Regional variation

/ɹ/ around the English-speaking world

Where the speaker is from dramatically changes what happens to /ɹ/.

Loading map for /r/…

Rhotic accents (pronounce /ɹ/ everywhere)

• General American — the prevocalic /ɹ/ we've been practicing
• Irish English — similar to GenAm, slightly lighter
• Scottish English — tapped or trilled /r/, very different sound

Non-rhotic accents (drop /ɹ/ after vowels)

• British RP, Australian, NZ — "car" is [kɑː], no r. /ɹ/ still appears before vowels (red, right).
• Traditional NYC, Boston — non-rhotic in older speech; younger speakers tend rhotic.
• Traditional Southern US — some varieties drop post-vocalic r.

Key insight

Prevocalic /ɹ/ (at the start of syllables — what this course covers) is present in all major accents. The accent differences all happen to /ɹ/ after a vowel.

So practicing prevocalic /ɹ/ well means your "red", "right", "bread", "try" will be understandable to any English speaker.

Loading variants for /r/…