A reader alerted me that this is a case of different words ending with similar letters but having different language origins. Llama comes from Quechua via Spanish, pajama comes from Urdu and Persian, and mama comes from, well, just about every language. This reader sent through a fascinating scholarly article on what happens to the foreign (a) in North American English, comparing Canadian and American accents.
Boberg, C. (2020). Foreign (a) in North American English: Variation and Change in Loan Phonology. Journal of English Linguistics, 48(1), 31-71. https://doi.org/10.1177/0075424219896397
I find this so fascinating, learning that these words rhyme in different ways in different parts of the world - I never really thought about rhymes changing according to accent before. For me, llama rhymes perfectly with pyjama, but not at all with mama! And claw and door rhyme perfectly too - and flaw and floor are perfect homophones. How are they pronounced in the US?
In North America, door is /ˈdɔr/ and in British English it's /dɔː/).
Claw is /klɔ/ here and in British English it's /klɔː/.
So flaw and floor sound very different, as floor has one more sound, the final R.
Incidentally, I've noticed among Australian friends that words ending in -A often sounded to me like they ended in -AR to me (Melissar, agendar), whereas words ending with -R (grammar, matter) often dropped the R sound. An Australian saying "Sean" sounds like "shorn" to me.
A reader alerted me that this is a case of different words ending with similar letters but having different language origins. Llama comes from Quechua via Spanish, pajama comes from Urdu and Persian, and mama comes from, well, just about every language. This reader sent through a fascinating scholarly article on what happens to the foreign (a) in North American English, comparing Canadian and American accents.
Boberg, C. (2020). Foreign (a) in North American English: Variation and Change in Loan Phonology. Journal of English Linguistics, 48(1), 31-71. https://doi.org/10.1177/0075424219896397
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0075424219896397?fbclid=IwAR2Li7UrO4XPxYp2L-Iz79TypzYpAcWkmlI3c2TUvhPZsQqGY0eqOo7xj8Q
I find this so fascinating, learning that these words rhyme in different ways in different parts of the world - I never really thought about rhymes changing according to accent before. For me, llama rhymes perfectly with pyjama, but not at all with mama! And claw and door rhyme perfectly too - and flaw and floor are perfect homophones. How are they pronounced in the US?
In North America, door is /ˈdɔr/ and in British English it's /dɔː/).
Claw is /klɔ/ here and in British English it's /klɔː/.
So flaw and floor sound very different, as floor has one more sound, the final R.
Incidentally, I've noticed among Australian friends that words ending in -A often sounded to me like they ended in -AR to me (Melissar, agendar), whereas words ending with -R (grammar, matter) often dropped the R sound. An Australian saying "Sean" sounds like "shorn" to me.