Intrusive "R" in coastal South

Question

I was watching "Paula's Home Cooking" the other day on the Food Channel, and when she said the word "spatula", she ended it with an "r", like a Boston or New York "r", "spatulur".
I'd never heard this in a Southern accent before. (I know there's more than one). Is it something peculiar to the coast? I'm not sure if this is technically "intrusive", but she definitely ended the word with it.

And, she has a very, very Southern accent.
Larry

Usenet · Accepted Answer

My dad pronounces "area" with an ending r. My mother-in-law says "Linder" for Linda as well as pronouncing other words ending in 'a' the same way. Can't say that I hear it often elsewhere in the South.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]I was watching "Paula's Home Cooking" the other day on the Food Channel, and when she said the word "spatula", ... this is technically "intrusive", but she definitely ended the word with it. And, she has a very, very Southern accent.[/nq]
I met Paula years ago in Savannah when she was still just "plain folks." She sat with us for over an hour and discussed whatever was on her mind. It's possible that hanging around with the fancy people on TV may have corrupted at least some of her innate goodness accent-wise.

Good luck and good sailing.
s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat
http://kerrydeare.home.comcast.net

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]I met Paula years ago in Savannah when she was still just "plain folks." She sat with us for over ... that hanging around with the fancy people on TV may have corrupted at least some of her innate goodness accent-wise.[/nq]
Hehe, well I really enjoy the show. I'm hoping if I ever visit Savannah one day, she has a restaurant or something open to the public. She reminds me of my mom's side of the family, who are from the South.

Her "R" intrigued me because I wonder if its not a relic of colonial times since Savannah is coastal and there's no reason to think it wouldn't share characteristics of more Northern cities like New York or Boston.

It seemed genuine enough, flowed along with the rest of her speech. (I loved Southern accents). If it was acquired, I can see that as well. If I'm watching a movie with British characters, that's the one feature that naturally makes its way into my own speech for a while after seeing that movie or talking to people with that accent.
Larry

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]I was watching "Paula's Home Cooking" the other day on the Food Channel,and when she said the word "spatula", she ended it with an "r", like a Bostonor New York "r", "spatulur". . . . Is it something peculiar to the coast?[/nq]
Probably not. A useful test for pronunciation is "western." Very nearly all N.Americans (from
Newfoundland to California) sound an audible R in
this word. Next to no British EFL speakers do.

Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

Usenet · Answer

I wouldn't say "very nearly all". The non-rhotic speakers of places like New York (WAIITLCIA) and Boston do not pronounce an audible 'R'. (It's different for a word like "tern", where the "er" is stressed nowadays most "non-rhotic" speakers in the US will pronounce such words rhotically, though there are a few exceptions, such as former New Jersey Governor Tom Kean and John McLaughlin of TV's "The McLaughlin Group".)

Usenet · Answer

Huh? I'm a General American English speaker (Southern California), not all that different from Canadian broadcast Peter Mansbridge-style English, but without the "oat" and "aboat", rhotic, and yes I pronounce the "r" in "western".
But, I was talking about a word without an "r" as in "spatula". Paula, who is from Savannah, Georgia, placed an "r" at the end of this word, like a non-rhotic speaker from Boston would over correct with a word like "idea" saying "ide-er". Not elongating an "a" as in British RP, but like a pirate "arrgh, matey" . I had never heard a Southern speaker hypercorrect an "r"-less word before. Previously, I'd only heard it in the speech of the Northeast like in Boston or New York.
I will say, however, that this hypercorrection, or intrusive/linking "r" (I know these are different, but related) is one part of speech that is easy acquired if I hear it enough in British film or films where it is spoken.

Larry

Usenet · Answer

I don't know enough about Southern accents to know, either. Might be. I've heard "drore" for "draw" in Southern Appalachian accents.

(snip)
[nq:1]But, I was talking about a word without an "r" as in "spatula". Paula, who is from Savannah, Georgia, placed ... of speech that is easy acquired if I hear it enough in British film or films where it is spoken.[/nq]
You mention the concept "intrusive/linking" but you don't say anything about the words following. Are you actually hearing things like:

I need that spatular.
That's a spatular.
where it's at the end of a sentence? Or is it followed by a vowel, the normal pattern:
the spatular on the table
the spatular in the drawer
the spatular is under the plate
I think it was Ben Zimmer who gave an example not long ago of someone from New York putting Rs at the ends of words ("arena" was one, I think) even when there was no discernable vowel following. It makes sense to me that someone who grew up hearing linking Rs might fail to grasp the entire rule and put them "wrong" places. Maybe we're hearing a new trend.

Best Donna Richoux

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]You mention the concept "intrusive/linking" but you don't say anything about the words following. Are you actually hearing things like: I need that spatular. That's a spatular.[/nq]
Yes. Much like an "r"-ending word without a vowel following as in Boston, for example "ide-er". I just mentioned "linking r" because I think it's a hypercorrection based upon that.
[nq:1]where it's at the end of a sentence? Or is it followed by a vowel, the normal pattern: the spatular ... linking Rs might fail to grasp the entire rule and put them "wrong" places. Maybe we're hearing a new trend.[/nq]
It is interesting. That "linking r" thing is the one thing I will take into my own speech if I hear enough of it from a British or Northeastern (American) speaker, even though it's not a part of my own speech. Of course, my own accent probably has a few pecularities given the fact that I grew up with my grandma (raised in Texas and Mississippi, but claimed she didn't have an accent ), and her New England neighbor (from New Hampshire and Massachusetts). Plus the influence of Canadian speakers (mainly from Ontario and British Columbia) visiting from the winter.
So, given all of that, I probably have features in my Southern California speech from the South, New England, and Canada, not to mention Mexico, Okie, etc. Given all of that, I have your average General American accent, but it is different slightly from regular Southern California speech in a few ways, and I never adopted (seriously anyway) the stereotypical "valley" speech. My accent was probably a lot closer to Southern when I was younger due to my grandma's influence.
Larry

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]I was watching "Paula's Home Cooking" the other day on the Food Channel,and when she said the word "spatula", she ended it with an "r", like a Bostonor New York "r", "spatulur".[/nq]
I commented on Paula's pronunciation of this very word on March 16. (Of course, I didn't spell the word for her pronunciation as you did, and I won't spell it my way now, for fear that the same person will find it exceptional that I don't use the IPA characters, among other things in my post that displeased him.)
I do wonder, though, if you are referring to the same program that I commented upon. I confess to not recalling what was cooking. I only mentioned Dean's "spatula" pronunciation as a subtopic to the main OP topic of her use of "lest". (I mentioned that she used "least" for "lest".)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]I met Paula years ago in Savannah when she was ... have corrupted at least some of her innate goodness accent-wise.[/nq]
[nq:1]Hehe, well I really enjoy the show. I'm hoping if I ever visit Savannah one day, she has a restaurant or something open to the public. She reminds me of my mom's side of the family, who are from the South.[/nq]
The restaurant is (or was) "Lady and Sons." It is (or was) a buffet, and I had a bit to do to convince my wife to enter.
We have never regretted the choice.

Good luck and good sailing.
s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat
http://kerrydeare.home.comcast.net

Intrusive "R" in coastal South

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