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in the pronunciation of consonants, vowel differences exist as well. In parts of England, particularly the north, the "u" of "bus" and "cup" is pronounced the same as the "u" in "put". For these speakers, the words "luck" and "look" are pronounced the same.

The sentence "Marry merry Mary" is pronounced the same by some English speakers but with a different vowel in each word by some. For those who make a distinction, the word "marry" contains the vowel of "hat", "merry" the vowel of "bed" and "Mary" the vowel of "say". Many British speakers maintain a distinction, but most American speakers do not.

Many speakers of Australian and New Zealand English, as well as Cockney English in London, England pronounce the words "die" and "day" identically or very similarly. Another example is the words "bay" and "buy". For those speakers who pronounce the two words the same, the letters "a" and "i" share the same pronunciation.

Besides differences in vocabulary and spelling, English dialects can also differ greatly in pronunciation. Though the two main dialects of English are considered to be British and American, the other dialects can also vary considerably in pronunciation. The examples illustrate that certain pronunciations can be of great assistance in determining the speakers of particular English dialects.

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