# British add an "r" sound **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 13, 2011, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-add-an-r-sound/571223 "2011-02-13T17:41:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![juliawenzel1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e495f1/32.png) [@juliawenzel1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/juliawenzel1)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-add-an-r-sound/571223/1 "2011-02-13T17:41:34Z")
Why do Brits often add an “r” sound at the end of words ending in an “a”? For instance my English friend calls me Juliar and her daughter Samanthar. BBC reporters refer to “Chinar” and “Indiar”. ---
**Author:** ![fumster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9c0ed/32.png) [@fumster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fumster)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-add-an-r-sound/571223/2 "2011-02-13T17:55:19Z")
It’s their language (unless it’s a coincidence that it’s called English). Maybe you subtract an “r”. (Creating an Rs hole?) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-add-an-r-sound/571223/3 "2011-02-13T17:55:40Z")
> [@juliawenzel1](#): > > Why do Brits often add an “r” sound at the end of words ending in an “a”? For instance my English friend calls me Juliar and her daughter Samanthar. BBC reporters refer to “Chinar” and “Indiar”. It’s called an [intrusive “r”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linking_and_intrusive_R) and it usually one occurs with words that end in a vowel, when the next word starts with a vowel. Listen carefully next time. You should hear “China[r] and India” but “China leads the world…” I’m not sure I’ve ever heard a British English speaker (though someone may correct me), use the name “Juliar” with an “r,” unless the next utterance is a vowel sound. “What’s my name?” “Julia” or “Julia[r] is your name,” but not “Julia[r]” on its own. But there are many British accents, so I don’t know for sure. I do know that there’s an impression from speakers of American English that the Brits add "r"s to the end of every word ending with a vowel, but that impression is generally incorrect. ---
**Author:** ![longPath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bb73d2/32.png) [@longPath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/longPath)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-add-an-r-sound/571223/4 "2011-02-13T18:21:56Z")
My maternal Grandmother was born in Southport, Lancashire in 1898 and came to Canada in 1910. She never had a trace of an accent that I could detect but retained the “intrusive r” until she died in 1993. In fact, the r got more pronounced in the last few years of her life. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-add-an-r-sound/571223/5 "2011-02-13T18:28:39Z")
I’m British and I’m never sure what people mean by this. I don’t hear it and don’t do it. But then again there is no “British” accent as I’m sure you know. It may be that certain dialects and accents do that very thing but you’ll have to be very specific and point to a audible example to clarify what you mean. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-add-an-r-sound/571223/6 "2011-02-13T18:39:15Z")
Yeah, I’ve never been able to work out WTF this “intrusive r” sound is (and I come from 20 miles away from Southport, and never noticed it in their accent). BBC reporters pronounce “India” as “Indiar”? Since when? ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-add-an-r-sound/571223/7 "2011-02-13T18:43:13Z")
When Robert Plant sings “29 palms,” he pronounces “palms” as “parms.” I heard something similar from Paul McCartney when he sang “Till there was you”—“sawr” for “saw.” Perhaps it’s a regional dialect thing? ---
**Author:** ![PaulParkhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@PaulParkhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulParkhead)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-add-an-r-sound/571223/8 "2011-02-13T18:43:58Z")
> [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](#): > > Yeah, I’ve never been able to work out WTF this “intrusive r” sound is (and I come from 20 miles away from Southport, and never noticed it in their accent). BBC reporters pronounce “India” as “Indiar”? Since when? Yeah. It’s never done in my own (Glasgow) accent. I do sometimes hear people from Liverpool do it, I think. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-add-an-r-sound/571223/9 "2011-02-13T18:48:00Z")
It’s not just Britain (well, England, really). You hear it from New Englanders, too. Listen to old recordings of JFK, and you’ll hear him talk about “Cuba[r]”. I never had it, but my mother did. China[r], Cuba[r] and India[r], etc. ---
**Author:** ![CJJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@CJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-add-an-r-sound/571223/10 "2011-02-13T18:48:56Z")
Cue the obligatory [clip from Seinfeld](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evYSwr_D8OU)… ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-add-an-r-sound/571223/11 "2011-02-13T19:00:28Z")
> [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](#): > > Yeah, I’ve never been able to work out WTF this “intrusive r” sound is (and I come from 20 miles away from Southport, and never noticed it in their accent). BBC reporters pronounce “India” as “Indiar”? Since when? Not all BBC reporters, and not all the time, but it is common. I listen to BBC radio a lot, and hear it commonly. [Here’s one example from the news.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgR5AFsqaIY&feature=related&t=39) Do you hear the intrustive “r” in “enforce a ceasefire in Gaza[r] after…”? Just wondering if you can actually hear it, since it’s blatantly obvious to me, but it may not be to someone who is immersed in the accent (like the arguments we get about the Canadian raising of “ow” sounds, like in “about.” To me, it’s clear as crystal; but many who have the accent don’t seem to hear it.) ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-add-an-r-sound/571223/12 "2011-02-13T19:04:39Z")
I’ve also heard English people do the opposite–under emphasize the r at the end of a word, like “color.” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-add-an-r-sound/571223/13 "2011-02-13T19:07:57Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > I’ve also heard English people do the opposite–under emphasize the r at the end of a word, like “color.” That’s related to [rhotic and non-rhotic accents](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhotic_accent) and, also, that “r” may reappear as a “linking-r” when the next word starts with a vowel. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-add-an-r-sound/571223/14 "2011-02-13T19:15:33Z")
> [@vivalostwages](#): > > When Robert Plant sings “29 palms,” he pronounces “palms” as “parms.” > > I heard something similar from Paul McCartney when he sang “Till there was you”—“sawr” for “saw.” > > Perhaps it’s a regional dialect thing? I’m not familiar with the Paul McCartney song but Robert Plant’s pronunciation of “palms” is fairly standard in the UK, but then…who says it without a “r” sounding transition from the a to m? The L isn’t totally silent otherwise we’d be saying it in the same way as the female name “Pam” and no-one does (to the best of my knowledge) ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-add-an-r-sound/571223/15 "2011-02-13T19:16:27Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > It’s not just Britain (well, England, really). You hear it from New Englanders, too. Listen to old recordings of JFK, and you’ll hear him talk about “Cuba[r]”. Never ever use a Kennedy as an example of New England accent because 99.8% of New Englanders do not sound like they have lockjaw. Wee little kids (and stupid people) say “idear” but it’s far more common for New Englanders to remove the terminal “r” from words (replacing it with “ah.” there becomes theyah, door becomes doah…I try not to myself, but if I’m sleepy all bets are off) than to add one. We actually make a fair amount of money exporting our unneeded Rs to the UK where they’re more in demand. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-add-an-r-sound/571223/16 "2011-02-13T19:20:01Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > I’m not familiar with the Paul McCartney song but Robert Plant’s pronunciation of “palms” is fairly standard in the UK, but then…who says it without a “r” sounding transition from the a to m? The US pronunciations (or at least all the ones I’ve ever heard) don’t add an “r” there. It’s not a feature of (most, if not all) US dialects to do something like that. Some people _might_ say the “l,” but I’m only familiar with it being dropped, much in the same way the “l” is not pronounced in “talk.” ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-add-an-r-sound/571223/17 "2011-02-13T19:22:10Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > That’s related to [rhotic and non-rhotic accents](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhotic_accent) and, also, that “r” may reappear as a “linking-r” when the next word starts with a vowel. And even that is not a neat dividing line. That’s a great link actually. For those suggesting that most British do or don’t add the “r” I reckon you need to read through that and appreciate the diversity of the regional dialect and pronunciation. Perhaps over here we are used to hearing and accepting both types and every flavour in between. For those with foreign ears, confirmation bias may make it seem more common than it really is. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-add-an-r-sound/571223/18 "2011-02-13T19:23:32Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Never ever use a Kennedy as an example of New England accent because 99.8% of New Englanders do not sound like they have lockjaw. > > Wee little kids (and stupid people) say “idear” but it’s far more common for New Englanders to remove the terminal “r” from words (replacing it with “ah.” there becomes theyah, door becomes doah…I try not to myself, but if I’m sleepy all bets are off) than to add one. We actually make a fair amount of money exporting our unneeded Rs to the UK where they’re more in demand. No, it’s not just little kids and “stupid people” who say “idear”. It’s very common in and around Boston. Maybe you folks waaaaaaay up there in NH don’t pronounce it that way very often. At which point, I suppose, we should be clear that there isn’t one type of New England accent. Or even one type of Boston accent, for that matter. Still, the point being that what the OP thinks of as a Britishism can be found here in the good ol’ US of A. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-add-an-r-sound/571223/19 "2011-02-13T19:23:36Z")
I watch “Doc Martin”, and the actors therein are mimicking a Cornish accent. Or maybe some are really from Cornwall. They append the R at the ends of words ending in an “A”. “Louisar” Glasson, for instance. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-add-an-r-sound/571223/20 "2011-02-13T19:27:27Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > The US pronunciations (or at least all the ones I’ve ever heard) don’t add an “r” there. It’s not a feature of (most, if not all) US dialects to do something like that. Some people _might_ say the “l,” but I’m only familiar with it being dropped, much in the same way the “l” is not pronounced in “talk.” So you say “pam” and “tak” for “palm” and “talk”? That doesn’t chime with my experience at all, though most of the US people I speak to are east or west coast exclusively. Is it not more common to say “parm” and “tork” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-add-an-r-sound/571223.md?page=2)