Poor - pour homonyms?

[sufler]

Hello?
Is it just my mishearing or some Americans pronounce the words poor and pour exactly the same way, as /po:r/? If so, could you estimate more or less which region of the USA is that pronunciation peculiar to?

Thanks in advance.

 

[emsr2d2]

I can't speak for the USA but the vast majority of BrE speakers pronounce them exactly the same way. A few people change their mouth shape a little to separate the "o" from the "u" sound but it's very rare. You can add "paw" to the list of words that sound the same.

 

[Barb_D]

You can add "pore" but "paw" is completely different in the US. It wouldn't have occurred to me that "paw" was a homophone with "poor" in the UK. I'll pay more attention!

 

[probus]

You can add "pore" but "paw" is completely different in the US. It wouldn't have occurred to me that "paw" was a homophone with "poor" in the UK. I'll pay more attention!

I haven't the skill to explain this in proper phonetic symbols, but in my opinion the two sound quite different in AmE. "Poor" sounds like "roof" and "food", while "pour" sounds like "for" and "door."

 

[Tdol]

It wouldn't have occurred to me that "paw" was a homophone with "poor" in the UK. I'll pay more attention!

Like emsr2d2, I pronounce the three words the same way.

 

[Barb_D]

I haven't the skill to explain this in proper phonetic symbols, but in my opinion the two sound quite different in AmE. "Poor" sounds like "roof" and "food", while "pour" sounds like "for" and "door."

Where do you live? Poor rhymes with door for me.

 

[tzfujimino]

For me, "poor" rhymes with "sure".
(I understand the variants.)

 

[riquecohen]

Where do you live? Poor rhymes with door for me.

Interesting. For me, pour rhymes wth door and poor rhymes with sure. (Thanks, tzfujifumino.)

I have also heard, (and may have also said,) 'paw the coffee' and 'close the daw.'

 

[probus]

Where do you live? Poor rhymes with door for me.

I live in Toronto.

 

[Barb_D]

So poor people and a cat's purr are the same for you? (Purr rhymes with sure for me.)

That is so different from here.

 

[Boris Tatarenko]

I was taught that "poor" rhymes with "door". :roll:

 

[Tdol]

It does to me. :-D

 

[probus]

So poor people and a cat's purr are the same for you? (Purr rhymes with sure for me.)

That is so different from here.

Where is "here" to you?

I agree with previous AmE posters that poor rhymes with sure. To me, the vowel in purr is a schwah.

 

[emsr2d2]

In BrE, "purr" rhymes with "fur". "Poor" rhymes with "door". "Sure" rhymes with (and sounds exactly the same as) "shore".