Questions tagged [rhoticity]
Questions related to rhotic and non-rhotic accents.
66 questions
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Why is Indian English usually rhotic?
It seems that speakers of Indian English generally speak with a rhotic accent, pronouncing an [r] in all cases where spelled, whereas a speaker of British English would leave it off in postvocalic ...
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Why do some people pronounce "familiar" with an /ɚ/ in the first syllable?
In American English, the word familiar is normally pronounced as /fəˈmɪl.jɚ/. Recently, though, I've noticed more people pronouncing it as /fɚˈmɪl.jɚ/ ("fermiliar"), an alternate ...
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Tour or Tore Pronunciation
In the past few years newsmen and sportscasters have changed the pronunciation of tour (rhymes with lure) to tore (rhymes with wore).
Why is this?
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r-dropping in rhotic dialects [duplicate]
I've noticed that there's no shortage of videos where people speaking rhotic dialects drop the first r in the word "particular" (most speakers retain it, but a sizable minority doesn't). Is ...
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Are R-colored diphthongs phonemes or not?
There are some sounds called the "R-colored diphthong" in English, such as [or] sound in "court" or the [ir] sound in "clear".
My question is simple: are these R-colored diphthongs regarded as ...
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American English: intervocalic rhotic lost after an alveolar flap/tap
Is there a phonological process by which a word such as federal is informally pronounced bisyllabically as /ˈfɛɾəl/?
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Where in Ireland, if anywhere, at the time of James Joyce, would "hoe" and "whore" sound similar enough to pun?
Where in Ireland, if anywhere, at the time of James Joyce (1882 – 1941), would "hoe" and "whore" sound similar enough to pun?
This question pertains to Does Joyce, in Finnegans Wake or Ulysses, ...
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Is there a word for "not pronouncing any r's"?
Some find it difficult to form an "r" sound, and some are able to, but just don't. I'm looking for a word which means "not pronouncing r's", without implying inability to pronounce them, though that ...
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Pronunciation of word-initial syllabic R in American English
E.g., what is the right pronunciation of the word earn -- [ɹ̩n] (syllabic R) or [ʔəɹn] (glottal stop + schwa + R)?
EDIT: Is the word-initial (or more precisely "utterance-initial") syllabic ...
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I pronounce initial R's with my upper teeth on the very bottom of my inside lower lip. Not rhotic. What's the IPA for this?
The Wikipedia page "Pronunciation of English /r/" doesn't mention an option for pronouncing R where the upper teeth are really, really at the bottom of the inside lower lip, practically ...
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Anyone else with this place of articulation of their rhotic sound? [duplicate]
As my question implies, I have an unusual manner of articulation for my rhotic sound, and I wonder if anyone else shares it: my rhotic sound is formed by bringing my bottom lip up so that my top teeth ...
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rhotic sound in received pronunciation?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcaWkR4ydeY
Hi, This is a British pronunciation according to the title. I can hear a rhotic /ɝ/ in the second syllable, however.
In the pronunciation of this word, ...
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Looking for a minimal triple with /ɑ, ɒ, ɔ/
I am looking for a minimal triple for a particular set of phonemes. By minimal triple, I mean three actual English words that differ in one and only one phoneme between them. Examples therefore ...
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Flapped r after th in English?
I have heard a few English speakers — native — say the word “three” with what sounds like a flapped r. This might include other words that begin with “thr”, but I can’t remember. It’s just been ...
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Why don't people understand me when I speak English with a non-rhotic accent?
My name is Arnau and I'm from Barcelona.
Over the last few years, I've been exposed to the British culture a lot (I have British friends, I've been living in Brighton for a while, I watch British TV ...
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Is linking R to a vowel in British English an intentional effort or a natural occurrence?
If I am not wrong, the linkage between words happens naturally when you try to pronounce the words quickly. Unlike American English, where the ending R is always clearly pronounced, British ...
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Is the /jʊɹ/ phoneme being streamlined to /jɚ/ in General American?
The following words have the UR and URE graphemes representing the /jʊɹ/ phoneme.
uranium
security
curious
Europe
fury
mural
cure/pure/demure
failure
tenure
figure
But for many of the above words, ...
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Non-rhotic dialects and intrusive r
I am from New England (northeastern US) and it's my understanding that we have a non-rhotic dialect in this region, which is unusual compared to the rest of the US.
It is common to drop the final r ...
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Why is "idea" sometimes pronounced as "idear"?
I know that idea is pronounced as /aɪˈdiə/, but I've meet several people in real life who put an 'r' at the end of the word. How come?
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Pronunciation of “tour”
Is the following pronunciation of the word “tour” attested in any common dialect of British English?
[tɔ˞]
This is approximately how I, a native British English speaker, pronounce it. However, it’s ...
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Why are "er”, "ar” and "or" often listed as R-colored vowels but "air”, "ear" and "oor/ure" are not? Are they vowels or vowel+consonant?
NOTE: I speak a rhotic variety of English.
I am struggling with how to explain r-coloured vowels/vocalic R to teachers during a presentation on the phonemes of English. Many grapheme-phoneme lists ...
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Monosyllabic triphthongs with R are distinguished from sequences with disyllabic realizations
In British Received Pronunciation, and most other non-rhotic
(r-dropping) varieties of English, monosyllabic triphthongs with R are
optionally distinguished from sequences with disyllabic realizations:...
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Do non-rhotic (British) English speakers often insert a silent "r" when respelling certain words?
This question on SF&F Stack Exchange asked how a particular name ("Chasch", made up by the author) from a novel would be pronounced.
An answer to the question referenced an audiobook of ...
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General American: very as / ˈvɛɹi / or / ˈveɹi /, more as / ˈmɔɹ / or / ˈmoɹ /, and chair as / t͡ʃɛəɹ / or / t͡ʃeəɹ / [duplicate]
I read this comment on Youtube.
is it possible that the sound / ɹ / tends to close the vowels that
precede it? For example, at least to me, [very] / ˈvɛɹi / sounds more
like / ˈveɹi /, [more] / ˈmɔɹ /...
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What did post-vocalic r sound like in the UK before it died out?
As far as I understand it most UK dialects became non-rhotic at some point in the 19th century - but was the r sound previously heard in words like park similar to today's American pronunciation, or ...
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How do you pronounce, "pleurisy"?
According to Wiktionary, pleurisy is pronounced one of two ways:
a) /ˈplʊəɹɪsi/
b) /ˈpljʊəɹɪsi/
I don't hear the /j/ sound when I say the word (in General American) - I hear it like this:
https://www....
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Does the word "pirate" use the /aɪɚ/ phoneme, or the /aɪɹ/ phoneme?
I'm making a list of all of the graphemes can be used to make the phoneme /aɪɚ/ in General American.
-ire as in fire, wire, desire, sapphire, etc.
-yre as in lyre, pyre, tyre, etc.
I have questions ...
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What type of accent does this person have?
My friend has lived in Kenya for the first 8 years of his life and the United States for 2 & 1/2 years. He's been in Ireland since 2009.
He is auditioning for a voiceover job on the radio and they ...
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Is there any difference between a syllabic R /ɹ̩/ and r-colored vowel /ɚ/?
So I have seen that both of them can form a syllable on their own but I don't know the difference between them.
/ɹ̩/
it is a syllabic R and can form a syllable on its own as in [ˈdɔːɾɹ̩] ("...
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Did the modern British accent originate from a speech impediment? [closed]
I have heard a theory that the modern British pronunciation (as compared, for example, to American pronunciation) started when somebody in the monarchy had a speech impediment (perhaps rhotacism) and, ...
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Why is most North American speech rhotic?
Most North American speech is rhotic—why is that? Does it come from the early English settlers or perhaps from the Irish settlers?
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Am I semi-rhotic?
I am back with another question about pronunciation. I noticed that I pronounce the "r" sound inconsistently when it follows a vowel. For example, in some words I do not sound it, but in others I do. ...
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Can most native English speakers pronounce the alveolar trill? (The R in its most emphatic version)
Usually, in English, the R letter is pronounced either as alveolar approximant or retroflex approximant. The alveolar trill, while not incorrect is used only in a few dialects or, rarely, in emphatic ...
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Is there a name for this articulate, hyper-enunciated, "upper class" American English accent?
In the television show Frasier, the protagonist's brother, Niles Crane, is a haughty, snobby, obsessive-compulsive psychiatrist who frequently obsesses about knowing the right people and climbing the ...
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I have a Linking r question
I know that in non-rhotic versions of English the /r/ sound is not pronounced - unless the next word begins with a a vowel.
So my question is,
If a British person says "How are you?"
Would "are" ...
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Sources say English was rhotic in the 17th century -- how do they know that?
Sources say English was rhotic in most places in the 17th century. How do they know that? Obviously, we don't have any samples of recorded speech from that time.
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How to pronounce "miracle"?
I ask this because I recently had a debate with my family about how to pronounce this word, miracle. They said it was pronounced with the "mir" in miracle the same way "mir" is in mirror. (/ˈmɪɹəkəl/)....
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Received Pronunciation and ambiguity (users vs uses)
Let us consider the following two sentences:
These users of our app allowed us to find a few new uses for it.
and
These uses of our app allowed us to find a few new users for it.
Both of them ...
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What is the origin of "uh", "um", "erm" and "er"?
This question may be a better fit on linguistics.SE, but it pertains specifically to English fillers. Also, the question may have a more straightforward answer than what I'm expecting.
TL;DR: Are ...
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Are there any rules as to why the letter 'r' is silent in some words?
How do I know when to keep r silent in pronunciation?
Examples:
Not silent
cry
free
friend
Silent
German
iron
learn
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“Tortoise” and “taught us”
I’m reading Alice in Wonderland, and found the following dialogue:
“The master was an old Turtle — we used to call him Tortoise—”
“Why did you call him Tortoise, if he wasn’t one?” Alice asked.
“We ...
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Pronunciation of words that end with two syllabic R's
There are a few words in English that end with two adjacent syllabic R's (in theory). For example, let's take the word deliverer. As a non-native speaker, I find it very hard to pronounce those two ...
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Pronunciation of word "considered"
I have learned in school that letter 'r' is not sounded in the word 'considered', here's an example.
But I have been watching the 'How I met your mother' series, and Ted have pronounced that with ...
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Should British r be spoken out in liaison?
For example, the r in "better" is not pronounced in British English. How about the "r" in "a better idea"?
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Where does the intrusive R come from in “warsh”?
My grandmother, who grew up in western Pennsylvania, pronounced wash and Washington with an intrusive R: “warsh” and “Warshington.” Where does the intrusive R come from in that dialect? It doesn’t ...
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"I park my car in the yard"
What is the origin of the different pronunciation of words like park, yard,
cartoon, margarine in American and British English?
In other words, why doesn’t British English generally pronounce the r ...
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Difference between IPA ɚ, ɹ, and ɝ
Wanting to be more Californian and trying to correct my accent, I'm looking at the sound for mother, in the North America column. What is the difference between IPA symbols for ɚ, ɹ, and ɝ. (ɝ is not ...
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How did the Australian accent come about?
Can anybody tell me how the Australian accent came about?
It seems strange to me that it is not more like an English accent taking into account that the first and the majority of settlers were ...
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