Among Friends

[SeaMaiden]

"Idea" OR "Idear" ?

I say " Idea"

it is odd to me to hear it said  as" Idear"

I have always lived on the west coast....maybe it is a west coast thing😄

Here is a pretty good explanation of Why some words end with an "R"

Q: Where does the additional “r” sound come from when people in certain areas of the Northeast want a drink of “soder” or think of an “idear”?

A: This “r” business is a bit more complicated than you might think. The short answer is that the addition of an “r” sound at the end of a word like “soda” or “idea” is a regionalism and isn’t considered a mispronunciation.

Here’s the story.

In English words spelled with “r,” the consonant used to be fully pronounced everywhere. But today, some speakers (particularly in certain parts of England and the Eastern US) give “r” its full sound only before a vowel, either in the same word or in the word immediately following.

Take the word “better” as an example. These speakers pronounce it bettuh, but they add the “r” if a vowel sound follows. For example, the same speaker would say, “I’m bettuh paid,” but “I’m better off.”

To use another example, the same speaker would say, “New York isn’t fah,” but “New York isn’t far away.” Such speakers are basically using the “r” to link what they pronounce as two vowel sounds. Linguists have called this phenomenon the “linking r.”

Because of the tendency to pronounce an “r” when it occurs between vowel sounds, many of these same speakers go a step more and add an “r” where it doesn’t belong, once again between two vowel sounds.

Linguists call this the “intrusive r,” and that’s what you hear when someone says, “My soder [soda] is flat.” The “r” is inserted AFTER words ending in “uh” sounds just BEFORE words starting with vowels. So the same speaker would say things like this:

(1) “My old sofa died,” but “My new sofer is great.”

(2) “That’s a bad idea,” but “That idear annoys me.”

(3) “England and America joined,” but “Ameriker and England joined.”

(4) “The law says so,” but “It’s the lawr of the land.”

(5) “Tuna grills nicely,” but “Tuner is my favorite fish.”

This explanation of the “linking r” and the “intrusive r” is greatly simplified. Some speakers will add “r” more generally, pronouncing “idea” and “soda” as idear and sodereven at the end of a sentence. And some speakers will drop “r” more generally, saying things like bettuh and faheven before vowels.

But this should give you a general idear about what’s going on!

[proudlyfromNJ]

I grew up in NJ and NY. I don't put an R on the end of words. Idea is idea to me and the people I know. I'm sure some do speak with an R at the end of the word, I just don't know them.ETA, I do say cawfee.

[phoenixbrd]

Well I'm a word nerd so I loved this lengthy article....there can be regional differences for pronunciation of words.  Thanks for the explanation of the intrusive r and the linking r, interesting.

[manny2]

I have always been an east coast girl, and it is Idea. I have heard people add the "r" to the end of some words. I think it's a regional thing, and a certain dialect, and how they hear, and then pronounce the word. 

[phoenixbrd]

@proudlyfromNJ   When I worked in Manhattan, often there was a misconception of how all people from New Jersey spoke.  Regional areas can make a difference, but more importantly your family/friends are going to make a major impact and determine how you speak and pronouce words.

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@proudlyfromNJ wrote:

I grew up in NJ and NY. I don't put an R on the end of words. Idea is idea to me and the people I know. I'm sure some do speak with an R at the end of the word, I just don't know them.ETA, I do say cawfee.

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[proudlyfromNJ]

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@phoenixbrd wrote:

Well I'm a word nerd so I loved this lengthy article....there can be regional differences for pronunciation of words.  Thanks for the explanation of the intrusive r and the linking r, interesting.

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@phoenixbrd  There's definitely regional differences. After more than thirty five years knowing him, I still get a kick out of listening to my brother in law born and raised in Boston speak.

[BoopOMatic]

I say "idea."

My mother and old-timey ladies say "idee."

[Foxxee]

I was born, raised, moved to other states, and now once again on the east coast, northeast to be specific.  

Some have heard me say this before, but for those who haven't, I was taught Standard English, also called Newscasters English. 

My English teachers at the time told us it was the proper way to speak English. I thought all schools taught Standard English, but maybe not.  We didn't put r's at the end of words when they weren't spelled with an r.  Idea was idea, not idear.

Saying this may sound a bit "snotty" because those who speak this way think it's also proper English.  The northeast has a lot of distinct regional accents, Boston, New York City, South Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, New Jersey, and surrounding areas.

Someone approached me when I was living in California and asked "Are you from (state)?"  I said, "Yes, how did you know."  He answered, "I'm from there too."  "But, I don't have an accent," I replied. "No you don't, but, I can't explain it," he said.

I was reading an article not too long ago addressing this subject.  Even if schools taught English in a certain way, students would speak that way at school; however, they'd speak the same as their parents at home.  I found that quite interesting and concluded students would continue speaking as their parents when they left home, the reason pronunciations and accents survive. 

I don't know if that's true, but it was something interesting for me to think about.

[Love my grandkids]

@SeaMaiden I used to say to my late DH "I have an idear my dear" when I had what I thought was an especially good idea! It was a little joke between the two of us.

[sunshine45]

east coast, mid atlantic......i say IDEA.

nouns - Why is "idea" sometimes pronounced as "idear"? - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange