LL-L "Phonology" 2004.06.08 (03) [E]

Tue Jun 8 15:14:00 UTC 2004

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L O W L A N D S - L * 08.JUN.2004 (03) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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From: John Duckworth <jcduckworth2003 at yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: Orthography

Dear Lowlanders,

I have been listening to some recordings of famous Britons to see if they
are using the extra -r (as in _idea-r_ ) in their speech.

Winston Churchill in 1941 does not seem to use it; he refers to _Africa_,
and does not seem to pronunce the word _Africa-r_.This is the URL for the
so-called 'Chicken Speech' :
http://archives.cbc.ca/400d.asp?id=1-71-149-778-21

I have listened to a number of other speeches by Churchill, and son't seem
to have come across any examples.

The famous early BBC newsreader Alvar Lidell, giving the news in 1945,
clearly adds an extra -r to the word _area_. THe URL is:
http://www.islandfarm.fsnet.co.uk/BBC%20News%20Recording%20Read%20By%20Alvar%20Lidell.htm

Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, while still a queen in her own right adressing
the women of the Empire in 1939, does not seem to add an extra -r in
_Canada_ and _America_. The speech may be found under the URL:
http://www.soundsofhistory.com/main.html

John Duckworth
Preston, Lancashire

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From: John Duckworth <jcduckworth2003 at yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: Orthography

Gabriele, and other Lowlanders,

I just came across a short article on the internet that states that "Some
people blanch at intrusive r,but most RP speakers now use it."

I am not sure that this is correct, and genuinely think that the usage is
waning, but this is the URL of the article:
http://www.yaelf.com/aueFAQ/mifrhtcvsnnrhtcntr.shtml

I will have to listen to the pronunciation of a few RP (Received
Pronunciation) speakers to determine if it really is as common as the writer
of the article maintains!

John Duckworth
Preston, Lancashire

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From: John Duckworth <jcduckworth2003 at yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: Orthography

Hello, Lowlanders one and all!

Gabriele asked: "Well, that's how I learned it in school (British English,
in a German school), and that's how I remember people pronouncing it in
England and Scotland. So,do they or don't they?"

As an Englishman I would regard this intrusive final -r as an affectation,
and it probably did originate as a hypercorrection, though I have generally
heard it from well-educated individuals who should have known better. It
used to be much more common than it is today, though it is still to be heard
occasionally.

In the case of at least one word, however, its use is relatively common,
even in individuals who do not use it in other words, and that is the word
_law_, which they pronounce the same as _lore_.

John Duckworth
Preston, Lancashire

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From: jkrause <jkrause at old-sod-shanty.com.flexwebhosting.nl>
Subject: Orthography

Gabriele,
There are places in the USA where that r is inserted after the final vowel.
I remember my mother used to giggle over how President Kennedy (who was from
Massachusetts) used to say "Cubar."   Growing up on the Pacific Coast of the
US, I thought that treatment of words like Cuba, and  idea
rather--um--interesting.
Jim Krause

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From: Gary Taylor <gary_taylor_98 at yahoo.com>
Subject: Orthography

Hi All

Mark wrote

"Gabrielle asked:  "So,do they or don't they?"
Yes, they do.  When I was in college taking my
linguistics courses, I
was
told that the added "r" on idea was an example of
overcorrection.  So
many
words ending in "r" orthographically are pronounced
schwa by New
Englanders
and the British.  So, on words that really end in
schwa, there's a
tendency
to add an "r".  Go figure."

This is half true. In the case of American English,
because the prestige form contains 'r' the adding of
'r' in dialects where it does not exist is very
possibly a case of over- (or hyper-) correction.
However in England the prestige form does not have 'r'
and the adding of 'r' - which only occurs at the end
of a word when followed by a vowel, is a case of
analogy. Thus 'idea' said on it's own or before a
consonant, in areas of England where the 'r' has been
lost, does NOT have an 'r' but a phrase like 'the
idea(r) is' does. In the same way as 'deer' said on
it's own or before a consonant does not have an 'r'
but the phrase 'the deer is' does.

I think the case in America is often that 'idea' will
have an 'r' in all positions - this then is
overcorrection and not analogy.

I hypercorrect myself on occasion. In London English
we have lost the 'l' in the same position as the lost
'r' (and also add it in the same way as 'r' is added
i.e. before a vowel). When I'm trying to speak posh
(doesn't often happen - but sometimes when teaching
English it's necessary) I tend to add an 'l' when it's
written. Thus I will say words like 'talk' and 'half'
with an 'l' - I now always have to check in a
dictionary with words with 'l' to see whether it's
pronounced or not. I constantly have to look up words
like 'salt' and 'talk' (said by me as 'suwt' and
'tuwk' - it's very annoying - get rid of all 'l's in
this position, they only clutter things up... ;-)

Gary

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From: Críostóir Ó Ciardha <paada_please at yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: LL-L "Orthography" 2004.06.07 (08) [E]

Sandy wrote:
"If we're talking about pronunciation (rather than writing) then there's
really no such thing as British English - the Scottish varieties are
pronounced in a way completely foreign to any of the English varieties."

Then there's the phonemic difference within English Englishes too. With
regard to orthography I must counter Sandy and suggest that 'British
English' is a little inappropriate a term - even though I've used it myself.
The last time I checked, Ireland, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South
Africa were not a part of Britain. 'Commonwealth English' as an alternative
falls flat because Ireland isn't a member. Any ideas?

Go raibh maith agat

Criostóir.

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Phonology

Folks,

I've always thought of "intrusive r" in non-rhotic* English in terms of
explainable phonological rules, namely as placing an epenthetic "r" -- which
surfaces as a result of liaison before an initial vowel in the next word.
The "r" is placed there because a word-final unstressed vowel is not
permissible in those English varieties, occurs only in foreign words and
names.  In other words, word-final unstressed vowels in foreign words and
names are processed like native _-er_ ([ə(r)]/[@(r)], which can also be
spelled _-or_ or _-ar_ in loanwords).  You say "neveragain" for "never
again;" analogously you say "Africarorasia" for "Africa or Asia," as though
it were "Afriker or Asier."

I've written about this in a couple of articles:
(1991) Diachronic aspects of regular disharmony in Modern Uyghur. In: W.G.
Boltz and M.C. Shapiro, eds., _Studies in the Historical Phonology of Asian
Languages_, Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 68-101.
 (1991) Modern Uyghur _y~r_-insertion: nativization through analogical
extension. _Acta linguistica hafniensia_ 24:77-96.

In those articles I compare the English phenomenon with a very similar one
in Uyghur (a Turkic language used mostly in what is now Western China, also
als a minority language in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Usbekistan).  Uyghur
is also a non-rhotic language (which is rather atypical for the Turkic group
of languages).  An "r" or a "y" (dialect-dependent) is inserted after a
word-final long syllable in foreign (mostly Arabic, Persian, Russian and
Chinese) words and names when these words and names undergo suffixing.  A
long vowel at the end of a word is foreign to the language and creates a
predicament when suffixes are added in this Altaic, thus agglutinating,
language.  Insertion of "r" or "y" solves this problem because this type of
sequence can occur in native words.  I think of English intrusive "r" as a
similar process.  In other words, it is a part of phonological loan
adaptation.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

* P.S.: For those of you who aren't already aware of this, "non-rhotic"
varieties are those in which final "r" is "deleted," actually assimilated to
the preceding vowel; e.g., _never_ pronounced as "nevva" or "nevvuh" rather
than as "nevver".

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