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Is 'r' in Br/Amr pronunciation of 'Arjmand' (Persian word) silent?

(In other words, how is this word pronounced in Br/Amr English?)

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Arjmand is not an English word, so I can only guess how it's pronounced in English. The 'r' should be silent in the British pronunciation (because the Brits drop all 'r's after vowels), but maybe not in the American pronunciation. – Peter Shor May 29 '11 at 23:37
@Peter Shor, Thanks, that's what I'm looking for (how En speaker pronounced it). – JohnS May 29 '11 at 23:56
However, Britains will also have different pronunciations of non-English words than Americans, from counties formerly of the British Empire. In these cases, the British pronunciations are usually closer to the native pronunciations. See, American vs British pronunciations of Pakistan. – Sam May 30 '11 at 4:48
@Sam: On the other hand, Americans pronounce Spanish words more accurately that Brits (for example, you put the accent on the wrong syllable of orégano) . It just depends on which foreign countries you interact with more. – Peter Shor May 30 '11 at 11:14
@Peter, I never said that I was British or American:), and I don't deny there are some foreign words that Americans pronounce more accurately than Brits. But Oregano comes to english from the latin origanum, through italian origano, which is pronounced more like the Brits do. – Sam May 30 '11 at 12:55
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2 Answers

up vote 1 down vote accepted

It depends whether or not you are speaking American English or British English.

American English uses the rhotic 'r', while British English 'r' is non-rhotic.

For example, rhotic speakers say "barn", and 'r' has a strong nasal sound, whereas non-rhotic speakers say "barn" pretty much like "bahn".

So "Arjmand" could be pronounced "Arjmand" or "Ajmand"

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Oh, thanks! I think that's why I wasn't able to guess what to go with (as non native En speaker). There is also a Wikipedia entry about it: Rhotic and non-rhotic accents – JohnS Jun 2 '11 at 11:42
So, is the non-rhotic accent something that the British worked out to avoid being harangued for pronunciation of 'r' in French words? – JeffSahol Jun 2 '11 at 11:56
I have no idea. I think it was just the natural way they spoke. – Thursagen Jun 2 '11 at 11:58
Actually, there are large swaths of the USA that are non-rhotic as well. See the maps at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhotic_and_non-rhotic_accents . The little areas on the East Coast may look small, but contain most of the east coast Megaopolis. – T.E.D. Jun 2 '11 at 18:13
Much of Northern England is rhotic too. I, as an Irish non-rhotic speaker, am odd. I blame my English parents and BBC Radio 4. – TRiG Jun 16 '11 at 20:50
up vote 1 down vote

Well, this is actually a bit of a misguided question, as that isn't even how the name is "spelled" in Persian. They have their own alphabet. If someone decided to write the word as Arjmand, they presumably picked the letters for the benefit of English speakers, and presumably meant it to be pronounced roughly as written.

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