0
Kooyeen Posted 19 years ago
Speech & Pronunciation
When & Where
0 Hi 02 br
02 br
00 Is "when" always /wɛn/? Is the vowel never reduced to a schwa, so that is it /wən/? 02 br
02 br
00 And is "where" always "w-air", /wer/, and never reduced to something similar to "were" (past tense of the verb "to be")? 02 br
02 br
00 Thanks 05 0 010id 1
02 br
00 Is "when" always /wɛn/? Is the vowel never reduced to a schwa, so that is it /wən/? 02 br
02 br
00 And is "where" always "w-air", /wer/, and never reduced to something similar to "were" (past tense of the verb "to be")? 02 br
02 br
00 Thanks 05 0 010id 1
Top answer
" 0-
- " 0-
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
5 Answers
0
0 Depends on your accent, K! 02 br
02 br
00 In my neck of the woods, 'where' and 'were' are both pronounced "whurr" - as in "whurrzit to?" = "where is it?" 0-
02 br
00 In my neck of the woods, 'where' and 'were' are both pronounced "whurr" - as in "whurrzit to?" = "where is it?" 0-
00
0 No. In the dialect here, "when" is always pronounced as [wIn] by most speakers. I'm not sure why, though, because we do not have the pin-pen merger. Even in careful speech, I would never say [wEn] for "when", which sounds distinctly off to me. In other areas in the West however, [wEn] is the form that is used for "when". 0-
00
0 01 i 00 when 02 i 00 is always 01 i 00 when 02 i 00 and 01 i 00 where 02 i 00 is always 01 i 00 where 02 i 00 ! (rhymes with 01 i 00 pen 02 i 00 and 01 i 00 pair 02 i 00 ) 02 br
02 br
00 In other words, no vowel reductions (where I live). 02 br
02 br
02 br
02 br
00 In other words, no vowel reductions (where I live). 02 br
02 br
02 br
00
0 Thank you very much to you all. 05 0 01 blockquote
01 cite 10 Lil Ruby Rose 12 cite 10 Depends on your accent, K! 12 br10 My goodness, British accents must be so different... and
12 br
10 In my neck of the woods, 'where' and 'were' are both pronounced "whurr" - as in "whurrzit to?" = "where is it?" 12 br
12 blockquote
00
0 >> My goodness, British accents must be so different... and strange too! I heard some that seemed German or another language, not English! << 02 br
02 br
00 Well, I think it's simply because there are so many of them, and they are very different, as opposed to North American English (especially considering the vast size), which overall is much more homogenous (exclud
02 br
00 Well, I think it's simply because there are so many of them, and they are very different, as opposed to North American English (especially considering the vast size), which overall is much more homogenous (exclud
0
Related Questions