The English Oracle

Do many Americans have trouble pronouncing "fr" in "infrastructure"?

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Chapters
00:00 Do Many Americans Have Trouble Pronouncing &Quot;Fr&Quot; In &Quot;Infrastructure&Quot;?
00:47 Accepted Answer Score 4
01:33 Thank you

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Tags
#pronunciation

#avk47



ACCEPTED ANSWER

Score 4


I think the main reason for this is optional dissimilation of the sound r in words where it occurs more than once. This also may affect the first syllable of words like berserk, surprise and forward. I give more information in this post: 'Forward' pronounced more often as 'foward'?

In fact, I have noticed that I do hear or use a version of infrared with loss of the first r.

Although this type of dissimilation can potentially affect many words, it is not a regular phenomenon, so I’m not sure to explain why it does or doesn’t occur in specific words for any particular speaker. I also don’t know how many total speakers use a dissimilated pronunciation of “infrastructure”.

I find it implausible that it’s related to the existence of words starting with info-.