w(uh)man to w(ih)men
Except by your own pronunciation guide:
w(uh)man to w(ih)men
nah i say wuh-man and wih-min
It must only be in some places because where I live in the UK both parts change pronunciation.
it’s normal for unstressed short vowels in English to all come out as a “schwa”, which the most common phoneme of the language.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid_central_vowel
Wait until you try to figure out how to pronounce “ough”, like in rough or through or dough.
Looks like it’s time to recommend one of my favorite books:
I found it via an interview with the author on the 99% Invisible podcast:
Corpse, Corps, Horse and Worse
It’s a great book because it lays out, very logically, all the ways our language went to shit. It was a product of the Great Vowel Shift and crappy timing regarding it, plus competing cultures ruling the lands in England.
Corpse, Corps, Horse, and Worse
I will keep you, Susy, busy,
Make your head with heat grow dizzy;
Tear in eye, your dress you’ll tear;
Queer, fair seer, hear my prayer.