ATDTDA 757

[Michael Bailey]

On 2/22/08, Ya Sam wrote:
>
> "that difficulty with the prevocalic r typical of the British upper class". Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't it a feature of the Cockney accent to pronounce r like w?
>

more to be said there...
remember the "r" pronunciation of Pilate in Monty Python's _Life of Brian_?
There may be a suggestion of upper class decadence, in the
loose-lipped utterances.  What fun the hoi-polloi had in mocking
that - could Cockney "wanguage" be a covert form of ridicule?

Also, earlier in AtD, remember the r's transmuting to v's in NYC?

is this a case of more doubling - v to double v (also possible
references to V.?)

haven't tracked down the definitive reference, nor do I know any
uppercrust Britons, but here is some nice groundwork:

http://jennapetersen.vox.com/library/post/brought-to-you-by-the-letter.html
who wrote:
The letter R is one of the few consonant sounds that vary widely among
speakers; it is also one of the most difficult sounds to produce and
the last to develop in children. Lots of people are never able to
voice it exactly and are considered to have speech defects! ***

Dialects and languages can be rhotic (R-pronouncing) or non-rhotic
(R-dropping). For non-rhotic speakers there are very specific patterns
and times when the letter R is dropped and when it is not. Often,
extra Rs will be added where there are none....

British English is a mix of rhotic and non-rhotic dialects. Received
Pronunciation is a prestigious form used by the royal family (and
others) and the standard broadcasting dialect. Received Pronunciation
is non-rhotic. It is the stereotypical middle/upper class British
accent. British media are showing more linguistic diversity than
before.


*** Tangentially, I read somewhere that Lenin
never learned to roll his Russian R's properly