Rhoticity in English

One of the most noticeable features of English dialects is the pronunciation of post-vocalic /r/. Rhotic speakers pronounce the consonant in words such as dark and word, but non-rhotic speakers do not. Evidence from written documents suggests that the loss of post-vocalic /r/ began sporadically during the 15th century.

For non-rhotic speakers, the historical vowel plus /r/ is now usually realized as a long vowel. This is known as compensatory lengthening. However, a final schwa usually remains short as in the word weather. In many accents such as Received Pronunciation the high vowels [i] and [u], when followed by an /r/ become diphthongs ending in a schwa. The same happens to diphthongs such as tire and sour in which the /r/ is replaced with a schwa.

Variably rhotic accents, in which speakers sporadically waver between rhoticity and non-rhoticity, are common in many varieties of Caribbean English such as the Bahamas and Guyana. Many residents of Boston and New York also have variably rhotic accents.

All English dialects can be classified as rhotic and non-rhotic. However, a number of speakers have variable rhotic accents. The loss of post-vocalic /r/ was first documented in the 15th century and is now common in the English of Australia, England, New Zealand and Wales.