How common is r-Epenthesis? (original) (raw)

Recent work on consonant epenthesis has argued that the insertion of [r] as a hiatus breaker is phonologically natural (De Lacy 2006, Uffmann 2007). This claim is argued to derive support from the high cross-linguistic frequency of (intervocalic) r-Epenthesis. The goal of the present article is to investigate the original sources for the languages which are assumed to have a regular synchronic r-Epenthesis rule. It is concluded - on the basis of these sources - that there is very little solid crosslinguistic support for that process. If correct, this finding means that r-Epenthesis in many varieties of English cannot be argued to be phonologically natural on the basis of non-related languages with that process.

Published Online: 2013-04-11

Published in Print: 2013-04