More thoughts on the r-link business

Abstract

In ‘Linking /r/ in the General British Pronunciation of English’ by J. Windsor Lewis (JIPA 5.1) the author expressed his view that ‘linking’ and ‘intrusive’ r can be regarded as one and the same thing, that both are regular practice in current usage, and that therefore foreigners ought to be taught to use both ‘irrespective of traditional orthography’. My purpose is to show that he does not make a convincing case with the evidence he puts forward.