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Why do some people pronounce "idea" like "idier"? Sometimes they do the same thing with some other words too.    

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  • "What" is the pronunciation can be answered in a dictionary. "Why" is the pronunciation is not answerable, execpt to say "it just is".
    – James K
    Commented Mar 10, 2019 at 7:42
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    It's answerable if strange and not recorded in dictionary
    – living being
    Commented Mar 12, 2019 at 11:18
  • It should be closed as a duplicate of this question
    – Rayan Khan
    Commented Jan 8, 2021 at 12:37
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    It's a very unclear question, but I eventually came to understand it to be about the so-called "intrusive /r/" - which is well covered by Void's answer to the other question.
    – rjpond
    Commented Jan 8, 2021 at 12:44

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It is simply a fact of English pronunciation in certain parts of the world.

In southern England, for instance, there is a regional habit of pronouncing words that end in 'a' to sound like 'er'. So:

Pasta/Pastor sound the same

Santa/Santer

Idea/Idier

Outside of southern England, I do not think it is very common. As someone who grew up in the southern UK, I know that North Americans find it both confusing and humorous.

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  • I heard it from a New Zealander guy.
    – living being
    Commented Mar 12, 2019 at 11:12
  • I'm not an expert, but Australia/New Zealand do seem to have some characteristics of a southern English/London-area accent. Purely anecdotal, but I remember an actor saying 'The best way to do an Australian accent is to say a cockney accent as if you're squinting at a bright sun'.
    – fred2
    Commented Mar 12, 2019 at 16:20
  • Words that end in 'a' don't sound like 'er'... Your answer is kind of misleading. See my answer to another question.
    – Rayan Khan
    Commented Jan 8, 2021 at 13:12
  • Yeah I know about the whole rhotic/non-rhotic thing. My point is I've experience (and been accused of using) a kind of non-rhotic hypercorrection. A bit like working class Londoners used to be accused of both dropping and adding aitches when they were attempting to sound 'posh'. Eg: "I 'ave never hunderstood 'ow ter huse haitches." It was a bit of a cliche, but based on a real phenomenon. So - I know I could pronounce a word like 'pastor' to sound like "pasta", but equally "pasta" to sound like "paster" (more of an -er than -or sound). Note also 'how ter/how ta' ... 'to' often gets 'er' added.
    – fred2
    Commented Jan 12, 2021 at 17:10

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