Biritish Pronounciation of R

Question

Hi ,dear guys

I have a big problem with pronounciation of "r"in biritish accent.
Here is the problem:

In biritish accent " r" would be heard when it is followed by a vowel-sound ;otherwise, it is omitted.
If so?
why arm /a:m/ ' r' is omitted ;while, bizarre/bIza:(r)/, 'r" is heard.
In the last word, regarding above ,a vowel-sound should come after r so that we can pronounce this.
I faced a contrast.

I feel confused i would be grateful if someone could shed light upon this.

Thanks for your efforts
Rashin

KateJS · Accepted Answer

Well I'm British and I wouldn't sound the "r" at the end of bizarre. Perhaps it would be sounded in some regional accents - I can imagine an Irish person sounding it, and perhaps someone from SW England.

Kooyeen · Answer

rashinwhy arm /a:m/ ' r' is omitted ;while, bizarre/bIza:(r)/, 'r" is heard.

I think that what you are saying here is that the phonemic transcription of words like "arm" doesn't have an /r/ sound, while there's an /r/ sound in parentheses at the end of some other phonemic transcriptions, for example in "bizarre".
The reason is that, as you said, in most British dialects the /r/ is only pronounced if it's followed by a vowel sound. In words like "arm", it's always followed by a consonant, for example the /m/ in "arm". But in words like "bizarre", where the /r/ is at the end, it could be followed by a vowel sound if the following word starts with a vowel.
So, if "bizarre" is not followed by anything, the /r/ is not pronounced. If the following word starts with a vowel sound, the /r/ is pronounced.
Examples:

Bizarre. (on its own: no /r/)
Bizarre costume. (costume starts with a /k/ sound: no /r/)
Bizarre outfit. (outfit starts with a vowel sound: the /r/ is pronounced in this case)

Anonymous · Answer

rashin Hi ,dear guys I have a big problem with pronounciation of "r"in biritish accent.Here is the problem:In biritish accent " r" would be heard when it is followed by a vowel-sound ;otherwise, it is omitted. If so?why arm /a:m/ ' r' is omitted ;while, bizarre/bIza:(r)/, 'r" is heard.In the last word, regarding above ,a vowel-sound should come after r so that we can pronounce this.I faced a contrast.I feel confused i would be grateful if someone could shed light upon this.Thanks for your effortsRashin

The r sound is pronounced in British pronunciation, just not strongly. It's a gentle, subtle sound. The confusion about it comes from English language learners hearing the American pronunciation of it, which is very strong. What they don't understand is that American pronunciation is very different from and almost always much louder and more heavily stressed, than British pronunciation.

Fivejedjon · Answer

AnonymousThe r sound is pronounced in British pronunciation, just not strongly. It's a gentle, subtle sound.

It is not pronounced pronounced in most varieties of English British English unless it is followed by a vowel sound.

Anonymous · Answer

Depends what your definition of "not pronounced" is. If it was literally "not pronounced", it would be silent. That is not the case. It is a gentle, subtle sound.

It is easy to see how people who are used to American accents, where the r sound is very heavily stressed (pronounced extremely strongly), struggle with the English r sound. They are just not used to subtlety.

Fivejedjon · Answer

AnonymousDepends what your definition of "not pronounced" is. If it was literally "not pronounced", it would be silent. That is not the case. It is a gentle, subtle sound.

Well, phoneticians such as Abecrombie, Gimson, Ladefoged, Jones, O'Connor, Roach, Sweet and Wells all agree it is not pronounced in the standard BrE varieties spoken in England. Do you know something they don't?

CalifJim · Answer

fivejedjonWell, phoneticians such as Abecrombie, Gimson, Ladefoged, Jones, O'Connor, Roach, Sweet and Wells all agree it is not pronounced in the standard BrE varieties spoken in England. Do you know something they don't?

I may not know something they don't, but it's possible that I hear something they don't.

It may be my imagination, but I have always heard some kind of 'r' in cases where the British claim they are not pronouncing an 'r'. Not an American 'r', but something — something other than just the /:/ which is usually placed in the transcriptions to show a lengthening of the preceding vowel. I can lengthen an /a/ all day long /a::::::::/ and it still won't sound the same to me as the /a:/ in /a:m/ "arm" as said by a speaker of British English.

Strange? Strange, but true. Just my imagination because I know there's an 'r' there? Could be.

CJ

Fivejedjon · Answer

CalifJimIt may be my imagination, but I have always heard some kind of 'r' in cases where the British claim they are not pronouncing an 'r'.

How about in these two? Can you really hear an /r/ in the first?

http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/farther

http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/father

CalifJim · Answer

fivejedjonCan you rally hear an /r/ in the first?

Duh. Of course, but it's very subtle. It seems to me that the /r/ is produced by some kind of tightening in the throat. But then my imagination may be overactive, so I don't know what more to say about it.

CJ

Fivejedjon · Answer

CalifJim I don't know what more to say about it.

If you can hear an /r/ sound there, I can say no more, either.

Biritish Pronounciation of R

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