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Re: Westley or Inigo?
How do you say Aaron, Erin, and Harry? (I'm west/midwest American and I say Aaron and Erin both like air-en and Harry like hairy. Maybe I'd say Erin a little shorter than Aaron but not much difference.)I don't say Ann like Ian but the "A" in Ann is definitely a diphthong regardless of the accent. I'm imagining it's really obviously two syllables in southern American too, like AY-unn.
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I say Erin Air-en as you do, but the A sound in Aaron and in Harry is far flatter, like the A sound in "cat". Therefore in my accent Harry is not identical to "hairy".Southerners do say AY-unn, but that's not identical to Ian, which Southerners would say with an initial EEE sound rather than the "AY" at the beginning of Ann. To be honest, I've never actually heard anyone say Ann so that's it identical to Ian or vice versa. I read that it occurs in "Made in America: An Informal History of the English Language in the United States" by Bill Bryson. I am certain he said it occurs in the Midwest, and maybe he specified Michigan? That book was so interesting, I should get another copy and read it again.
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