Transcript of “Why Certain People Pronounce “Aaron” and “Erin” Differently and Others Pronounce Them the Same”
Hello, you have A Way with Words.
Hi, my name is Erin. I’m calling from New York City.
Hey, Erin.
Hi, Erin. Welcome to the show.
Hey, how are you?
Yeah, I was just calling in because I wanted to know if you could tell me if I’m pronouncing my own name correctly.
Wait, what?
That’s a big one.
You might say it again.
Oh, my name. My name’s Erin.
Erin.
Spell that.
E-R-I-N.
Okay. Why is there some doubt?
So I grew up in Baltimore, and a lot of the times, like growing up, people didn’t really know if I was saying Aaron, like E-R-I-N. They always thought I was saying A-R-O-N.
And when I moved to New York, I had the same kind of issue. People up there say it a little bit differently.
And I remember one time I mentioned to my friends saying, like, hey, it’s so annoying that, like, whenever I say my name, people always think I’m saying the boy’s name or they think I’m saying, like, some different spelled way.
And she was like, well, you say it like the boy version of the name. And I was like, oh, I never I kind of had existential crisis when she told me that. I was like, I thought I was saying it correctly my whole life.
And I thought about how my parents say it and they say it like me. And so I’m just like, am I have we all been saying my name incorrectly this whole time? I guess I just want to know, like, how it sounds to other people when I say it.
And are your parents also from Baltimore?
So my dad’s from North Carolina and my mom’s from D.C. And then they relocated to Baltimore.
All right.
So I have an answer for you. It’s not going to make it any better. It’s not going to blame anyone. It’s just going to explain it. And I hope this will make you feel better at the end of the call.
Okay.
All right.
And so let me ask you how you pronounce the word M-A-R-R-Y.
Mary.
And how do you pronounce the word M-E-R-R-Y?
Mary.
And do those sound the same to you?
I guess Mary with the E sounds maybe a little bit shorter.
Yeah. So in some parts of the country, it’s Mary and Mary. Did you hear the difference?
Yes.
All right. So in other large parts of the country, they sound exactly the same, especially in the Western U.S. and Central U.S. And in all of Canada, they sound basically the same. But in the Northeast and in Montreal, they sound different, mostly.
Okay.
And because linguists have taken very good care of the page, there’s an excellent summary of what is called the Mary-Mary merger on Wikipedia. And you can look it up. Just pick any spelling of Mary and Mary and type in merger after that and you will find it on Wikipedia.
And so that’s what’s happening here. It’s the same vowels and those words after the M that are happening at the beginning of these two names, Aaron and Aaron.
And so they’re pronounced differently because of regional dialects. We don’t all speak the same English and never have. There’s never been one English in the United States. And we have regional variation. And the names follow that regional variation.
And so your name, Aaron, is subject to that. And so when you moved from Baltimore, and certainly because your parents were born with some North Carolina for sure, in D.C. to a certain degree, and Baltimore probably, with some Southern accent influence, you move from there to New York City, you pass the dialect boundary, and you would probably most likely encounter new ways of saying your name.
And so you say it correctly because it’s your name. You are the expert in your own name. Nobody else can tell you how to say your name. That is true for all names.
That’s right.
You’re the authority. No matter what, no matter who you are, however you want to say your name, you are the boss of it.
Thank you. I appreciate that. Thank you.
One thing I have to recommend to you, if you haven’t seen it yet, this is the Key and Peel sketch, Substitute Teacher. You can find it on YouTube.
These two geniuses have turned the tables on names in school. It is one of the best sketches they ever did. So, you know Key and Peel, the two comedians.
Again, the sketch is called Substitute Teacher, Key and Peel. You have to watch it. They poke fun at the pronunciation of names, including the boy’s name, Aaron. It is hilarious. It is astonishingly funny. You will love it.
Yeah, you’ll get kicked out of it.
Oh, thank you so much.
Yeah.
Yeah, I’ll definitely watch that.
Thank you.
All right.
Thank you for calling us, Aaron. We’re glad to call us again sometime. All right?
All right.
Thank you so much for taking my call. Have a great day.
Yeah, sure.
Take care.
Be well.
Bye-bye.
Thank you.
Bye-bye.
I am ready to talk to you about your name.
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