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OP 
Those foreign to English often pronounce this word differently than I, and it got me wondering about whether I'm really saying it correctly. At dictionary.com I found some interesting notes on this one: http://www.dictionary.com/search?q=bury
And that pretty much answered half my question.
It seems bury is generally spoken exactly the same as 'berry', or rather it rhymes with it as the link questions; 'Why does bury rhyme with berry?' it asks. It states how in certain parts of England bury was/is pronounced biry, boory (like jury) and bery. Fair enough, nothing uncommon. English students often opt for a pronunciation more like one of those rough, prickly husks, a burr, with a 'y' on the end though - and why not? One might agree that at least some would pronounce the 'bury' in Canterbury as such, as long as the '-bury' part is not swallowed as '-bry'. Or would you exclusively go for something like canterbery or cantabery?
Am I making myself clear? - Probably not.
p.s. How do you lot pronounce library, btw?
... ducking for cover [g]
bury = burr + ee
buried = berried
burial = burr + ial
Library = lye + brare + ee
(is there more than one way to pronounce library?)
The first r is silent.
OP
Have we an authority amongst us? [g]
OP
Good to hear that some first language speakers do. I think you are in the minority with your 'burr + ee' version BelM, but certainly not alone. Canadians also say 'to-more-row' for tomorrow too, so I'd hardly expect a normal pronunciation of 'bury'.Perhaps your pronunciation is fairly standard in Canada?
Or perhaps bel is not a "first-language speaker"?
I do the 'berry' thang, too. And 'li-berry' jocularly [ahem]
'February' I avoid altogether!
...isn't tomorrow always pronounced to-more-row???
Perhaps your pronunciation is fairly standard in Canada?
I"m not sure on that. Because of the French influence in Québec there are some pronunciations that are different.
OP
Errrr, no.
The pronunciation of this word and others like it (e.g. 'bore-row' for borrow) is a 'secret' way to tell Canadians and USn's from one another. This vowel sound is the main difference between the two accents, but not the only. In ordinary language you don't have to wait too long before being able to confirm from which side of the border the person comes through this. Most of the time I can quickly single a suspect North American accent, I then wait for the 'to-more-row' confirmation - or alternatively an 'eh' at the end of a sentence before breaking open the maple syrup;-)
and pass the maple syrup please.
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