Re: a small phonological question about the French 'r'.

Quoth Christophe Grandsire:
> For those one the list who are very good at phonology, I have a small
> question. What is the phonological status of the French 'r'? Can it be
> better described as an uvular fricative or an uvular trill? Because at
> this PoA I have difficulties to know what I'm really doing when I
> pronounce this sound.
I've heard "French R" described as a "uvular trill", but I've never
heard it---every French speaker I've heard has used a uvular fricative.=B9
OTOH, with German I've heard everything: alveolar taps and trills,
uvular fricatives and trills....  The uvular trill is pretty hard to
mistake, once you've heard it.  Dr. Ruth has a pretty strong uvular
trill, if you've ever had the chance to hear her.

=B9 Then again, I don't think I've heard any Parisians speak---numerous
Qu=E9becois, a Dijonaise, and a few others that I think hail from the
provinces.  So the city dialect may indeed have a uvular trill.

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The universe does not have laws -- it has habits, and habits can be broken.