# British pronunciation **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 23, 2018, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-pronunciation/820088 "2018-08-23T01:32:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2018, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-pronunciation/820088/1 "2018-08-23T01:32:54Z")
India is pronounced “Indiar” and Australia is pronounced “Austrailr”. I just saw a commercial where the jaguar automobile was pronounced “Jagua”. What is up with the British and R? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2018, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-pronunciation/820088/2 "2018-08-23T01:50:36Z")
[Does this help?](http://dialectblog.com/2011/09/10/intrusive-r/) ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2018, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-pronunciation/820088/3 "2018-08-23T01:50:54Z")
NYC: The strap on my brar is killin’ me. Any idears? Yeah. Have no feah, my deah, I’ll cut it in tree pieces. Then we’ll have pizzer and soder. Not universally NYC of course, but the same principle of pronouncing Rs that aren’t there on some words and then dropping them on others. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2018, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-pronunciation/820088/4 "2018-08-23T01:52:44Z")
See also these threads: [British add an “r” sound](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=596976) [British people adding R at end of words](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=507655) [Brits and linguists: What is “Vodker” and “Canader” all about?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=396436) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2018, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-pronunciation/820088/5 "2018-08-23T01:54:37Z")
Same sort of thing in Boston. Put _that_ in your chester draws. ---
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2018, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-pronunciation/820088/6 "2018-08-23T02:08:05Z")
Note “British pronunciation” is about as broad a term as “American pronunciation” (I see you’re in Arkansas - what’s up with how YOU talk?) ---
**Author:** ![Kiwi\_Fruit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kiwi_fruit/32/12_2.png) [@Kiwi\_Fruit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiwi_Fruit)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2018, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-pronunciation/820088/7 "2018-08-23T02:09:37Z")
The English, Australians and New Zealanders all tend to be non-rhotic speakers. We don’t pronounce 'r’s at the ends of words. But may accentuate 'a’s as in Indiah, Jaguah and so on. ---
**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:** [August 23, 2018, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-pronunciation/820088/8 "2018-08-23T07:15:13Z")
I don’t hear that for India or Australia at all. “In-dee-uh” “oz-tray-lee-uh” Those are the closest to a standard British pronunciation you’ll get. No “R” apparent to me. And “jaguar” in the UK (as least a it relates to the car" is pronouced “Jaaaaaag” ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2018, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-pronunciation/820088/9 "2018-08-23T07:20:36Z")
Here’s something else about rhotic and non-rhotic dialects: > **[Rhoticity in English](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhoticity_in_English)** > > Rhoticity in English is the pronunciation of the historical rhotic consonant /r/ by English speakers. The presence or absence of rhoticity is one of the most prominent distinctions by which varieties of English can be classified. In rhotic varieties, the historical English /r/ sound is preserved in all pronunciation contexts. In non-rhotic varieties, speakers no longer pronounce /r/ in postvocalic environments—that is, when it is immediately after a vowel and not followed by another vowel. The r... Non-rhotic accents may sound strange to you (and perhaps they do to me), but they’re fairly common in various regions around the world where English is spoken. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2018, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-pronunciation/820088/10 "2018-08-23T09:48:55Z")
To my ear most British accents would do the final syllable of Australia, India or Westphalia as ‘…lya’. As Australians broadly follow British pronunciation, but we have trouble with Ls, leading vowels and shorten where we can, Australia is very commonly pronounced ‘Straya’ and the adjective ‘Strayn’, with the first a’s length directly correlated with distance from an acceptable cafe. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2018, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-pronunciation/820088/11 "2018-08-23T09:52:13Z")
I wouldn’t pronounce an “r” at the end of “India”, but I would use a “linking r” when saying, for example, “India is…”, so that might be what you are hearing. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2018, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-pronunciation/820088/12 "2018-08-23T12:34:46Z")
> [@zombywoof](#): > > Note “British pronunciation” is about as broad a term as “American pronunciation” (I see you’re in Arkansas - what’s up with how YOU talk?) An urge to be mistaken for Dr. McCoy. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2018, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-pronunciation/820088/13 "2018-08-23T13:47:58Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > I don’t hear that for India or Australia at all. > > “In-dee-uh” > “oz-tray-lee-uh” > > Those are the closest to a standard British pronunciation you’ll get. No “R” apparent to me. > > And “jaguar” in the UK (as least a it relates to the car" is pronouced “Jaaaaaag” Do you hear it when Patrick Stewart says “Mr. Dater”? ---
**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:** [August 23, 2018, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-pronunciation/820088/14 "2018-08-23T14:14:37Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > I wouldn’t pronounce an “r” at the end of “India”, but I would use a “linking r” when saying, for example, “India is…”, so that might be what you are hearing. I assume this is it. I’ve never heard a Brit pronounce “India” as “Indier” unless the next sound is an immediate vowel sound. On its own, there is no “r” sound. If one is familiar with the song “Champagne Supernova,” you can hear it sung (at the end of the chorus) as “someday you will find me caught beneath the landslide, in a champagne supernova (pause), a champagne supernova\*\*r \*\*in the sky.” Liam only sings “supernover” when he is eliding the word with a word that is immediately followed by an initial vowel sound. When it stands alone (as in the repeat of "a champagne supernova/a champagne supernova[r] in the sky), it is not pronounced with the “linking-r” because, well, it’s not linking to anything. ---
**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:** [August 23, 2018, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-pronunciation/820088/15 "2018-08-23T14:23:58Z")
> [@Ashtura](#): > > Do you hear it when Patrick Stewart says “Mr. Dater”? I’m not familiar with Star Trek at all, but [here’s a scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-htVPOSBYfs), and Patrick Stewart says “Data, please sit down” with no “r” that I can hear. At 0:53-ish, he says, again “Data [long pause] I understand your objection.” Definitely and clearly, no “r” there. And at the end, he says “that will be all, Mr. Data.” No “r” that I can hear. [Here’s a clip where he _does_ use the linking “r.”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjuQRCG_sUw) Interestingly enough, the first time he says “Data is not,” he doesn’t use the linking “r,” but at 0:45 “so I’m sentient, but Commander Dater is not,” he does use the “linking r” to elide the words “data” with “is.” This is what you guys are hearing. It’s a “linking r” and is not used in standalone words or in connecting a vowel-ending word with the next one if the next word begins with a consonant sound (or if you simply don’t want to elide the word at all.) ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2018, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-pronunciation/820088/16 "2018-08-23T14:31:39Z")
Al-oo-_min_-ee-um? ---
**Author:** ![blob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blob/32/489_2.png) [@blob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blob)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2018, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-pronunciation/820088/17 "2018-08-23T14:33:50Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Al-oo-_min_-ee-um? It’s al-you-min-ee-um ---
**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:** [August 23, 2018, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-pronunciation/820088/18 "2018-08-23T14:42:43Z")
> [@blob](#): > > It’s al-you-min-ee-um And it’s also spelled differently, so it’s not just a matter of US vs UK pronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2018, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-pronunciation/820088/19 "2018-08-23T14:52:26Z")
Upper crust RP speakers would look down on the “linking r” and try to elocute it out of their young, though it’s become common in the more usual sense these days, as even royalty has picked up the more relaxed estuarine sounds. Really old stalwarts of the Raj would have called it “Indiah” (rather than the usual Indiuh we would hear today) ---
**Author:** ![MrFloppy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@MrFloppy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrFloppy)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2018, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-pronunciation/820088/20 "2018-08-23T16:02:42Z")
The car in the UK is a Jag-you-are. Which is correct. In the US it seems to be a Jag-wire. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-pronunciation/820088.md?page=2)