Are you on “Team R” or on the “Non-rhoticity Team”?

Do you pronounce your Rs in English?

What’s the difference between Linking R, Intrusive R, and even Hyper-rhoticization?

There are accents in English that are Non-Rhotic, meaning they don’t pronounce the R unless it’s immediately followed by a vowel sound.

What accents of English are non-rhotic?

• Most English accents in England
• Accents in Australia
• Almost all the accents of New Zealand
• Most accents of South Africa
• A few accents in North America as well (mostly on the East coast of the United States)

There’s even a kind of polarization occurring around Rs- either you do it or you don’t in order to sound more prestigious.

We also talk about:

• Historical influences on Rs
• How saying (or not saying) your Rs can be a status thing
• Forbidden experiments
• Slang and Urban Dictionary
• Discrimination
• Noticing people’s accents
• Identity
• Cults
• Twin languages
• the ‘Where are you from?’ problematic question

AND

• Mark’s own accent changes through time

Listen to this episode for more information about Rs in different English accents than meets the eye!

Listen to Episode 11 “Intrusive R in British Accents” on Captivate or watch on YouTube!