Marry-merry-Mary Merger

The Marry-merry-Mary merger consists of a merger of the vowels before intervocalic /r/ in the three words. The merger is common in North America but rare in other varieties of English. It is found in all of Canada except Montreal, which pronounces marry distinctly.

For speakers who lack the merger, marry has the vowel sound of mat and Mary has a longer vowel sound than merry. In the United States, speakers who lack the merger are primarily found in the northeast, in cities such as New York, Boston and Philadelphia. A merger of only the words merry and Mary is found in Montreal and the southern United States. Speakers who have the full Marry-merry-Mary merger pronounce each vowel with the sound of the word met.

Those who have the Marry-merry-Mary merger are usually rhotic speakers, and those who do not are usually non-rhotic. Philadelphia and Scotland, areas which lack the merger, are primarily non-rhotic and thus an exception. In certain cases, speakers have a merger in only two words. Of the American speakers who have a partial merger, the most common is the merger of Mary and merry.