When is the r silent ?

When is the r silent ? (1)

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When is the r silent ?
Message de jasmine72 posté le 12-11-2007 à 16:21:21
HelloThe letter r is sometimes pronounced & sometimes it is silent.Is there any rule? Thank you for your answers.

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Modifié par lucile83 le 12-11-2007 16:36

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Modifié par bridg le 25-07-2008 12:31

Réponse: When is the r silent ? de marlond, postée le 12-11-2007 à 18:13:19
Can you think of some example of when you think the 'r' might be silent?

Silent letters are often at the beginnings of words (but not 'r') and you just have to learn them, really. Off the top of my head:
silent P: psychology, psychosis, psalm (don't pronounce p)
silent G: gnome, gnaw
silent K: knife, knickers
silent B: debt, subtle

Here's a more exhaustive list: Lien Internet

Do you perhaps mean the silent 'r' in French? e.g. Parler vs parleur (well, almost)?

marlond

Réponse: When is the r silent ? de TravisKidd, postée le 13-11-2007 à 01:51:52
The "r" is silent only in British English, where everything is backwards! ("Bigger" is pronounced "Bigga" but "Africa" is pronounced "Afriker"!!)

Actually, it is also silent in the Boston accent, where one "pahks" one's "cah" in the "pahking lot".

Réponse: When is the r silent ? de jasmine72, postée le 13-11-2007 à 17:35:07
Sorry Traviskidd but Africa is pronouced frik.

Réponse: When is the r silent ? de marlond, postée le 13-11-2007 à 17:49:00
Yeah, I'm a native speaker of fairly standard British English and I don't pronounce Africa as 'Afriker' - maybe some regional accents might, but none that spring to mind. True, though, that we say 'bigga' for 'bigger' so that bigger rhymes with Africa. Sorry I can't do this with phonetic symbols!

marlond

Réponse: When is the r silent ? de TravisKidd, postée le 13-11-2007 à 20:17:15
My mistake then. I remember a professor -- who I believe was British, but may have come from another Commonwealth country -- who pronounced the Greek letter "beta" as "beater". I suppose I generalized a bit too far.

At any rate, the pronounciation of "bigger" as "bigga" is a case of a silent R, which would provide an answer to the original question.

Réponse: When is the r silent ? de bright, postée le 24-11-2007 à 18:36:24
'far' the 'r' is silent ,also there is the rotic accent like the 'r' of the americans

Réponse: When is the r silent ? de denia57, postée le 05-12-2007 à 16:58:45
I. Words ending with an "r"

The American 'r' is always pronounced when it is at the end or a word. For instance, 'better'. (also called 'rhotic')

The British final 'r' is sometimes pronounced and sometimes not. For instance, if you say 'the bigger is' you have to link the two words. In this case, you pronounce it.
So the general rule is that when the 'r' is followed by a vowel (i/e/a), you have to pronounce it.

But if it's not (non-rhotic), like in 'the bigger house', you reduce the final syllable to schwa (i.e.)== (not sure if the phonetic symbole is visible...)

II. Other words

Though, there are other cases in which the 'r' is pronounced, even if it the word in question does not end with an 'r'! It is called 'intrusive r'.
Like in 'Ada and ...' You have to add an 'r' between the two words. This is an epenthesis.

Hope it will help!

Denia

Réponse: When is the r silent ? de TravisKidd, postée le 05-12-2007 à 20:27:51
Maybe it is this intrusive R, then, that I was referring to when I said that "Africa" was pronounced "Afriker" in Britain.

This intrusive R does not exist in American speech (at least, not to my knowledge). If R is written, R is pronounced, and vice versa. (The exception of Boston has already been noted.)

Réponse: When is the r silent ? de trainer, postée le 25-07-2008 à 09:52:33
Every letter in English is some time or the other silent.

Réponse: When is the r silent ? de trainer, postée le 25-07-2008 à 09:52:35
Every letter in English is some time or the other silent.

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