Websters dictionary mandates no "r" at the end of words

[Mark Mandel]

The name "Webster" on a dictionary means nothing by itself.
Merriam-Webster is a respectable publisher of dictionaries, and Noah
Webster of course created the first (first well-known?) US dictionary,
but the name "Webster" is public domain. I don't remember proper
sources for this, but the Wikipedia article
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webster%27s#The_name_.E2.80.9CWebster.E2.80.9D_used_by_others
or use http://tinyurl.com/3s29c3 ) seems to have good citations.

m a m

On Tue, Sep 30, 2008 at 8:17 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:
>
> At 9/29/2008 01:45 PM, Paul Johnston wrote:
> >I don't know whether Noah Webster was non-rhotic (I don't think so),
> >but tons of Americans born in his home state and YOURS are, Tom.
> >They still can get an American passport if they come from, say,
> >Putnam, CT.
>
> But what about the zillions of Americans who are rhotic?  How can an
> American edition of a dictionary say "-r is never pronounced at the
> end of words but when a word ending in -r is followed by a vowel the
> -r can be pronounced."?  I'm being given permission to pronounce r in
> certain places, but not in others?
>
> (For me, pa:k is a Korean politician; a dork is not a dock, etc.)
>
> Joel

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