To say or not to say? The R sound in English (rhotic vs. non-rhotic accents)

This video is about the R sound in different accents of English - some accents are rhotic and some are non-rhotic, depending on how the /r/ is pronounced in different word positions. NB: we did not mention this in the video, but there are some accents in the US that are non-rhotic too (the Boston accent being among these).

[@accentology]

NB: we didn’t mention this but not ALL U.S. accents are rhotic! The accent in Boston, for example, ans some southern states, is non-rhotic.

[@MrPickledede]

The last few pockets of non-rhotic accents in the U.S. namely in New England and a small part of the south gulf region are dissappearing. The famed "Brooklyn" accent which was non-rhotic has almost dissappeared. I am a 43 year old native of Brooklyn NY and when I was a child I remember hearing this accent...people saying New Yawk or Watah instead of water. I have rarely if at all heard this accent since the late 90s. Incidentally AAVE retains the non-rhotic flavor of what used to the standard non-rhotic elements of southern speech, black and white alike. Since the great migration when millions of African Americans moved north they preserved the non-rhotic elements that have been waning from standard white speech accents in the south in recent decades.More and more in the U.S. regional accents are dissappearing in favor of the "standard" American accent best represented in media and has perpetuated by younger generations no longer geographically isolated and limited to exposure from other parts of the country.

[@accentology]

@@MrPickledede very interesting! It seems a shame that this Brooklyn accent is disappearing - I suppose language changes all the time, and I certainly have noticed changes in British speech since the 90s!

[@youngvegas8115]

also AAVE

[@DeclanGentleman]

Amazing video ..short and concise and very clear .. thanks for sharing your knowledge

[@xhaan42]

So I have an Essex accent and I've just learnt that I don't use any rhotic Rs at all, even with vowels involved - feels more natural to me to just put a very slight pause in between the two sounds (for example "her aunt"), though that does feel a little stilted when I focus on it! Never even noticed I do that 😅

[@zak.travis]

Thanks! High video quality for a channel that is so new😃 When the words were pronounced with a rhotic r it automatically made me think of Ireland 🇮🇪😂 I’m thinking of moving to Ireland and would like to try and be able to naturally use an Irish accent, as well as learning Irish. This video has helped me to notice individual words can be pronounced differently based on the words around them sometimes. Subscribed 👍🏼

[@accentology]

Great! I’m glad you found it helpful!

[@MrHriskoch]

Thanks so much on that! After living in Ireland (as a non-native speaker) I was so used to using the rhotic R. However, during my postgraduate in the UK I was feeling rather uncomfortable for using it 😂.

[@Rodrigo-bv7uv]

Very informative. Didn't know about the intrusive R. Thank you.

[@GankTown]

Listen to any story narrators on KZbin. They all do it, i never understood why until now

[@MrStevilz]

@@GankTown, I guess it's not common in your regional accent? May I ask which that is? I have occasionally noticed myself using it (Australian English) and have wondered if it's "normal." Now I know it has a name, thanks @accentology

[@FrostNerd16]

This was a perfect explanation

[@raybede]

Anyone been to the Gloucestershire villages or South Bristol or Somerset and Devon recently?

[@josealbert4596]

very interesanting

[@Xingqiwu387]

The non-rhotic accent is so difficult to understand. Did he say "She went to party" or "She went to potty"? And the list of confusing words goes on and on.

[@accentology]

Haha well it’s all in the length of the preceding vowel! That’s the secret! If it sounds long (paaaaaah-ty) then the likelihood is that it’s the word with the ‘r’ (party), whereas if it’s short it’ll be ‘potty’ - also, in British English the vowel is different in both words, whereas in US English it’s the same (but the ‘r’ is audible to make the distinction)

[@JamesBrown-mt5ru]

Laura Norder, drawring, Indiar, Chinar, Americar, Russiar ...