Missing syllables

[firstfrost]

So, a while ago, chenoameg mentioned that many people pronounce her name wrong, as "May-gun" instead of, um, "Mehg-un". And I said ooh, I bet I do that wrong.

It's been rattling around in my head since then, and it keeps bothering me. I can't hear the difference. I can barely even think the difference, without concentrating hard. The difference between "eg" and "aig" is a phonetic blind spot for me. Why is this?

So, I thought about it some more. I can distinguish between "et" and "ait". "Met" and "mate" are different words. Okay, maybe it's because the "ai" vowel combination ends with the back of the tongue closer to the top of the mouth, and a "g" sound closes there. But no, I can tell the difference between "ek" and "aik", and the K does the same thing the G does. "Mech" and "make" are different.

But I can't tell the difference between - um. Hmm. I can't think of any pairs of words for my syllables. "Vague" and "veg", but no, because "veg" is pronounced "vehj", though maybe not in England? "egg" and "leg" and "peg" and "Meg" and "beg" don't have "aig" equivalents. Is that it? When I was little, I never learned any words that made me have to tell those two sounds apart, and now I can't? That's how it's supposed to work.

But it's driving me crazy. I walk down the street muttering "tweg... twaig... tweg... twaig... to myself" and I'm probably getting funny looks. Is it just me? Can everyone else hear those two syllables clearly? (And if you can, do you know any matching pairs of words?)

Comments

For the record

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

The second syllable of my name is a schwa; I don't really think about how people pronounce it. I'm from Boston, we swallow second syllables; I would probably write out the pronounciation of my name as Megg'n

You all say my name just fine (by which I mean I've never noticed anyone who's responded to this thread by this time to say my name in the way I think of as wrong).

My strategy is to tell people who mispronounce my name shortly after we're introduced and if they can't hear the difference I tell them it rhymes with egg, and if they still can't make it sound right I give up. There's only one person I talk with routinely who says my name in the way I don't like (Lisa) and she really can't hear the difference, and in her dialect it does rhyme with egg, so I deal. I think firstfrost asked me about the Meg/Megan preference and I expounded on the whole pronounciation thing.

I can hear all of the differences in "Merry Mary will you marry me" but I'm not good at saying them.