Quote Originally Posted by Morris at Heathfield View Post
That's funny, because he essentially agreed with an argument that is more often made by those on the other side of the debate.

Perhaps it's because I'm a student of language, but I see his point...and don't entirely agree with it. It's sort of like arguing over British vs. American English. The British will say we've changed English, and they are undoubtedly right about that. Then they'll imply they haven't, and they're undoubtedly wrong about that. If such a person as Robin Hood actually existed, he didn't sound like Kevin Costner, and he didn't sound like Cary Elwes either. But he most likely did pronounce all his r's. Sometimes I wonder where the British think all those post-vocalic r's in their written language come from. MacMillan of Rathdown is essentially agreeing that the British (in most English dialects) have dropped their post-vocalic r's, calling it "moving with the times", while implying that the Americans haven't also "moved with the times" in some ways as well. (I don't mean to trivialize the subject of clans and their symbols, but let's just say that some people get het up about language as well.)
What a great subject! I've been intrigued about why the rhotic r exists in the Piedmont of NC, but much less near the NC coast. Is it due to English emigrants from Bristol? The influence of German settlement? What books would you suggest as related reading?