One notable merger of vowels before is the "Mary"–"marry"–"merry" merger, a merging of the vowels (as in the name "Carrie" or the word "marry") and (as in "Kerry" or "merry") with the historical (as in "Cary" or "Mary") whenever they are realized before intervocalic . No contrast exists before a final or preconsonantal . The merger is fairly widespread and is complete or nearly complete in most varieties of North American English, but it is rare in other varieties of English. The following variants are common in North America: