The R sound

No, this isn't talk like a pirate day. I'm talking about the r sound, often spelled are, or in a nod to pirates, ARGH Matey! But say this to yourself:
bar
car
far
jar
mar
par
tar
war
Oops, wait a minute. Did I just hear wore? Let's try again with the e and see what happens. On second thought, lets ring in the changes on the vowels, just to see what happens.

letter	are	air	ear	ere	eer	eir	ire	ore	oor	our
b	bare	bair	bear	bere	beer	beir	bire	bore	boor	bour
c	care	cair	cear	cere	ceer	ceir	cire	core	coor	cour
d	dare	dair	dear	dere	deer	deir	dire	dore	door	dour
f	fare	fair	fear	fere	feer	feir	fire	fore	foor	four
g	gare	gair	gear	gere	geer	geir	gire	gore	goor	gour
h	hare	hair	hear	here	heer	heir	hire	hore	hoor	hour
j	jare	jair	jear	jere	jeer	jeir	jire	jore	joor	jour
k	kare	kair	kear	kere	keer	keir	kire	kore	koor	kour
l	lare	lair	lear	lere	leer	leir	lire	lore	loor	lour
m	mare	mair	mear	mere	meer	meir	mire	more	moor	mour
n	nare	nair	near	nere	neer	neir	nire	nore	noor	nour
p	pare	pair	pear	pere	peer	peir	pire	pore	poor	pour
qu	quare	quair	quear	quere	queer	queir	quire	quore	quoor	quour
r	rare	rair	rear	rere	reer	reir	rire	rore	roor	rour
s	sare	sair	sear	sere	seer	seir	sire	sore	soor	sour
t	tare	tair	tear	tere	teer	teir	tire	tore	toor	tour
v	vare	vair	vear	vere	veer	veir	vire	vore	voor	vour
w	ware	wair	wear	were	weer	weir	wire	wore	woor	wour
x	xare	xair	xear	xere	xeer	xeir	xire	xore	xoor	xour
y	yare	yair	year	yere	yeer	yeir	yire	yore	yoor	your
z	zare	zair	zear	zere	zeer	zeir	zire	zore	zoor	zour

Go ahead and say those to yourself. It doesn't matter if you go down or across, your tongue is going to stumble over some of them, and not because they are nonsense words.

What's odd to me is that if you look at the ones starting with z, they are all perfectly pronounceable even though as far as I know none of them are actual words in English. A few of the combinations are words in other languages (lire) or are names (Lear), and lots are nonsense words.

But this is one of the examples of why English is so difficult, and why we need to reform it. It's clear that words ending in are and air are almost always pronounced the same even though are and air themselves are pronounced quite differently. Why do all the ar words except war get pronounced the same? Why don't bear and fear get pronounced the same? Look at hour and dour, compared to four and pour. Door and poor. Heir and weir. There are probably lots more but you get the idea.

A native English speaker shown the c line as a whole is likely to pronounce all the words starting with the K sound, but if presented with cere or ceer by themselves might pronounce them starting with the S sound. The cour might go either way to rhyme with hour or door. Some of the G words might get pronounced starting with a J sound.

And that's just one sound in English. It's fallout from where the words came from originally, and modified inconsistently during the Great Vowel Shift. Don't get me started on the various ough combinations. I struggled against this when I was in school. The whole i before e except after c, except for some exceptions, including my name, made me crazy for years. I went through a phonetic spelling craze for a while, but gave it up.

Even though I'd like to see English reformed for more sensible rules around spelling and pronunciation, there is one big use for it if you ignore the "don't read the comments" rule. Run your eye over the comments and look for misspelled words. Ignore those comments. Yes, I suppose that makes me an English snob. But maybe not. It's aluminum, not aluminium and program not programme in my English. But neighbour not neighbor. "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds."

I've had these various words going through my head in all sorts of chains and sequences. I had envisioned some xl highlighting and marks to trace pronunciation, which ones I prefer, which I think are useful variations, and which I think we should drop. Then I remembered blogs are text only, and gave it up as being too much like work. I hope this gets it all out of my head, along with that damn theme song for Empress of China that Linda has been watching.  Some of the political intrigue is interesting, and the costumes and sets are stunning, but the soundtrack is killing me. It's pretty bad when a non-English song is what's stuck in your head.

You've seen the skyline from here in a previous photo, but you can be forgiven for not connecting the dots. The other one was a night shot, cropped in a bit too much, with not enough lens. This is hand held on a hazy day, tired after a long scouting trip. Anyone want to take a guess where I was standing? As a hint, that's Rocky View hospital just in front of Banker's Hall.