# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![PeskiPiksi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e495f1/32.png) [@PeskiPiksi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PeskiPiksi)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-add-an-r-sound/571223/41 "2011-02-14T05:32:50Z")
I first noticed this when Princess Diana died, with all the British newsreporters going on about someone named “Dianer.” But like it was noted upthread, some Americans do it, too. My mother-in-law, who grew up on Long Island, does it all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-add-an-r-sound/571223/42 "2011-02-14T05:45:48Z")
> [@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]”. I never had it, but my mother did. China[r], Cuba[r] and India[r], etc. Mayor Quimby on the Simpsons, whose accent is supposed to be Kennedyesque, does it too. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-add-an-r-sound/571223/43 "2011-02-14T05:53:57Z")
In the Harry Potter movie Harry pronounces the word “law” as “lawr”. “I broke the Lawr”. There’s another example of an added R in the series but I can’t think it at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![chrisn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@chrisn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisn)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-add-an-r-sound/571223/44 "2011-02-14T06:26:52Z")
> [@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 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) [The Scots.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQNj3thCdco&feature=player_detailpage#t=36s) 🙂 As soon as I heard that song I knew the singer was Scottish. Made my think of my auntie yelling at us kids to CAM DOWN! ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-add-an-r-sound/571223/45 "2011-02-14T06:39:38Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > “Champagne supernover in the sky.” [1:33 and 2:24](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pS7htftViSw). Christ, even Google “[champagne supernover](http://www.google.com/search?q=%22Champagne+supernover%22)” ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-add-an-r-sound/571223/46 "2011-02-14T06:44:58Z")
> [@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”. BBC reporter Lyse Doucet, who I’ve come to learn is actually Canadian, does this sometimes, but she pronounces her 'r’s hard anyway. I’m always glued to my radio whenever Lyse Doucet reports because her accent is British in every way except for the ‘r’ sound at the end of words. So whereas the average British person will pronounce the word ‘water’ as ‘woata’, Lyse Doucet pronounces it ‘woatr’ with a hard ‘r’ at the end. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-add-an-r-sound/571223/47 "2011-02-14T06:47:14Z")
I hear it often on BBC World News service on satellite TV. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-add-an-r-sound/571223/48 "2011-02-14T07:15:15Z")
> [@Crusoe](#): > > Whereas I, another native Brit, would pronounce talk and torque exactly the same. Different regional accents, I’m guessing. (What’s your accent, Malacandra?) “BBC English”, as an ex-RAF kid. Sometimes I lapse into Norfolk, after thirty years’ residence. But having lived not far from Bristol as a lad, I can toss the unusual “Bristol L” into the mix, which would give you words like Africal, Asial, Indial, et ceteral. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-add-an-r-sound/571223/49 "2011-02-14T08:19:16Z")
It’s **In’ja** , dammit. Where the best is like the worst. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-add-an-r-sound/571223/50 "2011-02-14T10:08:09Z")
It’s **In’ja** , dammit. Where the best is like the worst. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-add-an-r-sound/571223/51 "2011-02-14T10:32:30Z")
> [@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”. Brit here. Are you sure it’s not simply a long ‘a’ and not an added ‘r’? Contrast it with the short ‘a’ in ‘apple’ or ‘hat’. Or even the first two 'a’s in Samantha. ---
**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 14, 2011, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-add-an-r-sound/571223/52 "2011-02-14T10:33:03Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > So whereas the average British person will pronounce the word ‘water’ as ‘woata’. Come on, we are supposed to fighting ignorance here. There is no such thing as an “average British person”. There is no standard accent nor a standard pronunciation. It is as annoying to be told this as it would be for someone in the far south to be told that the “average American” pronounces “New York” as “Noo Yoik” You are thinking of a specific accent and extrapolating for the rest of the the country. It is not true for the all of south-east of England never mind the whole of the South, never mind the rest of England, never mind the rest of Britain and the British Isles. Have a look at the earlier Wiki link. The accent and dialect pattern in the UK is massively complex and hugely diverse. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-add-an-r-sound/571223/53 "2011-02-14T11:59:55Z")
> [@Celyn](#): > > Oh we know it exists, just not everywhere in Britain. Remember the fun of listening to Thatcher or one of her lot going on about some woman apparently named “Laura Norder”? 🙂 No, there were a couple of people claiming that the intrusive r doesn’t exist at all. And now, of course, we are getting the Americans claiming that Brits add Rs to vowels, despite all the explanations. Why don’t they read the thread they’re posting in? Why come into GQ, completely ignore the other responses and just post more ignorance instead? :smack: The intrusive r is there between vowel sounds at the end and beginning of words (supernova in, Diana is, law and) so that you don’t have a clumsy glottal stop between them or let the words siide together. Other dialects cope without it; perhaps it works for non-rhotic accents better because we don’t usually pronounce the r at the end of words, so there’s less chance of confusion. ---
**Author:** ![MobiusStripes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@MobiusStripes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MobiusStripes)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-add-an-r-sound/571223/54 "2011-02-14T12:03:33Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > I’ve also heard English people do the opposite–under emphasize the r at the end of a word, like “color.” In highschool I had a math teacher, presumably from New England, that would say “vectah” (drop the r). But he added an “r” to “idea” to make it “idear”. It was a source of secret amusement to me. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-add-an-r-sound/571223/55 "2011-02-14T13:08:30Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Come on, we are supposed to fighting ignorance here. > There is no such thing as an “average British person”. There is no standard accent nor a standard pronunciation. > > It is as annoying to be told this as it would be for someone in the far south to be told that the “average American” pronounces “New York” as “Noo Yoik” > > You are thinking of a specific accent and extrapolating for the rest of the the country. > It is not true for the all of south-east of England never mind the whole of the South, never mind the rest of England, never mind the rest of Britain and the British Isles. > > Have a look at the earlier Wiki link. The accent and dialect pattern in the UK is massively complex and hugely diverse. Point taken. I probably should have said ‘the British accent Americans are used to hearing’. As far as the pronunciation of New York is concerned, not only does the average American not pronounce it Noo Yoik, I challenge you to find one. Noo I’ll give you, but Yoik? ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-add-an-r-sound/571223/56 "2011-02-14T13:51:55Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > Point taken. I probably should have said ‘the British accent Americans are used to hearing’. As far as the pronunciation of New York is concerned, not only does the average American not pronounce it Noo Yoik, I challenge you to find one. Noo I’ll give you, but Yoik? That’s the stereotypical British representation of how a New Yorker would say it. It’s definitely no less accurate than ‘woata.’ ---
**Author:** ![Inthewater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Inthewater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inthewater)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-add-an-r-sound/571223/57 "2011-02-14T15:10:42Z")
Can I ask, out of curiosity, what a Mid-Westerner from the USA sounds like to these same people? Being from the region, I know that it is very easy to slip into a “drawl” sort of thing, but at the same time I have been told by many others that we have a very clean sound when speaking. I just wondered what others thought. For reference, I am from Central Iowa and I am talking about Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, Nebraska. That sort of accent. What do you hear? p.s. I have had a few great friends from the UK and Australia / NZ, and have had good, good times making fun of each others’ accents. 😃 They say I sound like a “cowboy”, but I don’t hear it. Of course, I am guessing that is usually the case. And they all sound like the Crocodile Hunter, to me. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-add-an-r-sound/571223/58 "2011-02-14T15:55:51Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > I’m British and I’m never sure what people mean by this. > > I don’t hear it and don’t do it. I’ve always figured that what we Americans call the “r” sound at the end of “Indiar” is just not considered to be how the letter “r” sounds to a Brit. They may hear the sound that they’re making there, but they wouldn’t describe it as an “r” sound. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-add-an-r-sound/571223/59 "2011-02-14T16:06:56Z")
> [@CurtC](#): > > I’ve always figured that what we Americans call the “r” sound at the end of “Indiar” is just not considered to be how the letter “r” sounds to a Brit. They may hear the sound that they’re making there, but they wouldn’t describe it as an “r” sound. It’s an intrusive r and is only between vowel sounds at the end and beginning of words. It is not there at the end of ‘India’ in isolation. (If it’s repeated often enough, people might actually read it). ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-add-an-r-sound/571223/60 "2011-02-14T16:15:40Z")
I don’t think anyone is disputing that the r sound only pops up when it is between vowel sounds at the end and beginning of two words. Why do you think they are? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-add-an-r-sound/571223.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-add-an-r-sound/571223.md?page=4)