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Anonymous Posted 16 years ago
Speech & Pronunciation

Pronounciation. More or less

In British accent

In "Figure it out" 'r' in Figure is pronounced with 'i' followed after it. (according to the answer I got few months ago.) Not like figure out that 'r' is not pronounced.

Then, what about this.

"more or less"

How do the regular British pronounce this? ('r' in more)
  

Top answer

I pronounce some kind of an "r" in all these: "figure it out" "figure out" "more or less" British speakers vary from a full "r" in some accents to almost nothing in others. I'm kind of mid-way.

  • I pronounce some kind of an "r" in all these: "figure it out" "figure out" "more or less" British speakers vary from a full "r" in some accents to almost nothing in others.
  • I'm kind of mid-way.
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6 Answers
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I pronounce some kind of an "r" in all these:

"figure it out"

"figure out"

"more or less"

British speakers vary from a full "r" in some accents to almost nothing in others. I'm kind of mid-way.
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Mr WordyBritish speakers vary from a full "r" in some accents to almost nothing in others.
Supposing we talk about those who drop the "r" when it's utterance final, would they put the "r" back in if it were in the middle of a phrase with a vowel-initial word right after it? My hypothesis is that they do, thus:

Final: Did you take the car?
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CalifJimIs my hypothesis correct?
As a general tendency, yes, I think so. However, with some British speakers, even the medial r with vowel following can be weak or vestigial. So, some people would almost say "Did you take the cah away?", "We don't need any maw alligators", and so forth.

But as an afterthought, when it comes to pronunciation, I
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Mr WordyI'm not sure how much sense it makes to talk of "British speakers" as a group
Me neither. Still, I suppose I mean "British speakers" in the same way that Chinese, Japanese, Brazilian, and Egyptian learners of English mean it, namely, the sort of non-American pronunciation that is commonly taught abroad. I don't think that Scottish accents are commonl
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I'm a native British English speaker. I speak quite fast, so it ends up like 'more-a-less' - but the 'more' is without an 'r' - exactly the same vowel as I'd use for maw - the same with 'sore/saw', etc. I'd also pronounce 'figure' with no 'r' sound - like figga.

My accept is very non-regional (RP/upper RP) - which I would say tends to leave off final consonants and turn the sound into pu
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It's true that does happen. I'm in that 'weak/vestigial' category. In all of the above sentences the 'r' would be missing, except in the case of emphasis. So 'We don't need any maw alligators' but in case of exasperation, perhaps 'We don't need any MORE alligators'. Actually, I just said it, and the 'r' is STILL missing!

I wonder if it's an upper/normal RP thing. At university we used to

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