dd2 wants to know why Mary is said like Mary and not Ma-ree

[misdee]

help!

i am useless at this stuff.

she wants more than 'its just the way its pronouced' from me.

[FrannyandZooey]

same reason as Mummy is not mu-mee, etc
the "consonant + y" sound at the end of a word doesn't usually take a stress on it

get her to try and think of a word ending in consonant y which has the stress on the second syllable

point proved (if she finds one you will at least have had some peace while she thinks )

[popsycal]

does she mean that the 'a' makes an 'air' sound rather than a short 'a' sound (think 'baby' alphabet?)

Tell her to check out the derivation and origins of the name and it may be that in the original language the pronunciation of the a sound is different to ENglish!

WOuld that shut her up?

[misdee]

lol it may do for both of your answers, but it may make her witter on for hours about even more

heck when i was five i couldnt read the word cat let alone argue the way words were pronounced.

she makes me laugh and gets me totally flummoxed every day.

[misdee]

she is saying it more like Mahri really.

[singersgirl]

Well, in English the '-are' spelling represents an 'air' sound in many words - as in dare, bare, scare, mare. If you replace the 'e' at the end of the word with a 'y', it sounds like 'airy'. So Mary follows the same pattern as scary or clary. Not sure if that will help her either!