[General] Pronunciation of 'ear' and 'year'

[Olympian]

Hello,

All these years, I have been pronouncing 'ear' and 'year' the same. So, it came as a great surprise when I saw the dictionary notations (and I felt terrible that I have been saying it wrong all along - we were never taught the difference).

ear[SUP]1[/SUP]- i(ə)r/


year- yi(ə)r/



My question is that do native speakers hear this mistake when foreigners say 'ear' for 'year'? After I read that they are pronounced differently, I tried very hard to hear how the native speakers say it, and I think I only heard a slight trace of 'y' in only one person's pronunciation out of several.

So, my next question is - do some native speakers (sloppily) pronounce the two words the same, or is it that I am unable to hear the difference?

Thank you

 

[Rover_KE]

I can't say I've noticed foreigners pronounce them the same.

In rapid speech, 'my ear' and 'my year' can sound exactly the same.

'I enjoyed my year in Spain.' 'I don't like this buzzing in my ear.'

But you should hear a difference between 'her ear' and 'her year', and 'one ear' and 'one year'.

 

[Tarheel]

I think that if I said "She's been gone for a year" you would definitely hear the "y" sound in "year".

 

[MikeNewYork]

I have never heard the two pronounced the same way. The "y" in "year" is clearly pronounced.

 

[konungursvia]

We definitely notice the error, and I haven't heard any native speakers make the mistake. Sorry. It is most common in Mandarin speakers.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

So now you know. And getting an answer didn't take a ear!

 

[Roman55]

I am not a teacher.

That was clearly a joke, but you've actually made a very good point.

'A year' flows but 'a ear' doesn't. No native speaker is going to make that mistake and if Olympian tries to pronounce them I'm sure s/he'll hear the difference.

 

[Olympian]

We definitely notice the error, and I haven't heard any native speakers make the mistake. Sorry. It is most common in Mandarin speakers.

I think it is slightly different with the Mandarin speakers. From what I hear, they pronounce the 'y' in words that begin with 'yi' and in words that begin with 'i'. But I was talking about not pronouncing the 'y' sound. (ie pronouncing 'ear' and 'year' the same - that is, without the 'y' sound).