British extra R-sounds and why we don't hear them
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- Опубликовано: 20 окт 2024
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In which I seek to explain to both Brits and Yanks the phenomenon of the extra R-sound that we Brits often put into our speech.
Lindybeige: a channel of archaeology, ancient and medieval warfare, rants, swing dance, travelogues, evolution, and whatever else occurs to me to make.
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British extra R-sounds and why we don't hear them
/ user "Lindybeige"
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What I personally find especially strange is when Brits say "drawRing" instead of drawing. :)
omg the norwegian-canadian goth dude also watches Loyd! :D
Mike Mac are you sure?
19Anonymous33 I'm pretty sure he's polish.
Mike Mac Fair enough.
That's the same thing. British people just can't do those inter-vowel pauses well without interjecting a consonant.
It's Leviosa, not Leviosar
In communist Russia it is Rasoivel.
Nabman11 Wingardium leviosaaaaaaaa
Stop it Ron.
swish and flick
Nabman11 LOL
"It's just a cultural difference, and it's nothing to worry about."
Famous last words.
BUT the british way is better of course
@@carlislenightingale8853 L I E S ! S L A N D E R !
@@carlislenightingale8853 Why?
@@WhiteCamry because not being shouted at is far more civilised.
I found this to be a fascinating insight. It explains an awful lot about the European feelings towards Americans.
This made me laugh so hard when you said I'm sorry I was late as an American
He clearly has watched too much Seinfeld lol
crazy how when it comes to “idear”, turns out many british people talk like that
yet when it comes to “I’m SAAAAAAARRY I was LAYYYYYYT”, no one actually talks like that
i'm sorry i was late in American is just brandishing a shotgun about
I thought the same thing. Hahaha
Aesop's Games It was definitely reading more Tommy Wiseau for me.
It's funny to me. Brits put R sounds where there's none, and not where it is! ;-)
Yes. This using "R" to chain words together is almost exclusively the domain of non-rhotic accents, British, Australian, _and American_. The Brits add a twist, they sometimes use it inside of words as well. "Drawing", for an obvious example, turns into "Draw-ring".
And in America we add "yuh" between a's and n's, m's, and probably other consonants too.
Plus in America, rather than pronounce all of the vowels properly, we lazily approximate an "ugh" for most of them instead. :P
The same goes for the Boston accent. Car becomes caa. and idea becomes eye-deer.
some of the extras come down south when we go out and warsh the mud off the truck.
I'm from Massachusetts. So I have no idea what an R is.
i'm from florida so i have no idea what a consonant is
Me too! I feel like we are just too lazy and can't even be bothered to pronounce the R's.
I'm from Mississippi. I have no concept of the English language. What am I saying?
That's a Boston thing. I live out in Pioneer Valley out west. We always pronounce our R's. However, the "h" in Amherst is not pronounced by the locals.
Doc Holliday I'm from Maine and we also have no idea what an R is either. like I drive a cah not a car
The opposite is also true: English accents are non-rhotic, which means you'll drop R sounds at the end of syllables. Even this very video starts with you saying, "I've been made awahh..." This also happens with other non-rhotic accents, such as the Boston accent, which is commonly demonstrated with the sentence, "park the car in the Harvard Yard", or, "pahk the cah in the Hahvahd Yahd." (Please don't, though; it isn't a parking zone.)
Another thing I've noticed when it comes to strange subtle Rs is when Australians say "no". It sounds more like "noh-roo".
Yes, and then the R comes back if linked to another vowel, if we were to say 'Aware of' = 'Awehh rov'.
Generally true, but there are half a dozen rhotic English accents too: Cornish, Devon, parts of the south coast, Lancashire and a few isolated areas in between. It;s a fact often missed by Americans that throughout Britain, most large towns and counties have their own accent, so there are in fact dozens of 'British' accents. Most people could recognise and imitate ten or so, but there are a lot more than that.
***** and similarly, the English often miss that America has many accents, as well. It's amazing to think that people believe American accents are more unified than English, considering just how much larger the US is than England.
Nathan V Well, proportionally, they are, considering teh population and distances involved. In wales there are different accents for towns 50 miles apart. Still, it's true, I'm no afficionado, but even I could recognise say... 6 different US accents.
I want to attend an event hosted by Lindybeige just so I can approach him saying "I'm SAHRY I was LATE but I was CAUT in TRAHFAC"
@Michael Montgomery Thought it was pretty accurate
@@palt7036 It wasn't.
@@jakewagner7416 Thats at least how you sound to non-americans
@@palt7036 I sound how I speak, which isn't like this at all. I've talked with plenty of non-Americans, and this hasn't been their interpretation of how Americans sound. How he explains the way Brits would say the phrase is exactly how I, and every American I know, would also say it.
@@jakewagner7416 ok idc
you still sound weird
4:42 Hahaha yeah im pretty sure the only american who talks like that is jerry seinfeld.
What's the DEAL with TRAFFIC?
Hugh Jass hahahaha spot on!
And perhaps also William Shatner (though he's actually Canadian).
Yea he sounds really new york jew.
He has a terrible American accent, but I think he is right about the volume emphasis vs the clarity emphasis thing.
I work in the math department of a university, and the British professors all mumble at a constant volume, with certain words actually being articulated and others just kind of morphed into gibberish syllables.
Americans seem to pronounce everything more clearly, but have much more variation in volume.
so have you tried switching your voice box off and on again? :p
A glo[tt]al stop?
I'm British too. Surprised I didn't realise the R sound sooner xD
How didnt you notice lol
i did not either m8
Why it's called intrusive r. Well at least that's how they teach it.
Oh okay. I keep hearing "idea-r" when watching British shows. So this is why.
Yep in my Aussie accent "my idea is" becomes "my i-dear is".
it counters all the yanks who keep their clothes in their draws.
@@kenbrown2808 Huh? I've never heard of an idiot that pronounces drawers as draws. I can't think of a way that someone would possibly sound like that.
@@gabevietor3685 you ain't been out much, have you?
@@kenbrown2808 I guess not. What dialect is it? I have a midwestern accent, so which one talks like that? Is it one of those... Californians?!
The proper linguistic term for this is R-intrusion and it occurs when there is a vowel clash. The thing is that it's not really an R, but it's more of a transition sound that is created when the tongue switches position, and which our brain interprets as belonging to the /r/-phoneme.
@Sapien that would be a different vowel then, as far as I remember no realisation of /r/ is labiodental (lip+teeth). What you are probably 'using' is the labiodental approximant (look at bickus dickus from Monty python)
@Sapien Whats your native language?
this is why us real Enɡlish speakers remove the i in is
i did not hear a /r/ phoneme. the video does not conain any /r/. you mean /ɻ/
Now I wonder, what to do if a sound is at the end of one word and the same sound at the beginning of the following word. Stuff like /ʃ/ Usually I just try to avoid getting into the situation and replace one of them with a synonym. But maybe there is a better way.
That American accent holy hell XD
Lady Autumn I know, sounds like a bad accent from the 30s haha
Lady Autumn The best thing about Vampira is...
@Maxx Thats not a fake accent dude.
Maxx B True, but I laugh at them too!!
I said pretty much the same thing and then read your comment and lost it.
You're wrong on the American thing. When we're speaking casually, we use the same shortcuts in speech. "Sorry'm late, got 'cotton' (caught'n) traffic".
+CommanderCorner I was about to make the same comment. The biggest difference in pronunciation that I hear is in the speed of the stressed words (Americans tend to slow down on points of stress) and the glottal clipping of the "t" sound in "caught in". I wonder which American accent he's talking about here. We have loads of them.
+1980rlquinn You may hear the different accents, but most of us non americans don't ;)
+Commandelicious That's just not true. Unless you only watch Americans on television, but even then Jeff Foxworthy and Jimmy Fallon have very obviously different accents, just as much as Jimmy Carr and David Mitchell.
+epicRMiddleton Oh, I'm not saying we don't generally have increased volume. I'm saying that we don't bother enunciating either.
+CommanderCorner I heard someone explain it to me before, this whole speech thing. They said that if you took two Californians and compared how they talk to two people from Oklahoma (Oklahomans?), the people from Oklahoma would talk slower and the Californians would sound like avocados.
But really though Californians typically talk faster than those from the central U.S.
4:40 What a flattering impression, I'm sure the Yanks are thrilled.
The funny part is, I started to recognize him having an American accent. Sounds more mid-western, with a dash of Canadian though. And really over the top. I honestly think it's quite funny really.
@@gabevietor3685 Hey I don't throw stones at anyone for exaggerated accents and impressions. A laugh is a laugh.
@@MetalAsFork Yeah! It's really funny though. I really like his videos too. Also, might I say, your name and profile picture are amazing. I'm one of those Yanks, and I really like the joke. We're not all a bunch of angry piranhas that bite everyone and everything that doesn't align with us! Some are though, those people are weird.
@@gabevietor3685 I'd say it's less midwestern and more like a 50s era midwest. Idk, the midwestern accent is probably the closest modern equivalent though.
@@montanawalker8819 Exactly!
What's the ＤＥＡＬ with ＡＭＥＲＩＣＡＮ ＡＣＣＥＮＴＳ ？
*cue laugh track*
Nick Fessel Hahhahhaha, what's the deeaaallll
Americaraccents.
So *I'm* not the *only* one who *thought* he was doing a *bad* Jerry Seinfeld accent?😂
Yeah. Because we use to many R sounds and yet not enough.
kickyfut... I thought he was trying to be NYC Jew... I think he has watched too much TV and thinks that is what he thinks we all sound like. I been to the UK and think they do most of the same things that we do in the US, but they think when they do it, it is sophisticated or more natural. Europeans always think they don't all the same things we do even though they do and sometimes more offensively.
the best is when english people say "nar" instead of "no"
Marie Smith tim curry. I love it when he says it. Naaar lol
Plenty of us do that too. If I had a dollar every time I heard someone at school say "Nah, Miss!" I'd be rich before the end of the week.
Marie Smith nah
Nicole Russek not "nah", "nar"
I'm trying to say "nar" in my actual, English accent and I can't without sounding Australian..
"I am SORRY I was LATE, but I was CAUGHT in TRAFFIC" made me laugh so hard for some reason
Actually made me literally laugh out loud
Quite relieved :-) I am Indian, and started noticing this only recently with a British colleague's accent, and it had me worried. Initially I considered whether I could be developing some kind of brain issue where my brain adds extra sounds. He had also mentioned he has some outstanding dental work he has postponed -- and I considered may be his speech was affected by the tooth issue, for example, by interfering with tongue movement. This intrigued me so much so that I decided to search RUclips for it. Glad to see your video, and learn that this is normal and my concerns were unfounded.
"Sorry z late z caught n traffic"
I feel enlightened, I never before noticed myself saying this!
+TheVintageStuffGuy1998 What's really weird is when he said it, I could swear I heard him articulating each word.
+Rylan Edlin My guess for that is since we understand what he must have said given the context of the actual words he says we infer the words that have been compressed while he is making the transition sounds.
+Grand Duke -- THAAAT makes TOOOTAL SENSE thanks for ENLIIIGHTENING MEE!!
Rainbow Bubbles typical american...
+TheVintageStuffGuy1998 happy that they learned something? that's not typical here at all
As a non-native speaker I find English absolutely ridiculous. After many years of trying to understand spoken English, I pretty much got it by now, but it's been a long way. No matter if you're a Brit or American, or Australian or whatever, you all don't actually SPEAK a large portion of your sentences, so when a foreigner is trying to understand you, it's often a nightmare.
For some reason your letter "r" is actually a freakin VOWEL! How did that happen?! And then it gets worse. English is so unbelievably inconsistent with it's pronunciation, you can't just learn some rules and then continue absorbing new words. Oh no, you actually have to learn how to pronounce each word SEPARATELY. Just look at how you pronounce:
- beard
- heard
- heart
If a foreigner learns a word, and then finds a similar word and assumes it's pronounced analogically, he's going to be fucking disappointed, cause in English banana peels are all over the god damn floor.
Now obviously my native Polish isn't the easiest language in the world (quite the opposite, really), but at least it follows clear rules with minimal to no exceptions. These rules may be as complicated as your girlfriends emotional state, but once you learn them, there's no more surprises.
Think I'm gonna go study Japanese now, it's pronunciation is a piece of cake compared to English.
Agreed. If we only understood the grammar of our own language we might have a better chance at learning others. I speak slowly and enunciate around new English speakers. They have mentioned that they appreciate it.
same goes for italian(referring to the last part)
the problem is thouhgh, the more complex is a language when spoken, the easier is its grammar(most times) naturally, this means the opposite is also true, just look at italian and japanase, some of the hardest(or so they say) languages to learn, but they are extremely straight-forward in relation to how you speak them.
well, at least until you get in the torritories of special double letters(e.g. "ch" "gn" etc...) or dialects.
A rough-coated, dough-faced, thoughtful ploughman strode through the
streets of Scarborough; after falling into a slough, he coughed,
houghed, and hiccoughed. lol I like Bulgarian, it is what it is.
this is entirely true. American, especially, have a tendency to simply drop words from spoken English if we feel the meaning is clear from context.
ex "Where is your brother?" "bike." usually accompanied with a nod of the head or jerk of the thumb in the appropriate direction. in written form, the answer would come back as "He's on his bike out front."
and it gets even more confusing here in Southern California where we are heavily influenced by Mexican and Spanish culture so our everyday conversation can get peppered with Spanish words and such.
R is not a vowel love sorry
haha fnally someone addresses this!, also I've noticed it when brits say "I saw-R it"
If an American speaks the same phrase quickly also becomes I saw Rit.
danny slammy no it does not
@@dannyslammy4379 Ive never heard an American talk like that, except rare regional accents in the Northeast, which is ironically the region with the most influence from the British so...
They'd say I saait
@@dannyslammy4379 the main difference in "I saw it" would be the rhotic pronunciation is "I s-ahh it" whereas in RP it's "I sore it".
Hahahaha I teach this to foreign students...it's called intrusion
We also use an 'intrusive 'w' when the word ends in 'o' or 'u' or sounds related to those letters and the next word starts with a vowel.
And an intrusive 'y' when it ends in an 'ee' or 'i' sound again when the next word starts with a vowel.
E.G.
So 'w'easy
You 'w'aren't
And
We 'y'aren't
Lie 'y'on the sofa/couch
Honestly im having a hard time drawing a distinction between "so easy", "sow easy", "so weasy" and "sow weasy", same with the other examples. The 'w' seems to change nothing, maybe I have that accent too?
@@jek__ the "o' in 'so' is the diphthong /oʊ/. /ʊ/ is a vowel that's very close to /w/. So really, 'so easy' already contains the /w/, hence why you might not be able to tell the difference
As a child, a friend and I used to joke around with the ‘So weasy’ corruption of ‘So easy’. I didn’t realise it was a thing!
You just unlocked British English for me thank you!
Ha ha, Americans are substandard, ha ha ha, amirite guys?
Get over yourself, the rest of the world already has
its all the same
Absolutely! Bravo! (Seriously.)
*you're *worthy *which
When you said we put an R on the end of vowel words I was genuinely slightly outraged unconsciously thinking what complete bollocks.
Now I hang my head in shame as I speak along with the video.
AND THE SHORTENING EVERYTHING TO 'Z'S. This video is killing me
The accents aren't so much of a problem, but the choice of words in a phrase that I find astounding. I remember once sitting on a German train with some Brits. Me, being the only one with a watch. The nice young lady sitting across from me asked to be knocked up when we got there. O.o The look on my face must have been priceless as one of the other guys muttered something about bloody Americans, and then politely explained that she meant 'wake her up when we get there.'
+Q-Hack! This made me laugh today! Thank you! xD
+TheSamuraiPanda I should mention that this all took place some 35 years ago. I suspect that phrase has fallen from use.
+Q-Hack!
looked it up. it was very common until 10 years ago or so, and even then it, was on a decline since the 90s.
Those silly red coats and their silly words
+Fred H The old British meaning did at least make sense, you'd knock in someones bedroom door or window in the morning to wake them and get them up out of bed. Hence knocked up, made sense.
Back before the alarm clock there where professional "knocker-uppers" in Britain to make sure the workforce where in the factories on time.
How do we get from impregnated to knocked up though?
+Sagnus1
America.
"What about Jack?"
"'Fraid not. The first name ends with the same sound that begins the last name, so you either end up running them together - Jackrane - or you face the dreaded glottal stop. Jack-Crane. Jack-Crane. It's unpleasant for the throat." -Niles Crane
Why dreaded? I like the glottal stop.
@@paddor You have to know who Niles Crane is to find it funny
@@AlexTSilver could you explain or provide links for us to understand the reference?
@@caijones156 I believe he's a character out of Frasier, but outside of that I'm stumped. Based politcomp btw
We do the same thing here in Austraya...
***** mate I live as costal as you can get and everyone puts the extra 'r'. We also just get rid of a lot of 't's as well
The Yveltal Warrior or you just don't notice that you do. Then again I do live in WA and most people here (aside from boring people with office jobs) speak like bogans so there is that...
LoneW0lf11 same here in New Zealand.
I agree with LoneW0lf11. But I am from the east coast.
My missus is English and made me notice that I put r in the middle of words all my a sounds are r sounds carstle laurgh parss etc
Did you just call us loud and insinuate that we lack clarity?!
#triggered
John Jaeger To the untrained British ear, American accents are kinda loud and unclear, however I'm sure our accents sound kinda like that to you so don't be too disheartened ;)
+ChoccyMonster16 I'm sure that you sound strange to many Americans. I spent about a decade there though, so it makes sense to me. My own accent is a mix of English and American Southern.
John Jaeger Ahh nice! I'd love to visit America at some point xD
+ChoccyMonster16 Some parts are really nice, others not so much.
Clarity is not the word I'd use and some British accents are both loud and downright incomprehensible.
It's LeviOsa not LeviosaR :D
Stop it, Ron! Stoooop!
I remember a 70's ad: "we won't make a drama out of a crisis". It sounded just like "we won't make a dramarout of a crisis".
Sorry I'm late, caught'n traffic.
Ha, just noticed that I do the same thing sometimes, especially upon listening to the bacteria example.
bacteriar example
bacteriarexample
*blinks*
*says sentence to self*
*realises that one does this too*
This is like falling through the Matrix for me.
"blinks" wow that's some really interesting shit there, i didn't know someone like YOU would blink, after all.. you are the fucking gothic two step.
ROFL: "American" accent. You MADE my DAY.
TFW an American impression sounds like Jerry Seinfeild XD
This wasn't a comedy video. It was interesting and informative. However, at the end, for some reason, when I got to the bit about Christopher Walken I laughed harder than I have at any comedy video for the last month.
Add William Shatner to Odd Ones...
Yes.. me too!
If you liked that, you should look up the Walken comma meme.
Also Aussies do this as well.
Agapey also as well
Yay
Huzzah!
I personally like the R sounds. It is similar to southern drawl, where I'm from.
But omg that American accent was.. interesting
The reason it's similar to the Southern drawl is because the original people who settled the South moved there from the original New England colonies, before the great Westward expansion.
Likewise, the people in those New England colonies moved there from places in England itself.
Interesting how we're all connected. : )
I chuckled pretty hard at the "american" accent in this. Thumbs up.
I'm Texan and my wife is British, and I've called her out on this R situation a lot.
it just works
Yeah right. I think Texan drawl is great and am sure the two of you work just fine...
.. still married??!
Oh my God, that was the worst American accent I've ever heard. I cried a little.
+Level 58 Death Knight pretty spot on actually if he's imitating one of those older days comedians
Devin Mysyk I guess it's a little closer then. But still painful.
+Level 58 Death Knight reminded me a little of Hans Gruber trying to pretend he was from Texas in Die Hard. That or Jerry Seinfeld.
+Level 58 Death Knight Sounded half Romanian or something else I can't quite put my finger on, but not very "American" to me, for some reason. Nearly pissed myself, it was too funny. My head hurts like hell.
+Level 58 Death Knight It was comedy gold! XD
4:45 I love how he did that, I really cant be offended if he makes me laugh that much.
"Idear" instead of idea is really common, even for rhotic Americans.
+RadioactivFly Yes! "Datar" instead of "data" too and I'm pretty sure I've heard those "r's" at the end of a sentence, with no vowel following them. I've also heard Americans pronouncing "law" like "lawr".
*****
Well, I've never heard "datr" from an American. I have from Brits though. As for law, I've heard "lawl" from quite a few Americans.
+Scrotie McBoogerball +RadioactivFly I'm not a language expert, but America is much bigger than the UK...and regional areas within may or may not add "R"s to ends of sentences. I live near Chicago, and I always hear it when people add "R"s since very few people with a midwest accent do.
I think, the "lawr" sayers are mostly Americans with southern dialects. As for "datar" I've heard English speakers from every major English speaking area Americans, Australians and Brits pronouncing it like that, though most commonly Brits and Australians.
To me, the interesting thing is that in the video, he didn't address the "r"s, which do not link two words, but are terminal. Maybe he is not realising they are there too. My theory is that the schwa at the end of "data" and "idea" sounds very similar to the schwa of the "-er" suffix and for some native speakers, they just collapse into the same sound.
Being an Engineer, I hear the word "data" multiple times a day. The only people I have hear say "datar" are from the far east or far south, plus an Indian person or two.
I can say that I know southerners say "lawr" and "warsh" while I rarely hear those from people in my area (Chicago suburbs).
We don't just do it when a word ending in is followed by a word beginning with a vowel. (0:34)
There are a number of vowels that get the linking [r] appended.
/ɔː/ gets a linking [r] too. "Law and order", for example, would sound like "lore and awda.".
/ɜː/ gets a linking [r]. There's no [r] in "her car" but there is in "her apple".
There's also a linking [r] after centring diphthongs, /eə/, /ɪə/ and /ʊə/ (also /ɔə/ for dialects with this phoneme). So, whilst "there was", "here was", "the tour was" and "the boar was" have no [r], for example, "there is", "here is", "the tour is" and "the boar is" all have a linking [r]. The same goes for "the idea was" and "yeah that" verses "the idea is" and "yeah it".
It's not really a question of spelling. "Spa" and "sofa" both end in but the actual vowel is different, /ɑː/ verses /ə/. Both /ɑː/ and /ə/ would get a linking [r].
Another thing is that it doesn't just happen at the end of a word. It also happens in the middle of words. For example, "drawing" would sound like "droring".
+jimpozcaner Just on the "drawing" = "droring" part. Which accent are you referring to? US? UK? You really got me thinking about what I hear around here in Australia!
I'm honestly trying to think of how often I've heard people (aside from my American fiance) around here say "droring".
The version I hear most flows from the A straight to the I and sounds pretty much like the "oi" in "droid" when spoken fast. It's like... the mouth shape for the W is *almost* formed, then it just cops-out and flows into the I vowel sound instead, with the R never being "bitten down" on? Maybe occasionally with a slight glottal stop depending on the person and area... I think it's a pretty regional difference though, as I live in a country area. We tend to kill consonants wherever possible, even when they're written (i.e. "Car" = "Kaah", not "Kahr"). haha
Yasmin Weaver I've pretty much got my own Sydney accent in mind.
So would you say "drawing" and "clawing" rhymes with "boing", "boring" or neither?
jimpozcaner
Ahhh, cool.
Thinking about it, both "drawing" and "clawing" rhyme with each other, but neither rhyme with "boing" or "boring". They sound like they're midway in between those two? The two syllables are there like in "boring", just without the connecting R. Or maybe the R actually is there, but it's so rushed over/slurred that it sounds like it isn't.
Weird little regional (*cough* bogan-ish *cough*) differences, hey? lol
Yasmin Weaver That's very interesting. To me "drawing" and "clawing" rhyme with "boring", "pouring", "flooring", "mooring", "scoring", etc. Is it just me, is it a regional thing or what?
I really have no idea, but I think it's interesting too. :)
I'm SORRY I was LATE, I was CAUGHT In TRAFFIC! >:(
When I read this sentence, I just can't help not imagining Michael Scott saying it.
This is the best explanation for that R that I (an American) have heard for decades. I knew that the British didn't think there was an R at the end of the word, but I was certain I was hearing it, and you've just given me the first rational explanation for why.
How about the Brits who pronounce the 'th' sound as an 'f'? As in, "One, two, free, four...". This one drives me nuts way more than the extra R.
NorthernChev London
@johnny panic - London. As in, this is most commonly heard from Londoners? Any historical reason as to why some use that pronunciation? Not being judgemental and with respect, I comment that I, personally, associate the pronunciation of the "th" sound as an F as both lazy and low-class. It has a certain uneducated ring to it. I am certain this may not be the case, but it sure seems like it when you hear it. Any thoughts?
It's a feature of several regional British accents, like a south east London, cockney, Bristolian, or other West Country ones (probably others too). People with heavy versions of these accents are often stereotyped as working class and lazy, but it's more of a cultural association than an actual thing that shows someone's intelligence level, I'd say.
NorthernChev agree with ellen that its very much a regional cultural thing not about education, same with how you pronounce certain vowels in words; regardless of what you know to be RP your pronunciation follows what feels natural based on surroundings yk
NorthernChev He is a fucking fief!! - Barry "The Baptist".
THANK YOU! Seriously, I kept hearing those Rs and thought I was crazy :D
Your American accent was the best part of this video.
Oh dear. I will strive to make better ones.
Agreed. It's always great/horrible fun to hear how one's accent sounds to other people.
Lindybeige That American accent sounded like an elderly jewish man from Florida.
The accent Lindy did was all I could hear when I was talking to a Londoner with a deep posh RP accent at the bus stop one morning.
Is this also why you put an R in the middle of some words?
An example being "Draw(r)ings"
Aye, it's the same thing - it's just about moving your mouth less when saying things but still ensuring you're not mis-understood.
You know you're fluent in a language when you start being lazy in your use of it.
That made me laugh with its truthfulness.
I know plenty of first-language U.S.-English speakers who are so linguistically lazy that I can't even call it 'fluent'
That's a shower thought if I ever heard of one
True
American here. I say "America is" with my voicebox on the whole time with no R sound.
zeke1220 At speed, I'd bet it sounds like, "America's". Or maybe you kind of use a diphthong to connect them?
I do the same thing. Where it sort of just sounds like "America's." Are you from the South? I always felt like I had a generic US accent but this suggests otherwise...
I use diphthongs to connect lots of things.
I live half an hour from Boston, but I don't sound like it.
Actually, in lot of words that start with vowels use a glottal stop. That's the same silent "sound" that causes the gap between "uh" and "oh" in "uh-oh"; basically, it's catching the air in your throat. So if someone were to really say "America is", a lot of us would include that tiny little silent bit just before saying "is". In fact, that little gap is kinda important to help define word boundaries, since words like "is" easily stick onto other words without it. In regular speech "America is" becomes "America's" and "you are" becomes "you're" without that glottal stop.
The way you pronounced American way of speaking was way too hillarious.
It weird because its different than his other american accent
Well, assuming there are dozens of different accents just from the same nations...
ChlepZeSzynkom Oh I know, i just figured that the same person, Lindy, doing the same general accent, American, would sound relatively similar
Well common sense suggests that too. :D
It put me in mind of Henry Fonda.
I've heard Brits add R's to words all my life. I've always wondered why. If you speak French, they do this in a way as well. For example, the words "vous avez" which means you have (either plural or formal) the S on the end of vous is not usually pronounced so it's like "voo". However since the next word (avez) starts with a vowel, the S is pronounced. It is the same with any other words when one word ends in a vowel sound but actually ends in a consonant and the next word begins with a vowel. It makes saying the two words much easier. I get it.
I am American and have not honestly noticed that you make this additional sound until you made this video and I believe that I somehow also filter it out. If you heard me speaking in my videos, you would likely have noticed a New York accent and I now wonder which colloquial origination are the people who notice you making the R sound? Do other New Yorkers also filter out your R sound? It's very interesting to me.
They're called 'rhotic' and 'non-rhotic' dialects. Most British dialects are rhotic, and most american ones are not. New England accents/dialects tend to be closer to English ones, for obvious reasons, with Boston being the epicentre. Another interesting one is Mary, merry, and marry; most Americans pronounce them identically, but in Britain and Boston they are distinct.
I'm from New York but I speak to British people daily so maybe I don't count. Either way, I don't hear it.
Hamish Milne
In regards to rhotic vs non-rhotic, actually, it's the opposite. Non-rhotic ("no r") tend to drop the r sound, while rhotic ("has r") keep the r sound.
Hamish Milne
You mean most English dialects are rhotic and most American are not?
Yes, that's exactly what I believe I said? British dialects are rhotic, they add in the 'r' sound discussed in this very video.
It's called "intrusive R"
Isn't that linking r?
@@DaroZuo Linking r = when a word has an r at the end, and it's only pronounced before a word beginning with a vowel
Examples: "I cooked dessert for you" - the r in "for" is silent
"I cooked dessert for Ellie" - the r in "for" is pronounced
Intrusive r = when a word has a vowel at the end (and no r), and the transition between two vowels 'creates' an r from nothing
Examples: just like in the video
According to Wikipedia this is called _intrusive R_ and is officially incorrect.
So is "sorry z late z caught n traffic"
More Wikipedia:
_These phenomena first appeared in English sometime after the year 1700_
Well who's the "official" in this context. Because a linguist would just assume it as a trait of a different dialect, not "incorrect."
Actually now I'm not sure now where I got "officially incorrect" from. The Wikipedia article doesn't seem to say it.
The wikipedia says "it was still stigmatized as an incorrect pronunciation."
Had a linguist actually called it officially incorrect, I'd lose my cool.
American: Sorry I was late, Ididn't realise the war had started
You can easily straighten the picture by tilting your screen 30 degrees to the right. You're welcome.
Thanks, one out of 30 pictures is straight. You just made my life 90% more miserable.
(ignore numbers and percentages, i don`t even try to be mathematically correct)
***** takes one to know one
TheRomanRuler try blacking out the rest of your screen with black marker pen
ixtl guul Each of your ideas is better than the last.
Oddly enough, I'm lefthanded and I was tilting the screen to the left, which made me not realize the video was tilted because I was already expecting it to be tilted by myself.
I heard an american on the radio this morning talking about the "oddermun empire". It took me a full 30 seconds before I realised he meant the OTTOMAN EMPIRE.
+Mandolinic See also "Harry Podder".
+redo348 That is hilarious. I can't say it isn't true.
+FuckYouGoogle Two countries, divided by a common language ;-)
+Roтary but somehow still put emphasis on the space of the missing "t"
I have watched British TV my whole life and this cleared up an age old question that I have wondered about for years. Thanks Lloyd!
Actually Lindybeige, I'm from Norway and I never realized you end those word with a subtle R, so I guess it's just the nit-pickers :)
Me neither.
I'm from Germany and I've never noticed that either. I suppose people whose first language is English hear those nuances more clearly.
yup.
Of course you didn't realize that he is speaking wierd. You are from Norway, all of you are speaking wierd.
Greetings from Sweden. =)
gurkfisk89 well, Swedish is weird to us Norwegians too!
I am Swedish and I -don't- didn't hear that R... Now I do... Thank you for ruining my life... :-P
Haha
This was a really interesting video! I can't resist quibbling with the American example at the end, though... I can't imagine anybody speaking that way! A more realistic example would be, "Sorry I'm late! Got caught in traffic." Possibly dropping the "got," or reducing as far as "Sorry! Traffic," depending on context. And IMO there would be more pitch/tone variation than volume, though I can see how that would get confused.
Cracked me up
It's been a few years now and all of my English (EFL) students have to watch this video. Thank you so much for it! :)
I head it as "sorry was late, was caught in traffic". But some parts were shorter and less pronounced...
It’s weird because I would say “‘sorry I’m late, was stuck in traffic”
I find it interesting that brits are more likely to nix “I was” rather than swap it with “I’m”
Oh my I just noticed I do this... wow... never mind all my friends are British so they don't even notice it.
yraco it's mikasa not mikasR 😉
Don't worry mate, we all do it. And come to think of it, also an extra Y between E and A such as 'we all', ain't that interesting
laughed so hard at your American impression
almost like a sarcastic Al Pacino
Seriously, I've never heard anyone talk that way.
Well, I was searching for an explanation of the added british "r" that's always puzzled me. I'm semi-satisfied, however... I've also heard it commonly added to the end of multiple words that end with an "a" regardless of the following word or letter, sometimes not even having a following word.
Example 1: "What happens to a large star at the end of its life?"
"It goes super nover"
Example 2: "Do you know that ladies name?"
"Amander"
I've honestly heard these examples. Thank you for the informative video. I'm alot closer to understanding the pronunciation than I was prior to watching. Thank you.
I actually hear a lot of Americans do the whole shortening many words to "z", and "n" thing as well. In fact, I myself do it. I think it sort of depends what region of the U.S. your from. What you described with the emphasis via volume is something I'd associate, as an American, with northern accents like New York, New Jersey, and Boston.
There are many different forms of the American version of English. Hey, have you ever tried to have a conversation with someone speaking pure Glaswegian? No disrespect intended.
Thing is, despite many claiming to be speaking the correct version of English, we all muddle on. Dam sight better than all trying to muddle on in French hahahahahahahaha
I’m like to see how Lloyd would analyze a Southern (U.S.) dialect. I have always thought it has a similarity to Irish English with some French influence. But, I’m not linguist.
Something interesting I heard once is that what most people think of as an “American accent” is what used to be the common British accent, and what we think of today as a British accent was started by the aristocracy or royalty to seem special, even everyone over there eventually caught on to it.
Anyone know if that’s true?
It's not true. Most linguists now acknowledge this assumption was a mistake. There are loads of regional accents in Britain, none of which sound anything like the nasal whiney modern American accent.
JohnyG29 “nasal whiney American accent”
*forgets America has dozens of accents, and the “generic” American accent is about as vanilla English as possible*
Apparently a West Country accent is probably a better approximation, though I can see a lot of similarities, especially with the rhoticity
Not true. The best example of older english accents are found in the many regional British accents.
Look up Shakespeare in original pronunciation
No it sounds different
It was interesting breaking this all down when I did a Teaching English as a Foreign Language course - made me think how we actually "speak" English, and yes - you explain it well. Always liked how Marylebone Road becomes shorter and shorter the closer you live to it, ending up like "M'bun". We really do contract sentences down to the bare essentials.
love your videos! I'll have to critique your American dialect though, as we take just as many shortcuts when speaking - if not more. We wold not say "I'm sorry I was late, but I was caught in traffic." We wold say something like "Sorry I'uz late, I'uz stuck/caught'n traffic."
I'm fascinated with how both dialects cut sentences short. for example, when asking if another person comprehends what was just said by you, or even as a pointless sentence filler such as "like":
British: Do you know what I mean? - "D'jomean?"
American: Do you know what I am saying? - "Nomsayin'?"
Austin Henning its more like jana'mean or na'mean.
10 years with the Brits (Army)... I can't even hear the accent any more... just sounds natural when I hear English peeps... however, now my Canadian/Yank accent reverberates in my own ears... I find myself taking the piss outta myself and my terribly obnoxious accent... Very odd... But, I love the diversity... Could you imagine if we were all the same and how utterly boring and drab this planet would be... Will be...
'A historic' is correct.
'An 'istoric" is arguably correct.
'An historic' is blatantly incorrect.
+JustOneAsbesto
That last one made me cringe.
English is an absolutely wonderful Frankenstein's monster, love child of a language.
+JustOneAsbesto It's hypercorrect!
+JustOneAsbesto The choice of A or AN has NOTHING to do with how the word that comes after it is spelled, but _how it is pronounced_. I would say a historic, because I pronounce the H. However, i would also say 'an hour' because I do not pronounce that h.
If you have an accent which does not pronounce the H in historic, then the correct way to say it would be an historic. Like it or not.
Richard Smith "'An 'istoric" is arguably correct." - JustOneAsbesto.
i had a 20 minute conversation with my british friend about this and he acted like he didnt know what i was talking about but because of you, lindybeige, i know im not crazy.
Bostonians drop their 'R's and they have to go somewhere.
😂
It is absolutely imperative that you not think of the tune "Rule Britannia" for the next 24 hours.
Don't do it.
Stop thinking "Rule Britannia"!
I don't.
Rule Britannicar-see your local dealer for the latest offer
WE'RE not LOUD and AGGRESSIVE!
In all seriousness, though, I never noticed that we emphasize the key words in a sentence , but I think you're right. At least I seem to do it. I'd guess that it gives our accent something of a lilting quality.
I'm having a really hard time noticing this but I would assume it's very likely since Brits filter out them using the R sound where it isn't needed.
I think he was exaggerating a little. All native speakers not matter where they're from will use shortened forms or gloss over grammar words and other structural elements of sentences, while stressing the content words in the message. If they didn't they wouldn't be fluent native speakers.
Thanks for this video, I asked Simon Whistler the same question I've never received a response.
'champagne supernova' by oasis is a good example of what you have explained.
When he says '...supernova, a champagne supernova...' there is no trace of an 'r'.
But when he says '...supernova in the sky...' the 'r' is as clear as day, it least to me.
I don't know when exactly this started to become a focal point for me but once you hear it it's really hard to unhear it.
I heard someone say "drawing" as "drawring." Jolly good though, chap.
@@deiniolbythynnwr926 But "w" isn't a vowel
Drawing sounds like you have speech impediment
@@nowandaround312 technically no letter is a vowel.
@@King-balloon That is actually what it is. I knew someone who is American that spoke with a British accent when really he just had a speech impediment.
American Southerners tend to use a lot of contractions and we slur our words together. The Southern drawl. I'll attempt to render it as phonetically as possible.
“Sorry m'late, ah got cotn traffic.”
Comparative linguistics is fun!
The Southern accent is actually derived from the 1800s British accent, so no surprises there!
Mockingbirch
Even earlier, according to an episode of QI I saw... The Southern drawl apparently came from British royalists who fled to the colonies to avoid persecution after the English Civil War, so 1600s
Supposedly certain Southern Accents sound more like the British of the 17th and 18th centuries than the modern British do.
EvilTwinn Why would modern brits STILL sound like brits from the 17th and 18th century, language evolves.
abarai2007 I made no claims here.
Jesus now I realise Australians do it to, or at at least I do.
Allot of Australians do do it, Australian and English accents are quite similar New Zealand aswell.
Why did you do this to me New Zealand? Was it something I said? Why did you remove the flag?!
50% Banana
Probably was something you said...
Depending on where you're from in New Zealand when you said "come and sit on my deck" to a foreigner I believe you would have gotten a slap! XD
+Sean “TheExtraGuy” Hixon
I think even that depends on where in New Zealand you're from - or at least what kind of group you're from, because my ears absolutely shrivel up and die every time I hear that "deck - deeck" accent on TV and I'm from here. 0_0
+Kalin Soden Starmart changed its name to the 24 hour fux but they still dont sell fush and chups...
+Ei aC
I was wondering where Starmart went.
Loved this. I always find it funny how us Brits can answer a yes or no questions with "Oh, yeah, no..." plus any extra "yeah"s and "no"s and the person asking us will still know which answer we mean.
now i feel bad for foreigners that talk to me. I must scare the shit out of them.
I watch a lot of English/British/UK videos and hear the "R" add phenomenon all the time and just have got used to it. Rob Chapman and Lee Anderton do this so much and are not even aware. Rob especially. "...when I have an idear of traveling to Americar to eat pastar and sauce..." lol
smacman68 Thumbs up for a fellow Chappers fan
James Russell Rob and Lee are great. I not only do I learn but I get a good laugh as well. That is a win-win
You know what's so mad about this (just realised): the extra "r" is preventing a glottal stop between the two vowel noises, but elsewhere in British English we put glottal stops INTO words which don't need them! "Water" is an infamous example, which baffles my second-language friends - why would Brits make such an important word into "Wuo-err" or "Wuo-ah"! Madness!
justcomments only londoners and South East England do this though. Glottal t's are a linguistic marker for cockney English. North doesn't swallow the t's. They do say "water".
Totally Legit Gaming [TLEG] I wouldn't say that. No T's in Newcastle either, especially in the middle of words. Some examples are buh-ah (butter) , war-ah (water), toe-ully legi gaymin (totally legit gaming) and loh-ry (lottery)
It would be amazing if one day these glottal stops evolved into the letter “R”, such as “warer” instead of “water”.
Totally Legit Gaming [TLEG] hate to tell you, i live in the north and know many, many people who dont say t's in words like water.
I have been trying to figure out a fairly common South Carolina (USA) speech pattern for a long time and could never quite put my finger on what it was, but that is it precisely. Thanks!
THANK YOU for making this. I've been in a couple conversations where this has come up and I've been a bit anxious to collect samples of this happening. Now I have somewhere to point people to!
I think we do the same in Australia
Holy shit I cant believe I do this.
"Ba-NAR-na" always makes me laugh when I hear it.
I laugh when i hear Bernayyyna. :D.
I found this video by searching for it (as an American) because this always bothered me a bit! Now that you’ve explained it; I appreciate it 😭 I will never ask or be annoyed about it again 😂 great explanation
4:42 ohmygod. if only americans actually spoke this way. lovely.
i love how when we tried to emulate the american he sounded exactly like foreign characters speaking english in anime
People from New England still have that particular linguistic quirk, too.
was just about to say i am from the new jersey and people speak with the "r"s there as well
You said my name?
Lol. Your American certainly seems New England area. People always forget the U.S. is closer to Europe in size. The inflections and dictions vary greatly.
Great video. May this channel continue for a long time to come!
Is it kind of like the 'liaison' we do in French?
Oui, c'est exactement ca
It's a little bit like the -t- in "Y a-t-il ...?" except we don't write it down.