• merc@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      1·
      24 days ago

      Are you actually unable to hear the /e/ sound? You keep claiming it’s the /ɛ/ sound. Are your ears really that broken that you can’t distinguish the two?

      • Bluescluestoothpaste@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        1·
        24 days ago

        Bro idk phonetics but let and may have the same e sound and may has a dipthong that ends in a i/y sound, and yes i understand in French there are three different e sounds that i as an American English speaker cannot discern.

        • merc@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          1·
          24 days ago

          but let and may have the same e sound

          Not according to any dictionary I’ve ever seen.

          Let uses /ɛ/ and rhymes with pet, wet, sweat, duet, etc.

          May uses /e/, and the California pronunciation is /me̞ː/ it’s not a diphthong, just a long vowel sound

          there are three different e sounds that i as an American English speaker cannot discern.

          Sure you can. Unless you think that the two vowels in “entrain” or “explain” or “enchain” have the same sound, you’re aware of both the /ɛ/ and /e/ sounds, and you know they’re different. If you can hear the difference between the two vowels in “obtain” then you can hear the difference between /ə/ and /e/.