nurse merger
The 'nurse merger' is a phonological phenomenon in English where certain vowel sounds merge into one before the 'r' sound.
🇺🇸 US Voice:
🇬🇧 UK Voice:
Definition
C2Dialect Studies
(technical)In some accents, vowels in words like 'hurry' and 'worry' merge with those in the 'nurse' set, resulting in a uniform vowel sound.
Example
- In certain North American accents, 'hurry' and 'nurse' are pronounced with the same vowel due to the nurse merger.
C2Phonology
(technical)A change in English pronunciation where distinct vowels before 'r' become a single vowel sound.
Example
- In many English dialects, the words 'nurse', 'term', and 'fir' share the same vowel sound due to the nurse merger.