Re: USAGE: intrusive "r" [was Re: (Offlist) Re: ASCII IPA]
| From: | Roger Mills <romilly@...> |
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| Date: | Wednesday, August 21, 2002, 20:13 |
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Tom Wier wrote:
>For some reason, in America I associate this phenomenon
>exclusively with New England. Perhaps I've watched too
>much public television -- Norm Abram, originally on _This
>Old House_ and now doing his own public television show
>_The New Yankee Workshop_, has a very distinct intrusive
>"r". I don't think I've ever heard of Southern dialects
>with intrusive "r". I'd be curious to know if anybody's
>ever heard any.
>
New England, definitely. _South_ Dakota??? ;) The odd thing was that in my
(vintage 1940s) grade-school class of 30-some, there were maybe 2 or 3
offenders, and _idear_ was almost the only word where it occurred-- one
heard it from adults too. (Cuba not being a subject of much discussion in
those days). The usage tended to correlate with lower socio-economic
status, hence the opprobrium from teachers and other middle-class types.
Since their accents were otherwise standard midwestern, it's hard to see
where "idear" came from. Perhaps a survival from parents/grandparents who
may been migrants from New England.
(Incidentally the final -r was not just intervocalic; it was always there,
as in "Hey, that's a good idear!")
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