North American English Pronunciation - dark /r/

The dark /r/ and dark /l/ are sounds made at the end of the word or syllable. To pronounce them both, contract the muscles at the root of the tongue, or the start of the throat where you have the uvula. To a native speaker of North American English, the dark /r/ sounds very different from the dark /l/, so be sure to listen carefully to them one after the other to understand what exactly the acoustic difference is.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• accent reduction
• pronunciation
• speech pathology
• English pronunciation
• accent neutralization
• dark r
• dark /r/

[pronunciationmeg]

Ha ha! Funny. Yes, my husband's from Boston and he loves to make fun of the accents. My /r/ is a little deeper than his. We both speak the standard, but north and south still sound different.

[bizarewigga]

sexy

[qureish1]

you are very good.

[btrueeth]

How do u pronunce rt words, example "quarter"?

[glocktwentyseven]

This is a bettah proceejah fah tannin' leathah.

See, even guys from Bawston can pronounce ah dawk ah's.

[pronunciaringles]

Mallomon, thanks for the reply.

[mallomon]

I think that's somewhat correct. I think, however, that in the case of "the car is...", we use both the "dark" /r/ to end the syllable, and the "light" /r/ to begin the next one. So it sounds more like "car-riz". The consonant is not "long" though... it's a short sound.

The same phenomenon happens with light vs dark /l/ sounds. "The hill is far" would use both the dark and light /l/ sounds, in that order. "hill-liz". Again, the consonant is "short". "Hill is" sounds different from "Hill Liz"

[pronunciaringles]

Great video!! Thanks.

I have a query about the /r/ in American English. Hope you can help me.

In standard British English, /r/ in syllable final position is not pronounced unless it precedes a word that begins with a vowel (linking r). Does this logic apply to the light-dark /r/? That is, should we use the light /r/ in "the car is parked" and the dark /r/ in "the car broke down"? Cheers, Iciar

[OrestNaruto7777777]

i like u and the way u pronounce ur R's, u can go rrrr rrrr like a wild cat on me.

u so hot

[iranfelipe]

OMG

fantastic

we brazilians don't have this R

thank you

[sergioanew]

Very interesting point you´re raising. I´ve always used the dark/clear opposition to refer to the other approximant, [ l ] . I´ve noticed that in all yr productions, your lips were rounded and somewhat tight. Do you think this lip setting makes a difference, I mean, in perceptual terms?