okay, this will prove where you're from

[Duck on Wheels]

Hah! I got Inland North, but I'd never even been there for more than a week until last year on sabbatical. Born and raised in California and never left the state 'til I was 16. Maybe it was that one question that got me off track, the Mary, merry, marry one. I couldn't find an answer that fit how I pronounce (or hear myself pronounce) those three. To my inner ear I say Mary and marry the same, but have a tighter vowel sound for merry. Otherwise, I wonder what I should sound like to place me correctly in NoCal?

[Eden]

Hah! I got Inland North, but I'd never even been there for more than a week until last year on sabbatical. Born and raised in California and never left the state 'til I was 16. Maybe it was that one question that got me off track, the Mary, merry, marry one. I couldn't find an answer that fit how I pronounce (or hear myself pronounce) those three. To my inner ear I say Mary and marry the same, but have a tighter vowel sound for merry. Otherwise, I wonder what I should sound like to place me correctly in NoCal?

Hah - I thought the same thing about the Mary, marry, merry one - they didn't really have the answer I wanted Mary and marry the same, but merry - a little more like mirry?.. not quite the "i" sound, but definitely distinct to my inner ear from the other two..