indiana, and 12 years
> in Tennessee, where my "Hoosier" was allowed to come out to play again!
> 
> Ann
> 
> The Rev. Ann Markle
> Buffalo, NY
> ann.markle at aya.yale.edu
> 
> 
>> On Thu, May 14, 2020 at 11:07 PM Scott Knitter <scottknitter at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> 
>> I understand western NY is in the same accent region as Detroit, Chicago,
>> Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Cleveland, etc. - Inland Northern, I think?
>> 
>> When I went to Rochester, N.Y., on business (first visit to that city) to
>> work on a project at the old Kodak HQ, I was surprised the people who lived
>> there didn't "sound like New Yorkers." I thought they sounded midwestern,
>> but it was just that sort of Great Lakes accent, flat vowels and all. I'm
>> sure I fit right in, accent-wise.
>> 
>> On Thu, May 14, 2020 at 3:56 PM Ann Markle <ann.markle at aya.yale.edu>
>> wrote:
>> 
>>> I still say them the same way, unless I'm really working at it (and I'm
>>> usually NOT).
>>> 
>>> Ann
>>> 
>>> The Rev. Ann Markle
>>> Buffalo, NY
>>> ann.markle at aya.yale.edu
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On Thu, May 14, 2020 at 4:11 PM Scott Knitter <scottknitter at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> Here's how I hear the three words in, let's say, East Coast accents (I
>>> know
>>>> there are many):
>>>> 
>>>> Mary = MARE-ee  --first syllable of medium length
>>>> 
>>>> marry = MA (from "map") - ree   -- first syllable rather long
>>>> 
>>>> merry = MEH (from "meth") - ree   --first syllable quite short
>>>> 
>>>> And yes, here in Chicago, all three of these are likely to be said the
>>>> first way.
>>>> 
>>>> On Thu, May 14, 2020 at 2:56 PM cantor03--- via Magdalen <
>>>> magdalen at herberthouse.org> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> It is said one cam spot an Upper Midwesterner by how he/she
>>>>> pronouncesthese three words - Mary, marry, and merry.
>>>>> In some English speaking areas all three have distinctive different
>>>>> pronunciations.In other English speaking areas world wide two of
>> three
>>>> have
>>>>> identical pronunciations.In the USA Upper Midwest, all three have the
>>>> same
>>>>> pronunciation.
>>>>> 
>>>>> In any case, May is the traditional month of Mary.
>>>>> In the local Procathedral, the choir used to give Mary her dueby
>>> chanting
>>>>> from back in the apse the Marian antiphon for Eastertide:We abided by
>>> the
>>>>> notion that you can get by with anything if yousimply sing it in
>> Latin:
>>>>> The Regina Caeli
>>>>> 
>>>>> Regina caeli, laetare, alleluia.Quia quem meruisti portare,
>>>>> alleluiaResurrexit, sicut dixit, alleluia.Ora pro nobis Deum,
>> alleluia.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Queen of heaven be joyful, alleluia.For He whom you have humbly
>> borne,
>>>>> alleluia.Has risen as he said, alleluia..Pray to God for us,
>> alleluia.
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> David Strang.
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> --
>>>> Scott R. Knitter
>>>> Edgewater, Chicago, Illinois USA
>>>> 
>>> 
>> 
>> 
>> --
>> Scott R. Knitter
>> Edgewater, Chicago, Illinois USA
>>