Err

In Scouse (Liverpool) speech, 'air' and 'fur' rhyme - either both sounding the vowel in RP 'air' or both sounding like RP 'fur' (ie they always rhyme but speakers are divided as to how they rhyme them).

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<hr>New question to the general audience here: when you say "they are" and "they're", does you vowel in "they" change? <hr></blockquote> Hmm.

I can't tell if it does or not when you're speaking clearly. I have been repeating those words to myself at my desk and probably look a little strange now, and I still can't tell. But I will say that "they're" isn't always enunciated like that. In casual speech it can sound more like -ther, as in the end of "rather." So in cases like "well, they're saying that..." you'd hear "well, ther saying taht..." in many cases.

But, I just realized that we do that with "there" too. So you could hear "well, ther saying that ther must be a solution."

I would not pronounce those words that way when they're at the beginning of a sentence, though. That's why I put the "well" in my examples.

With "they're"/"they are", it seems almost anything is possible. It can be two full syllables: they are. It can be one syllable, which becomes "ther" in quick speech, as you say, Diana. But it can also be many things in between: "they're" can be more or less two syllables: they-ur. Perhaps especially in short sentences: "They're sick". Would you pronounce that as "ther sick" too?

I switch, too, I notice--with the pronunciation of the three thairs/thurs. I'd say: Thair here! But I'd also say: Who knows why thur late. If emphasized, it would always be the air sound. That's THAIR room. But it could be: I wish they'd pick up thur things.

But I also know that in any of the "thur" cases, I may also put more of an air sound to it, while that is not true in reverse. That is, I'd never use the thur sound for an emphasized thair. Shift for reasons I'm not sure about. Shift happens!

LaGrande, would you care for a cucumber sandwich with your tea? Ten? Fifty? I have cucumbers stacked up like cordwood beside my house, as the garden just won't stop. And I expect my house to be leveled by a tomato avalanche one of these nights.

Welcome back. Does that mean you've finally caught up with the ironing? If so, I have a heap of unironed shirts I would be happy to email you. Well, thair unwashed, too...but if you wouldn't mind...

Oh, and Shilgia, I could shift on that one, too, depending on the emphasis: They can't stay home just because thur SICK! as opposed to: What! THAIR sick, too? But it's the "thur" that is slippery, and the vowel has many possible shades of sound in that one--fro me, in any case.

Pickles, razzak, pickles!

Wrong kind of cucumbers, Vinny! If they're big enough for cordwood, they're too big for the jars. Note the clever way I slipped in the used of "they're", pronounced "thair".

bjd -- Peel, quarter lengthwise, scrape out seeds, cut into chunks or thickish slices, proceed as with the ittybitty ones.

Err rhymes with fur for me, and I pronounce 'they're' exactly the same as 'there'.

VinnyD, shilgia, mazgringo, Razzak: I'm overhwelmed (sic) by your enthusiastic welcome. No sugar, thanks, VinnyD. Mazgringo, well, I like to put in an appearance from time to time to remind you all how English should be spoken. Razzak, I think 25 cucumber sandwiches and 19 sliced tomatoes would be sufficient, thank you. And thank you also for the kind offer to email me your ironing. You surmise correctly; my domestic arrangements are unusually orderly AND I INTEND TO KEEP THEM THAT WAY. Kindly keep your shirts on your own side of the Pond.

stormboy, #40: I grew up on the other side of the Water (River Mersey), and for years I couldn't remember whether the camera shop my Dad patronised was 'Furs' (pronounced 'Fairs') or 'Fairs' (pronounced 'Furs'). For information, it's Fair's.