suddenly, all is clear

"Elsewhere, Milne introduces a similar non-rhotic pronunciation spelling in the name Eeyore, which rhotic readers might be surprised to learn is meant to represent the sound of a donkey, i.e., [h]ee[h]aw."

Yup, I'm a rhotic reader (I pronounce my r's), and had NEVER thought of how that name would sound in British pronunciation.  Thank you, Language Log (http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/004985.html).