s/o Dawn/Don: Do you pronounce them the same?

queenbone

I pronounce them the same. 

When I lived in NY I was on the phone with a woman named Dawn who was getting so annoyed with me because she felt I was pronouncing her name wrong.  She kept repeating Dawn to me, but It sounded the same to me. IMO though, she had a very heavy accent. 

I just can't tell the difference.  I feel like maybe some people want Dawn to be two syllables long or something?

BlindysWife

elmoali:

schnappycat:

There was an accent poll posted on 12-24 yesterday that included the pronunciation of Don and Dawn. I pronounce them differently and never realized they could be the same until I interviewed for a job a few years ago and was told I'd be speaking with "Don" and kept thinking it would be a woman named Dawn from how the name was said. Needless to say I was surprised to find a guy in the room.

Me: Dawn rhymes with yawn (an "aw" sound); Don with an "ah" sound

So, how do you pronounce the names? The same or differently? 

I'm totally not getting the difference people are talking about haha.  All I'm picturing here is the way Sammi from Jersey Shore says Ron "Raaahn"

You say yawn has an "awe" sound.  How do you say the word "on?"  To me it's like awn.  Which is the same as lawn, fawn, Dawn, etc.  I don't say "It's ahn the table."   

I agree. Don, Ron, Fawn, lawn, yawn, all sound the same to me. I am trying to say them different, but I can't. To me, -awn and -on are the same sound. I'm from Iowa, btw.

smittie417

My name is Dawn, and it is so funny to hear people pronounce my name.  I was born in CA, so I pronounce them the same.  I have since moved to NC, and people think I am saying DON when I say my name...I have gotten in to the habit of introducing myself as Dawn, D-A-W-N.  That seems to work out well.

purplepolish

BlindysWife:

elmoali:

schnappycat:

There was an accent poll posted on 12-24 yesterday that included the pronunciation of Don and Dawn. I pronounce them differently and never realized they could be the same until I interviewed for a job a few years ago and was told I'd be speaking with "Don" and kept thinking it would be a woman named Dawn from how the name was said. Needless to say I was surprised to find a guy in the room.

Me: Dawn rhymes with yawn (an "aw" sound); Don with an "ah" sound

So, how do you pronounce the names? The same or differently? 

I'm totally not getting the difference people are talking about haha.  All I'm picturing here is the way Sammi from Jersey Shore says Ron "Raaahn"

You say yawn has an "awe" sound.  How do you say the word "on?"  To me it's like awn.  Which is the same as lawn, fawn, Dawn, etc.  I don't say "It's ahn the table."   

I agree. Don, Ron, Fawn, lawn, yawn, all sound the same to me. I am trying to say them different, but I can't. To me, -awn and -on are the same sound. I'm from Iowa, btw.

 

This. 

schnappycat

purplepolish:

BlindysWife:

elmoali:

schnappycat:

There was an accent poll posted on 12-24 yesterday that included the pronunciation of Don and Dawn. I pronounce them differently and never realized they could be the same until I interviewed for a job a few years ago and was told I'd be speaking with "Don" and kept thinking it would be a woman named Dawn from how the name was said. Needless to say I was surprised to find a guy in the room.

Me: Dawn rhymes with yawn (an "aw" sound); Don with an "ah" sound

So, how do you pronounce the names? The same or differently? 

I'm totally not getting the difference people are talking about haha.  All I'm picturing here is the way Sammi from Jersey Shore says Ron "Raaahn"

You say yawn has an "awe" sound.  How do you say the word "on?"  To me it's like awn.  Which is the same as lawn, fawn, Dawn, etc.  I don't say "It's ahn the table."   

I agree. Don, Ron, Fawn, lawn, yawn, all sound the same to me. I am trying to say them different, but I can't. To me, -awn and -on are the same sound. I'm from Iowa, btw.

 

This. 

Nope, not to me (and others I assume). I do say Don, Ron, and on like "ahn." I'm guessing nasally to many people. The "aw" sound in Dawn, fawn, yawn, and lawn is distinctly different to my ears.  

aimee1899

Okay, posters that say Dawn, faun, Don, Ron the same, are you pronouncing it like Fonzie from Happy Days, The Fonz.?

To me Fonzie, Don and Ron rhyme but Dawn and Fawn are completely different.

And wow, I'm posting way too much on this thread, sorry, linguist stuff!

shannm

Differently.

guilletskichuk

aimee1899:

Okay, posters that say Dawn, faun, Don, Ron the same, are you pronouncing it like Fonzie from Happy Days, The Fonz.?

To me Fonzie, Don and Ron rhyme but Dawn and Fawn are completely different.

And wow, I'm posting way too much on this thread, sorry, linguist stuff!

Can you explain how these sound different because they sound exactly the same to me. I just don't get it! :S

aimee1899

Last post on this thread, I promise!

Here is a video of a man from Connecticut pronouncing "Dawn" and "Don", not exactly how I say it but close.

Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCMqFC2lefo

moonfaerie

I would never have thought that anyone would pronounce them the same. They are different sounds.

ASmallWonder

aimee1899:

Last post on this thread, I promise!

Here is a video of a man from Connecticut pronouncing "Dawn" and "Don", not exactly how I say it but close.

Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCMqFC2lefo

Ok so I listened to it and it's what I thought.  The people who think it sounds different are actually saying "Dahn" for Don.  So I still wonder, if you say "the book is on the table" do you say "the book is ahn the table" or "the book is onn the table" ??   

aimee1899

elmoali:

aimee1899:

Last post on this thread, I promise!

Here is a video of a man from Connecticut pronouncing "Dawn" and "Don", not exactly how I say it but close.

Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCMqFC2lefo

Ok so I listened to it and it's what I thought.  The people who think it sounds different are actually saying "Dahn" for Don.  So I still wonder, if you say "the book is on the table" do you say "the book is ahn the table" or "the book is onn the table" ??   

Sorry me again! Yes, I guess it would sound like I was saying "The book is ahn the table".

ryry1977

same

april1bride

Dawn like FawnDon like RonI'm from Indiana.  

emilyray14

Being from the mid-atlantic area, I say them the same way you do. But here in the midwest, I hear people pronouncing Don as Dawn and Dawn as Don. But they also say "Lora" for Laura (which I pronounce Lar-uh). And the word auto they pronounce like its otto, so I just dont think they can handle the slightly "southern" sound of "aw/au".

gimmietimmies

MeghanF13:

BelleIsa:

TysMomPlusOne:

Same, and DD's MN is Dawn, western Canada.

Same, and I'm in Eastern Ontario.

I pronounce them the same and I am in Southwestern Canada (Ontario). My grandpa's name was Don and we pronounced it the same as Dawn....Don like Donald Duck. I don't think I could say them differently.

Same here too. Western Canada.

BlindysWife

aimee1899:

Last post on this thread, I promise!

Here is a video of a man from Connecticut pronouncing "Dawn" and "Don", not exactly how I say it but close.

Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCMqFC2lefo

K, I just listened to that, and when he says Dawn, he's saying it with a Brooklyn-type of accent. It's weird. And when he says Don, he's saying it correctly. lol :-P

All these words are still the same to me.

stahlop

krissyh21:

Don-Ron-Fawn and Dawn all pronounced the same for me.

Same here.  I'm not sure how they would pronounced differently.

Sawyerplus1

BlindysWife:

elmoali:

schnappycat:

There was an accent poll posted on 12-24 yesterday that included the pronunciation of Don and Dawn. I pronounce them differently and never realized they could be the same until I interviewed for a job a few years ago and was told I'd be speaking with "Don" and kept thinking it would be a woman named Dawn from how the name was said. Needless to say I was surprised to find a guy in the room.

Me: Dawn rhymes with yawn (an "aw" sound); Don with an "ah" sound

So, how do you pronounce the names? The same or differently? 

I'm totally not getting the difference people are talking about haha.  All I'm picturing here is the way Sammi from Jersey Shore says Ron "Raaahn"

You say yawn has an "awe" sound.  How do you say the word "on?"  To me it's like awn.  Which is the same as lawn, fawn, Dawn, etc.  I don't say "It's ahn the table."   

I agree. Don, Ron, Fawn, lawn, yawn, all sound the same to me. I am trying to say them different, but I can't. To me, -awn and -on are the same sound. I'm from Iowa, btw.

Hahaha, this! DH and I are sitting here trying to figure out the difference in sounds and we can't; they're all the same! We're in Western Canada. 

EXL311

purplepolish:

I don't think I can say them differently.  

Ditto.  I'm still trying to figure out how you guys are pronouncing them differently even when you spell it out.  I'm originally from the midwest btw.

AlphabetFish

Haha, this is totally a regional thing to me. The way I pronounce them, they're the same.

I see people writing "Oh it's like yawn, or fawn," but I pronounce those words the same way I pronounce Ron, Don, Von... They're the same in my dialect!

I was born and raised in California. My parents are New Yorkers--now THEY would pronounce the names differently. I guess I just never picked that up.

 Edit: It's a sound you have to hear to really get... Many American dialects don't use it. Think of the first syllable in the word "orange" but without the "r." That's the best way I can explain it.

imimahoney

I have a very heavy NY accent and stretch by AW's... so I pronounce it like you said... Dawwwwwwwn and Dohhhhn.

peloquinJ

I pronounce them the same even though other people in my area apparently pronounce them differently. The only reason I know this is because there is both a Dawn and a few Dons at my job and people have been confused about who I was talking about. I can't hear the difference when people say it at work although I can hear it in that video.

Zaphina

aimee1899:

Dawn like Fawn

Don like Ron

i say them this way ^