Pronunciation: poor

Question

I went to Merrian-Webster to check on this and found that, just like I've heard many times, there are two pronunciations for "poor":

\ 'pu?r , 'p?r \

Is there some sort of rule that says which to use in different cases? TIA.

Englishmaven · Accepted Answer

In most of the US, we say /'p?r/. In New England states, some people say /pu?r/.

CalifJim · Answer

anonymousIs there some sort of rule that says which to use in different cases?

It's not a matter of "different cases". Once you decide how you want to pronounce it, use that same pronunciation in all cases.

It's a matter of regional pronunciations. In my (very strong) opinion there is only one way to pronounce "poor", and that's \ 'pu?r \ (IPA /pu?/ or reduced to /p??/). This is the pronunciation in "General American English". Only the West Midland and the Southern accents use the alternative \'p?r \ (IPA /p??/).

Here's an interesting website with a map by hobbyist Aschmann.

https://aschmann.net/AmEng/

CJ

Pronunciation: poor

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