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In New England and other dialects of English, the r sound of words like car or poor can be dropped. In these words, the r is not pronounced, so that these words sound like "cah" and "po'." However, not all r sounds can be dropped. In some places in a word, the r sound may be dropped and in other places it may NOT be dropped. By comparing lists of words where the r may be dropped with lists of words where it may NOT be dropped, we can figure out a pattern for r-dropping.
List A gives words where the r may be DROPPED.
LIST A. 1. car
2. father
3. card
4. bigger
5. cardboard
6. beer
7. court
List B gives words where the r sound may NOT be dropped. In other words, speakers who drop their r's in List A, pronounce the r in the words in List B.
LIST B.
1. run
2. bring
3. principal
4. string
5. okra
6. approach
7. April
To find a pattern for dropping the r, look at the type of sound that comes before the r in List A and in List B. Does a vowel or a consonant come before the r in List A? What comes before the r in List B? How can you predict where an r may or may not be dropped?
In List C, pick those words that may drop their r and those that may not drop their r. Use your knowledge of the r-dropping pattern that you learned by comparing List A and List B.
LIST C.
____ 1. bear
____ 2. program
____ 3. fearful
____ 4. right
____ 5. computer
____ 6. party
____ 7. fourteen
Think of two new words that may drop an r and two new words that may NOT drop an r.
MORE ABOUT R-DROPPING PATTERNS
In the last exercise we saw that r dropping only takes place when the r comes after a vowel. Use this information to pick those words in the list that may drop their r and those words that may not drop their r. Tell why the words can or cannot drop the r.
Review List
____ 1. pear
____ 2. practice
____ 3. teacher
____ 4. rich
____ 5. board
Now we are going to look at the kinds of sounds that may come AFTER the r in some dialects of English. This pattern goes along with the one you already learned. Let's see if we can figure out the pattern.
Here are some words where the r may NOT be dropped even when it comes after a vowel.
List A: Words that do NOT drop R
1. bear in the field
2. car over at the house
3. garage
4. caring
5. take four apples
6. pear on the tree
7. far enough
What kinds of sounds come after the r in List A? Are they vowels or consonants?
In List B the r MAY be dropped. What kind of sounds come after the r in this list?
List B: Words that Drop R
1. bear by the woods
2. car parked by the house
3. parking the bus
4. fearful
5. take four peaches
6. pear by the house
7. far behind
How does this pattern or rule for r-dropping work in terms of sounds that come after r?
Use your knowledge of the rule for r-dropping to pick the r's that may and may not be dropped in the sentence given below.
1. The teacher picked on three students for an answer.
2. Four cars parked far away from the fair.