Vind Engels Leerkrachten
Esther
Pronunciation: Do"dear" and "deer" have the same pronunciation?
Do"dear" and "deer" have the same pronunciation?
2 jul. 2014 16:31
Antwoorden · 3
1
Yes. They are homophones. I live in the northeastern U.S. To my ear, they are pronounced EXACTLY the same, and I just double-checked and a dictionary presents them using the same phonetic symbols.
It would not surprise me to learn that the spelling of "dear" might preserve a long-dead pronunciation. This is definitely true of the word "please," which today is universally pronounced "pleez," but a century ago was pronounced as two syllables, plee-uhz, by careful speakers. When I was a kid, telephone operators pronounced it that way.
In a nineteenth century schoolbook, McGuffey's New Fourth Eclectic Reader, there is a somewhat humorous piece purporting to show "Consequences of Bad Spelling." A schoolchild writes to her aunt that she has been given "the nicest little deer in the world; I long to buy a fine cage for it." Her aunt replies that a deer would be much happier in her uncle's park than in a cage. It turns out that the girl had been given a canary, which she thinks is a little DEAR, but misspells the word.
2 juli 2014
Yes. Exactly the same.
"My mum bought 4 legs of venison for £100... is that 2 dear?"
2 juli 2014
Heb je je antwoorden nog steeds niet gevonden?
Schrijf je vragen op en laat de moedertaalsprekers je helpen!
Esther
Taalvaardigheden
Engels, Spaans
Taal die wordt geleerd
Engels
Artikelen die je misschien ook leuk vindt

5 Polite Ways to Say “No” at Work
8 likes · 0 Opmerkingen

Speak More Fluently with This Simple Technique
30 likes · 5 Opmerkingen

How to Read and Understand a Business Contract in English
22 likes · 4 Opmerkingen
Meer artikelen