R vocalisation, linking R and intrusive R: accounting for final schwa in RP English

Word-form-final schwas are argued to be vocalised realisations of /r/ in RP English. Phonetic similarity of and , their distribution, and the phenomenon of R-sandhi provide evidence to support the analysis. A new way of modelling the development of intrusive R word-internally and word-finally is presented, as is a new phonological interpretation of pre-R-breaking in Early Modern English. The continuous presence since fully rhotic times of stem-final /r/ in the context of a following vowel-initial suffix or word, and the merger of comma words with letter words beginning around the time of the loss of rhoticity in the eighteenth century, are key factors in an analysis which is generalised to all word-forms with final non-high vowels. Various objections to an R-vocalisation analysis that have been voiced in the literature are countered.

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