There are also different pronunciations for "poor". Some say "pore" to rhyme with "ore"; others say "poor" emphasizing the double "o" sound, like poooooor.
Good quiz. Accents really do change things, I agree that Errs is pronounced differently than heirs and airs. Also I've always pronounced Idle with the I sounding like eye whereas idyll I've always started like Id (as in Ego, Id etc). Maybe I've been saying it wrong all these years.
Missed a few easy ones though as once I got one spelling in my head it was surprisingly difficult to think of a different one!
I disagree with the Errs-Heirs-Airs (not just you but everyone). Err is a derivation of Error. Err is the verb whereas Error is a noun. An Error is a mistake, to Err is to make a mistake. Even with accents I find it hard to believe that anyone pronounces it "ur-ur". Error is pronounced "Air-or", or "Air-er", as Err is a direct derivation of that, it should thus be pronounced "Air". Meaning Errs would be pronounced as "Airs".
I agree with you that err is pronounced the same as the beginning of error but your analogy is flawed. There are plenty of words which are derived from other words but change the way they are pronounced. If only I could think of an example right now...
Because quizzes like this don't translate well across accents. In my accent, the S in raise is voiced making it sound like a Z but in yours it's likely unvoiced which makes it a homophone with race. Neither pronunciation is right or wrong, it's just a limitation inherent to this type of quiz
Well that must be a mistake online or a mistaken pronunciation in American English. There are obviously variations in the way we say certain words, but idyll and idol are not among them. Id-ill and Eye-dol/dul.
So have I, unfortunately accents make Homophones quite difficult to please everybody. As an English born man, having lived and worked in 8 different English speaking (mostly) countries I often mix up my accents and pronunciation and change my accent depending who I'm speaking to.
Several regional accents in the UK pronounce it "poo-er". I know in my more standard accent, they're pronounced the same, but then it wouldn't be valid because "paw" is also a homophone.
If you're from New York, errs doesn't sound like airs. It must be a Midwest thing. When I moved to the Midwest from New Jersey, I realized that people couldn't distinguish between the names Aaron and Erin, which are completely, utterly different pronunciations to me.
I think both examples you just cited, dasubergeek, are true not just in the Phila/NJ/NY Northeast, but also all the way down the Middle Atlantic to DC as well as up and throughout New England. (But if we had to tackle "draw"/"drawer" in Rhode Island/Mass. or "water"/"wooder" in Philly, things would get REALLY convoluted!)
Only if you're British. Pronouncing "aw" as "or" instead of "ah" creates the amusing situation that you pronounce "flaw" like "floor". I heard a song on the radio where the guy kept singing "All of my floors and all of your floors", and had no idea what he was talking about it. It got really weird when he said "you have always worn your floors upon your sleeve".
You've got it the wrong way round. No-one pronounces "aw" as "or" in words like flaw, it's that we Brits pronounce the "or" in words like floor the same as the "aw" in flaw - i.e., non-rhotically.
And I've never heard anyone, of any nationality, pronounce "aw" like "ah".
Yes. Except for "poor" being a homophone for "pore" and "pour". Apparently that's a southern US thing. In the north, it's pronounced with a long U, like "room". Poo-er.
Except that "rhode" isn't a word by itself. It's a proper noun when followed by "Island". Pluralize it and it becomes another proper noun -- the island of Rhodes -- or the first half of "Rhodes Scholar".
I appreciate that accents vary, but, as someone from the South of England, "Errs" is not a homophone of "Airs" and "Heirs" (it rhymes with "Hers") and "Idyll" is not a homophone of "Idle" and "Idol" - the initial "I" being pronounced as it "it".
Nice one. Tough, but got 100% on the first try. Frieze was the hardest. Definitely do not understand the Paw comments or that errs is not pronounced like airs/heirs. How do you say it? Urs?
There's no such thing as a "correct" dialect. Just accept that different accents pronounce certain words differently, and that none is really more "correct" than another.
There's a great study on American dialects that offers some cool maps on not only pronunciation but also regional vocabulary. You can participate or just check out their results: http://www.tekstlab.uio.no/cambridge_survey/. And for you non-Americans, now you can sate your curiosity as to what locale in 'Mericuh your particular dialect most closely matches (if you get Boston then chances are you have a severe speech impediment and should seek specialist therapy).
You shouldn't use words that don't sound alike in different accents. Its not difficult to find other homophones that aren't complete red herrings to people who don't pronounce words exactly the same way you do.
If you can't think of how other people might pronounce a word, that's your lack of understanding of English, and you don't deserve to get that one right.
I think a quiz 'master' has a responsibility to avoid words in a homophone quiz that aren't homophones to most people. Especially when alternatives are easy to find.
I wish I had some popcorn for all the debates in this thread. Are people just now learning that there are different pronunciations for different areas? I figured, with TV and all...
I got frieze and pique and only missed six, got neither of the errs, not sure how to pronounce it ( not from an english speaking country, so pretty proud :) cause this is quite tough)
Shouldnt "hue" be an acceptable answer for a homopone for "you" (did try jew not yew :/ but it is more pronounced djew anyway I thought, so hue would be a better fit)
In New Zealand, heirs and airs are honomyms, but are pronounced differently from errs, which is pronounced more like "urze". And we pronounce idle with a long "i" ("eye-dull"), but idyll with a short "i", rhyming with "riddle".
I'm from the UK and agree totally in all respects. Re 'errs' I'm from the Midlands, lived in the south west and south east and now in the north and have never heard errs pronounced in any way than urze. (Mind you, I haven't lived in Yorkshire :-) .)
I can't type phonetic chars on my phone, but idyll is a short I, idol is a dipthong. Errs does not rhyme with airs in any accent I've ever heard & I've lived in lots of places.
There is a further homophone for by: bi is now a fully accepted term for a person who is bisexual
Fun quiz thanks and I do realise that we're all supposed to speak with American accents, however couldn't quizzes just avoid words that really don't work in other parts of the world. Idles is not a homophone of idylls (id-ills) in Britain. And how about rase?
I will never get over how so many people here insist that their particular dialect of English is the One and Only Correct Pronunciation and that all other dialects are apparently horrible abominations.
road, rode and rowed? maybe this is specific to me but the latter would have a well emphasised 'w', so the pronunciation really wouldn't be the same. I can admit that its probably close enough that it works in some accents though.
Can you declare a source for the pronunciations? For a lot of mother tongue English speakers some these are nowhere near homophones. If we know the dialect or preferably the dictionary used we might have a chance.
A highly controversial topic, raising issues on the correct pronunciation (if there is even such a thing) of some selective homophones, depending not only on nationhood but also its states/provinces/counties therein. I loved it! PS: for the record: missed out on six!
Missed a few easy ones though as once I got one spelling in my head it was surprisingly difficult to think of a different one!
Poor vs Pore/Pour
Err vs Air/Heir
Idyll vs Idol/Idle
And I've never heard anyone, of any nationality, pronounce "aw" like "ah".
I have lived in Australia and the UK and been to the US a number of times. Simply can't believe it's true.
Also, paw for poor - totally yes.
And idyll? I was dubious, but I looked that up and now I learnt something.
(I live in Oklahoma)
Shouldnt "hue" be an acceptable answer for a homopone for "you" (did try jew not yew :/ but it is more pronounced djew anyway I thought, so hue would be a better fit)
You and yew are both pronounced as 'YOO'
In New Zealand, heirs and airs are honomyms, but are pronounced differently from errs, which is pronounced more like "urze". And we pronounce idle with a long "i" ("eye-dull"), but idyll with a short "i", rhyming with "riddle".
I'm from the UK and agree totally in all respects. Re 'errs' I'm from the Midlands, lived in the south west and south east and now in the north and have never heard errs pronounced in any way than urze. (Mind you, I haven't lived in Yorkshire :-) .)
There is a further homophone for by: bi is now a fully accepted term for a person who is bisexual
"Bi" alone is not a word, it is a part of many different words.
I don't accept it, therefore it is not "fully accepted".
The emphasis in the word idyll is on the second syllable, meaning it is not a homophone of idle or idol (which are homophones). Clear?
Love these qizzes
- poor (not a homophone with pore or pour). In my accent "poor" has the vowel of "good" while "pore" has the vowel of "broad".
- idyll (pronounced completely differently to idol/idle - this is not an accent issue)
- errs (not a homophone with airs/heirs)