[iD=r] ~ [ajD=r]? (was: Re: French spelling scheme)

Roger Mills wrote:

<snip>

> English [ajDr=], 50 or so years ago at least, used to be considered Eastern
> (New York/Boston)-- as well as cultured, educated.   In the rest of the
> country (Mid-west especially) it was [iDr=], and [ajDr=] was considered an
> affectation.  That's less true nowadays, probably because of the generalized
> speech we've been hearing on TV for a long time.
>
> Very few people IME have [iDr=] ~ [ajD=r] in free variation, unlike
> "economics", where we might say it with initial /i/ in one sentence, /E/ in
> the next......

I have free variation between [iDr=] & [ajD=r], near as I can tell.
[ajD=r] is more common, but I do occasionally say [iDr=]. With
"economics", I pronounce that consistently with /E/.

For the record, I'm in Toronto. (but don't get to thinking my speech is
all that common in Toronto, though.)

--
Robert