Definitions
Wiktionary
- adj. of an English accent Pronouncing the letter r wherever it appears, as in bar (/bɑːɹ/) and bard or barred (/bɑːɹd/); this trait is common in much of the United States, Canada, many parts of the north and west of England, Ireland, and Scotland.
- adj. Having the quality of the said letter. This includes the sounds of the IPA symbols /ɹ/, /ɻ/, /ɚ/, /ɝ/, and some would say /r/, or r coloring.
Etymologies
- Back-formation from rhotacism, coined by John Wells 1968 (Wiktionary)
Examples
“But my source (Roca and Johnson) doesn’t mention a glide in rhotic accents.”
“Canadian English is 'rhotic', i.e. r is pronounced in such words as art, door, worker. ...”
“Yet, I can hear a slight glide from the strong vowel to the schwa before the rhotic r is pronounced in these words in American English.”
“There are also new developments to be found in British English – did you know Shakespeare was rhotic?”
“Nor is it likely that they can switch between a South Carolina drawl and a non-rhotic New England accent.”
“As non-rhotics have been around for at least two hundred years, the current perpetrators of this horror (in his view) must have learned their errors from their parents, siblings and friends, just as he has learned his (presumably) rhotic ways from his.”
“Rhotic and non-rhotic are terms I never use coz they seem too sweeping etc.”
“By this is meant that some varieties of English pronounce all orthographic ‘r’, (the rhotic group), while others do not (the non-rhotic speakers).”
“Non-rhotic accents occur in most of England, the whole of Australia and New Zealand, South Africa, and some parts of the United States, notably New England and the South, although the position in US English is complicated and changing.”
“Actually, /r/ can occur pre-consonantally in “non-rhotic” accents.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘rhotic’.
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Word Words
This used to be my nym list, but there are so many words about words, I think it's time to expand and open.
acronym, antonym, aptronym, autoantonym, autonym, bacronym, capitonym, contranym, contronym, eponym, exonym, heteronym and 120 more...
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Another 250 Spelling Words
Another range of words from the intermediate to the advanced speller's level.
cherimoya, parthenogenesis, sommelier, bupkis, kichel, voulge, indivisibility, retiarius, sewellel, vihuela, ossature, jalfrezi and 238 more...
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Lyngwistix
semantic, semiotic, linguistic, etc.
lexeme, sonorant, prosody, monophthong, portmanteau, dithyramb, inflection, deixis, mondegreen, screed, persiflage, polysemy and 42 more...
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Words About Words
code-switching, amphiboly, hermeneutics, echolalia, boustrophedon, logorrhea, trope, harangue, shibboleth, rhotic, susurrous, metonymy and 6 more...
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There's a word for it
catkin, pastiche, badonkadonk, biome, omphaloscopy, pogonophobia, reptation, anathema, xyst, commodify, commoditize, monetize and 68 more...
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song & sound
susurrous, calypso, rhapsody, plosive, susurrus, rhotic, caterwaul, plashing, azan, syncopation, aria, neume and 15 more...
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TheWebWriter's list
Words that surprised me.
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chairmanK's list
eristic, eidetic, reticular, legshow, phytomorphic, ophidian, autumnal, frisson, rhizomatic, pulchritude, lubricious, veridical and 110 more...
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ifjuly's list
favorite words. some are made up injokes between me and my husband or family.
skein, zaftig, july, bed, orifice, aesthete, ink, parce-que, desormais, cake, pusillanimous, pulse and 531 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, R
retinol, rectory, rhubarb, rancor, recension, rood, redivivus, roborate, redound, ripsnorting, ragtag, recruit and 250 more...
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Rhedundant
rhesus, rhetoric, rhotic, rhythm, rhyme, rhapsody, rhea, rhinestone, rheumy, rhubarb, rhombus, rhizome and 2 more...
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Romeo
R
reify, rapine, retifism, rendezvous, rostrum, rhotic, recreant, roil, refulgent, repast, redoubt, redoubtable and 10 more...
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linguinteresting
linguisticly interesting
lexeme, periphrastic, snowclone, cornroll, irregardless, wholescale, slanguage, infixation, expletive, nonce, prosodic, reduplication and 26 more...
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thesaraheffect's list
words that taste good
watermark, ennui, vorpal, cellar, acquiesce, injudicious, injudiciously, shandyism, expediate, umbrage, ennui, color me... and 10 more...
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Words about Words, Language, Writing
dis legomenon, hapax legomenon, tris legomenon, tetrakis legomenon, longueur, mot juste, incunabula, incunabulum, portmanteau, mawkish, mawkishness, rhotic and 47 more...
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Charming
For various reasons.
taghairm, noctuary, autumnal, zephyr, ouroboros, schadenfreude, Zeitgeist, necrosis, glasnost, rhotic, plethora, eunoia and 25 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for rhotic.
thesaraheffect like the schwa the rhotic vowel is one of the reasons I dislike the sound of American English. I was born in the wrong country in the wrong decade. Sep 24, 2009
elgiad007 I see. Thanks for the clarification, rolig! Nov 20, 2008
rolig No, only with the way they are pronounced: the rhotic pronunciation (as in standard US) expresses the final r-sound: /'sɛntər/, whereas a non-rhotic pronunciation doesn't: /'sɛntə:/. It doesn't matter how the word is spelled. Nov 20, 2008
elgiad007 Does this have anything to do with the difference between the words "center" and "centre"? Nov 19, 2008