At 13:23 09/11/98 -0500, you wrote:
>Christopher Grandsenior scripsit:
>
>> As a French, I would say that even if the sound /G/ is much=
closer
>> to the French 'r' than the /R/, I'd prefer the latter, as I find it more
>> 'sweet' than the /G/. I'm thinking of the Arab speakers when they use=
French
>> words. Depending on many things, they can use either /R/ or /G/ to=
pronounce
>> our 'r'. But I find it more melodic when they use /R/ than when they use
>> /G/. It's just a personal opinion. Ask Irene to know what she thinks of=
it.
>
>What would you say is the overall feeling in France today about the
>use of /r/, the Spanish/Italian style tap? Most of the Occitan
>dialects still have it, so I would suppose that even Standard French
>as spoken by southerners would tend to contain /r/s rather than
>"r grasseye". Or is that no longer true?
>
Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Many countrymen (not only in the south)
use the flapped /r/ instead of the 'r grasseye'. Moreover, the real 'r
grasseye' exists only in Paris. In other regions, the 'r' is somewhat=
softer.
>--
>John Cowan
http://www.ccil.org/~cowan cowan@ccil.org
> You tollerday donsk? N. You tolkatiff scowegian? Nn.
> You spigotty anglease? Nnn. You phonio saxo? Nnnn.
> Clear all so! 'Tis a Jute.... (Finnegans Wake 16.5)
>
>