Phrase guide

wine-whine merger

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • Australian: /wɑenˈwɑen ˌmɜːdʒə(ɹ)/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /waɪnˈwaɪn ˌmɜːdʒə(ɹ)/
  • New-Zealand: /wɒenˈwɒen ˌmɵːdʒɘ(ɹ)/
  • Scotland: /wəinˈʍəin ˌmɛɾdʒəɾ/
  • US: /waɪnˈʍaɪn ˌmɝdʒɚ/ without the wine–whine merger
  • /waɪnˈwaɪn ˌmɝdʒɚ/ US, wine-whine merger

1

noun

Meaning 1

A merger in which [ʍ] (the voiceless sound heard at the beginning of the word whine in a Scottish accent or several accents in the United States) becomes [w] (the sound heard at the beginning of the word wine); in accents where this merger occurs, whine and wine are homophones.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, phonology, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.