Why do some people pronounce "idea" like "idier"? Sometimes they do the same thing with some other words too.
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"What" is the pronunciation can be answered in a dictionary. "Why" is the pronunciation is not answerable, execpt to say "it just is". – James K Mar 10 '19 at 07:42
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1It's answerable if strange and not recorded in dictionary – living being Mar 12 '19 at 11:18
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It should be closed as a duplicate of this question – Void Jan 08 '21 at 12:37
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1It's a very unclear question, but I eventually came to understand it to be about the so-called "intrusive /r/" - which is well covered by Void's answer to the other question. – rjpond Jan 08 '21 at 12:44
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It is simply a fact of English pronunciation in certain parts of the world.
In southern England, for instance, there is a regional habit of pronouncing words that end in 'a' to sound like 'er'. So:
Pasta/Pastor sound the same
Santa/Santer
Idea/Idier
Outside of southern England, I do not think it is very common. As someone who grew up in the southern UK, I know that North Americans find it both confusing and humorous.
fred2
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I'm not an expert, but Australia/New Zealand do seem to have some characteristics of a southern English/London-area accent. Purely anecdotal, but I remember an actor saying 'The best way to do an Australian accent is to say a cockney accent as if you're squinting at a bright sun'. – fred2 Mar 12 '19 at 16:20
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Words that end in 'a' don't sound like 'er'... Your answer is kind of misleading. See my answer to another question. – Void Jan 08 '21 at 13:12
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Yeah I know about the whole rhotic/non-rhotic thing. My point is I've experience (and been accused of using) a kind of non-rhotic hypercorrection. A bit like working class Londoners used to be accused of both dropping and adding aitches when they were attempting to sound 'posh'. Eg: "I 'ave never hunderstood 'ow ter huse haitches." It was a bit of a cliche, but based on a real phenomenon. So - I know I could pronounce a word like 'pastor' to sound like "pasta", but equally "pasta" to sound like "paster" (more of an -er than -or sound). Note also 'how ter/how ta' ... 'to' often gets 'er' added. – fred2 Jan 12 '21 at 17:10