Rhoticity in English refers to the situations in which English speakers pronounce the historical rhotic consonant , and is one of the most prominent distinctions by which English varieties can be classified. In rhotic varieties of English, speakers pronounce in all instances, while in non-rhotic varieties, speakers no longer pronounce in postvocalic environments – that is, when it is not followed by a vowel. For example, a rhotic English speaker pronounces the words hard and butter approximately as and , whereas a non-rhotic speaker "drops" or "deletes" the sound, pronouncing them approximately as and . A non-rhotic speaker would still pronounce the in the words run, tree and very, and usually in the continuously spoken phrase butter and jam (the linking R), since in these cases the is followed by a vowel.