Do you say pen and Pin the same? You're a Texan.

As a Texan living, and enjoying living, in Ohio, I'm fairly often reminded of my roots. One of the easiest markers of a Texan is the inability to pronounce pen and pin differently. This was brought out as my Ohio-bred daughter grew up; she found much humor in it.
Her: "Daddy! Say pin!", holding up a straight pin, and pronouncing it correctly.
Me: "Pin."
"Daddy! Now say pen!", how holding up a writing implement, and pronouncing it like it is spelled.
Me: Pin."

This was followed by much genuine laughter, often accompanied by the laughter of her friends, both male and female, as well as various field hockey, swim, and tennis team members , throughout grade school, high school and even now in college, being demonstrated to various roommates there from both foreign countries and far flung states.
They weren't trying to be mean, they were just astonished that someone could not pronounce two different simple words as they are spelled.

Over the years, though, I have come to understand this pronunciation as one of the definite markers of a Southerner, and specifically a Texan: it's called a vowel merge, or a monopthone,
(apologies if its not spelled right- I have spellcheck turned off). And its been studied seriously and deeply by linguists, who say it appeared most commonly after the Civil War as Texas became populated by midwesterners and others. Its also typical of Oklahoma folks and is observed as far north as the rural areas of southern Indiana and Illinois-but rarely in southern Ohio, which explains why it fascinated my daughter's friends. Surprisingly, it's also common in the Bakersfield, California area, which was where Texans and Okies settled in the Depression to escape the Dust Bowl. I am glad there is a serious scientific reason for my pronunciation difficulties, even though I always enjoyed explaining to Katherine's friends that I was a Texan, and smiling at their fascination with it.

I also found that another vowel merge that is a Texas marker is pronouncing "cot" and "caught" the same, which I do as well but never realized it until a few years ago; I suppose those words are not used as much as the classic pin-pen.

Any of you other Texans had to deal with this? Or alternatively, any of you non-Texan folks ever noticed it? It is so prevalent that it has nothing to do with background, education, or race.
Regards, Bill S

I'm a Texan who immigrated from the USA (Kansas, NM, and Oklahoma) at a very young age.

I pronounce the words properly but most here don't.

The bit that gets/gits me is when less polished people ask for an Ink pen. What other pen might they want? Maybe a safety pin?

Most people can't tell where I'm from. Leave me with a bunch of Texans for a week and I'm talkin just like they do with a native Texas accent. My mom and dad were both born and raised in Texas. Actually, my family goes back at least 5 generations in Texas. I was told by someone from Ecuador that my Spanish was Cuban. I told her it was a SW border dialect. She was very amused. She insisted it was Cuban.

Texas Star said:

I'm a Texan who immigrated from the USA (Kansas, NM, and Oklahoma) at a very young age.

I pronounce the words properly but most here don't.

The bit that gets/gits me is when less polished people ask for an Ink pen. What other pen might they want? Maybe a safety pin?

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They could be looking for a pig pen.

Bless your heart. Everyone pronounces words a little differently depending on where they are from. Mentioning it is rather parochial, don't you think?

While I am nowhere near being a Texan, I noticed while growing up that I was just about the only one I knew that said PEN. Everyone else said INK PEN, so you knew they meant the writie thing and not the pointy thing.

So tell me how some say is the correct way to say "pen"? The closest I can come to pronouncing "pen" any way but pin would be to say pan or pun! And neither one of those would mean what pen and pin mean. I spell 'em differently if I'm writin', but I would be pleased if you can tell me or show me the difference you are talkin' about. Hmmmm .... who'd a thought?

I started life in far eastern New Mexico and stayed there for over 65 years before moving to far west Texas. I reckon every one I ever heard say either pen or pin pronounced each exactly the same and I sure don't see any compelling need to change the way I say either one now! Then again, SENM and west Texas folks are pretty hard to tell apart when you hear them talk, at least if they grew up in either place.

I've lived in far west Texas for almost 50 years. We have an accent, but Texas is big enough that there are regional accents; I can tell when someone is from the Dallas-Ft Worth area, as their accent is different than mine. A good ear could probably locate a lot of regional accents in exas.

"Payan"..........from my Arkansas half.........

Years ago I when I was a traveling musician, the band(from San Antonio)was playing a lot of dates on the east coast, & many points between. At one point, we were in New Jersey, & we had a day off. I decided to take my uniforms to a dry cleaners. I walked in, went up to the counter & said "I'd like to get these cleaned, please." The little old lady behind the counter stared at me blankly for a moment & then said "What did you say?" I repeated my request, & she says "Don't move an inch! I'll be right back!" I didn't think I had an accent, but she came running back with another little old lady, & said "Now say it again!" When I did, both of them broke out in laughter, asking each other if they'd ever heard anything like that.

kthom said:

So tell me how some say is the correct way to say "pen"? The closest I can come to pronouncing "pen" any way but pin would be to say pan or pun! And neither one of those would mean what pen and pin mean. I spell 'em differently if I'm writin', but I would be pleased if you can tell me or show me the difference you are talkin' about. Hmmmm .... who'd a thought?

I started life in far eastern New Mexico and stayed there for over 65 years before moving to far west Texas. I reckon every one I ever heard say either pen or pin pronounced each exactly the same and I sure don't see any compelling need to change the way I say either one now! Then again, SENM and west Texas folks are pretty hard to tell apart when you hear them talk, at least if they grew up in either place.

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So were they named Id Sullivan and Tid Kennedy? You pronounce the E in pEn the same way you pronounce Ed and TEd and bEg.

Hate to disappoint any true southerners especially you Texans when it comes to your exclusititvely. Born and raised in central California here. Can't possibly see more than one pronunciation of pin/pen They are exactly the same to me.

Heck, I was born raised here in Tennessee and still can't understand some things that are said by locals. And as Mr. Lee and other local tennesseans can attest, you can travel from West to East Tennessee and some words and phrases have different meanings. It is what it is!

Alpo said:

While I am nowhere near being a Texan, I noticed while growing up that I was just about the only one I knew that said PEN. Everyone else said INK PEN, so you knew they meant the writie thing and not the pointy thing.

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U.S. Navy nomenclature is "scribble stick."

I know quite a few "polished" people born and raised in Texas. They have achieved wealth, written books (that were actually read) and been to outer space. They speak their native tongue, and are often amused at less successful immigrants from fancy sounding places that have come to the Lone Star State and put on airs. Likewise those of us who learned our Spanish on the border and in somewhat seedier locales. We could care less about how people think of our enunciation, and those that are amused are fine. The ones that think we're fools are soon parted with their money and /or companionship.

Whynchall just learn to git along?

Oh, by the way, when I lived in Australia it was a "biro" anyway.

Jinglebob said:

Bless your heart. Everyone pronounces words a little differently depending on where they are from. Mentioning it is rather parochial, don't you think?

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You get an A+++++. Larry

V1 Rotate said:

Surprisingly, it's also common in the Bakersfield, California area, which was where Texans and Okies settled in the Depression to escape the Dust Bowl.

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The Dust Bowl must have been pretty bad, for Bakersfield to be a step up!

How about when people can't describe a writing utensil without using an adjective. For example. "Do you have an 'ink pin' I can use?" Why not: "Can I borrow a pen?"

This is why I use a pencil.

Old TexMex said:

I know quite a few "polished" people born and raised in Texas. They have achieved wealth, written books (that were actually read) and been to outer space. They speak their native tongue, and are often amused at less successful immigrants from fancy sounding places that have come to the Lone Star State and put on airs. Likewise those of us who learned our Spanish on the border and in somewhat seedier locales. We could care less about how people think of our enunciation, and those that are amused are fine. The ones that think we're fools are soon parted with their money and /or companionship.

Whynchall just learn to git along?

Oh, by the way, when I lived in Australia it was a "biro" anyway.

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That's just a ballpoint, though, right? Felt-tips and fountain pens aren't biros.