Etymology

rhotic

R1H4O1T1I1C3

Today it means: That allows the phoneme /ɹ/ to follow a vowel, as in bar (/bɑːɹ/) and bard or barred (/bɑːɹd/); (of an English speaker) who speaks with such an accent. Full definition →

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The story

Back-formation from rhotacism, coined in 1968 by John C. Wells.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.