1672: Linking R Jul 13, 2019

It is easy to see that one sound can affect another in a single word—just listen to the difference in T between 'tail' and 'trail'—but this happens between different words as well. One example from English in the British sphere of influence is the linking-R. While an R at the end of a word like 'car' in London English is not pronounced (though the [a] is lengthened), but if the next element begins with a vowel, either a suffix like '-ing' or another word like 'alarm' for instance, then the R is pronounced clearly. There will be a video that gets further into this later this week, so make sure to subscribe here: Word Facts on Youtube