were /wɜr; unstressed wər; Brit. also wɛər/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [wur; unstressed wer; Brit. also wair]
It's still a homophone even if that pronunciation isn't universal. For example there is another quad in: pause, paws, pores, pours -- But, I pronounce the latter two "poors" and so it doesn't quite work for me. Likewise you can get another homophone out of "your" if you pronounce "yaw" like "your" which is sort of Bostonian.
The only one out of a list that I just googled a second ago that has all words and seems all properly pronounced is right, rite, write, wright. Though, peak, peek, peke, pique is pretty nice.
I had where's, wears, weres, and wares in mind. That way it uses "wares" rather than "ware" which sounds better and might as well use the plural of "were" if we're using that word. Then we have only one iffy word rather than two.
"Were" (as in "werewolf") is actually pronounced "weer" (rhymes with "deer").
ReplyDeletewear
ReplyDelete/wɛər/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [wair]
were
/wɜr; unstressed wər; Brit. also wɛər/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [wur; unstressed wer; Brit. also wair]
It's still a homophone even if that pronunciation isn't universal. For example there is another quad in: pause, paws, pores, pours -- But, I pronounce the latter two "poors" and so it doesn't quite work for me. Likewise you can get another homophone out of "your" if you pronounce "yaw" like "your" which is sort of Bostonian.
The only one out of a list that I just googled a second ago that has all words and seems all properly pronounced is right, rite, write, wright. Though, peak, peek, peke, pique is pretty nice.
http://www.bifroest.demon.co.uk/misc/homophones-list.html
metal, meddle, mettle, and medal
ReplyDeleteMy brother pointed these out recently. ;)
I had where's, wears, weres, and wares in mind. That way it uses "wares" rather than "ware" which sounds better and might as well use the plural of "were" if we're using that word. Then we have only one iffy word rather than two.
ReplyDelete