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Our esteemed colleague Areff has noted on several occasions that some New Yorkers of a non-rhotic background have a tendency to compensate by "hyper-rhoticizing" their speech. Quoting from a Nov. 2003 post: http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.usage.english/msg/8b92781da45e42d7 There's a generational, social-class and possibly ethnic subset of New York city natives, generally Baby Boomers or Wartime-born, generally with lower-middle-class childhood backgrounds and significant higher-educational accomplishments, who speak in an accent I call "faux-rhotic". It sounds like they grew up as ordinary non-rhotic trad New York accent speakers but at some very late point rhoticized their accents. The result is not pretty; this accent features an "r" that's harsher even than the natural "r" of, say, many Californian accents. A good public example of the accent I have in mind is Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, who grew up in my home town of Flatbush (The Heart of Brooklyn). Today I heard an extreme example of this phenomenon. On the public radio station WNYC, Brian Lehrer interviewed Norman Siegel, founder of the advocacy group "Develop - Don't Destroy Brooklyn" and a candidate for Public Advocate. Here's the link for the show, with audio: http://www.wnyc.org/shows/bl/episodes/02232005 Siegel has unassailable Brooklyn credentials he's a graduate of New Utrecht High School and Brooklyn College. And his hyper-rhoticity goes far beyond Chuck Schumerrr. He rather startlingly rhoticizes words ending in /@/ (schwa) like "America", "arena", "Columbia", and "Scalia". This isn't just the "intrusive r" phenomenon of non-rhotic speakers like John F. Kennedy's "Cuba(r)". First, JFK never tried to pass as rhotic, while Siegel is rhotic throughout (though there are glimpses of his non-rhotic background in places, particularly in his pronunciation of "neighborhood"). And second, JFK added the "intrusive r" only before vowels, as I noted in this post . Siegel adds it before pauses and consonants as well even within a word in the case of "arena(r)s". It really has to be heard to be believed, but here is a transcription of the hyper-rhotic moments with the approximate times that they appear in the audio file: 3:15: It does not mean in my opinion a private sports arena(r) (pause) or the expansion of a private university. 4:15: And I think if you take a look at what's been happening let's say in the last decade across America(r) (pause) you've had thousands of takings of private property by the government... 15:50: I was rooting for Scalia(r) as he was questioning Mr. Horton. 16:45: And then a private entity, whether it's Columbia(r) in its expansion plan, or Forest City Ratner in wanting to have a private basketball team in a private arena(r) (pause) with, uh, government assistance... 17:35: When Columbia(r) says that we don't have the power to exercise eminent domain, it's only the power that can be exercised by the government, my question to Columbia(r) (pause) are you telling me that... 18:10: And when you have a Columbia(r) wanting to expand... 24:10: When you take a look at the proposal for the Jets stadium in, uh, the West Side or the private Nets arena(r) in Brooklyn, uh, there's a book called Field of Schemes and it analyzes a twenty-year history in America(r) in Cleveland, in Baltimore... 25:55: The point that I was making with regard to stadiums and arena(r)s which has been well-documented, that the proponents of stadiums and arena(r)s that always want public funding...
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