BURR-Y is not 'non-standard' (was Eggcorn?)

[sagehen]

>It should be mentioned that vowels before /r/, historically, have been
>flexible. The spelling "murie" for "merry" was very prevalent through the
>14th century (alternating with "myrie" and "mirie"). About the time of the
>GVS (though not necessarily because of it!), the spelling "merry" gained
>prominence and eventually predominated. Now we have the famous
>"merry"/"Mary"/"marry" paradigm; ARE there speakers who might add "Murray"
>to the mix??
>
>"Ber(r)y" for "burrow" surivived into the 17th century. Do those who make
>the "bury"/"berry" distinction do so for the stress-reduced syllables in
>"Canterbury" vs. "loganberry"?
>
>--Charlie
 ~~~~~~~~~~
I'm delighted to learn of the murie/merry connection.  Some Muries in the
US came from England & Scotland, but this family's immigrants were from
northern Norway, where the name was spelled Muri.  We do get various
pronunciations from strangers, but they're usually in the direction of
"furry" whereas  we pronounce it  to rhyme with "fury".  Some people even
kindly respell it for us as "Murray!"
AM

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