English Language Discussion Forums

Anne59 · #1 13-Nov-2007, 08:04

I found the following:-

carrot is r [not silent]
cry is r [not silent]
friend is r [not silent]
free is r [not silent]
garden is r [silent]
hear is r [silent]
German is r [silent]
here is r [silent]
four is r [silent]
learn is r [silent]

but I don't understand when R is silent or not? Is there a rule or can anyone explain it to me?

Thanks

**RonBee** · #2 13-Nov-2007, 23:33

The r is not silent in any of the words you mentioned, nor is it ever silent (that I know of).

**Barb_D** · #3 14-Nov-2007, 03:27

Ron, you haven't lived in New England, where I'm called "Bahb."

R's that follow a vowel sound will sometimes fade away. I believe officially it's called the "non-pre-vocalic r."

The R in carrot is clearly pronounced because of the second syllable.

R's that are end the end of the word can fade away as well, or take an "uh" sound.
Dear sounds like dee-uh and beer sounds like bee-uh. But this is distinctive to certain areas.

However, I would pronounce the R in all of those, as Ron would. (Even though when someone calls out "Bob!" I still turn around.)

**Tdol** · #4 14-Nov-2007, 07:44

The R is much less pronounced in England and Wales.

**RonBee** · #5 15-Nov-2007, 23:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barb_D

Ron, you haven't lived in New England, where I'm called "Bahb."

R's that follow a vowel sound will sometimes fade away. I believe officially it's called the "non-pre-vocalic r."

The R in carrot is clearly pronounced because of the second syllable.

R's that are end the end of the word can fade away as well, or take an "uh" sound.
Dear sounds like dee-uh and beer sounds like bee-uh. But this is distinctive to certain areas.

However, I would pronounce the R in all of those, as Ron would. (Even though when someone calls out "Bob!" I still turn around.)

My sister once lived in Massachusetts for a while (we're both from St. Louis), and I as I recall, she said that people there told her that she talks funny.

moggy · #6 16-Nov-2007, 08:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anne59

I found the following:-

carrot is r [not silent]
cry is r [not silent]
friend is r [not silent]
free is r [not silent]
garden is r [silent]
hear is r [silent]
German is r [silent]
here is r [silent]
four is r [silent]
learn is r [silent]

but I don't understand when R is silent or not? Is there a rule or can anyone explain it to me?

Thanks

I can see your difficulty here! Whether or not you hear the "R" will depend on who's saying the word. A Scot would pronounce all of the words you give as example with a distinctly audible "R", as would a Cornishman. It's a regional thing.
Moggy

seba_870701 · #7 17-Nov-2007, 16:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anne59

I found the following:-

carrot is r [not silent]
cry is r [not silent]
friend is r [not silent]
free is r [not silent]
garden is r [silent]
hear is r [silent]
German is r [silent]
here is r [silent]
four is r [silent]
learn is r [silent]

but I don't understand when R is silent or not? Is there a rule or can anyone explain it to me?

Thanks

In RP most of the R's are silent. They disaapear before consonants and at the ends of words. R's are audible when occur between vowels or when folled by a vowel. Hence:
carrot is r [not silent]
cry is r [not silent]
friend is r [not silent]
free is r [not silent]
(all of R's are folled by vowels in examples above)
In the following examples R's are muted beacuse they're preceeded by vowels which turned to be longer thanks to disapearing R's.
garden is r [silent] --> /ɑ:/
German is r [silent] --> /ɜ:/
four is r [silent] --> /ɔ:/
learn is r [silent] --> /ɜ:/
Finally, R's in the following exaples turn into vowel schwa /ə/
hear is r [silent] --> /hɪə/
here is r [silent] --> /hɪə/
I hope it helps at least a little

Buddhaheart · #8 17-Nov-2007, 16:58

We have a restaurant ad running in some of our TV channels in which the announcer is I believe British. It’s very distinct to hear how the end ‘r’ were dropped in words like “texture” & “adventure” in RP English as Tdol & Seba indicated.

**Tdol** · #9 18-Nov-2007, 07:23

It's not universal in Britain- England and Wales tend to be non-rhotic (don't pronounce the R) and Scotland is generally rhotic.

moggy · #10 19-Nov-2007, 05:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tdol

It's not universal in Britain- England and Wales tend to be non-rhotic (don't pronounce the R) and Scotland is generally rhotic.

This also applies to parts of Lancashire, most the West Country, almost all of Northern Ireland and parts of Norfolk and Suffolk. It has to be said that RP is hacking away at these accents, and I've no doubt they'll disappear in time...more's the pity.