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Dutch R

From:Jan van Steenbergen <ijzeren_jan@...>
Date:Friday, April 5, 2002, 9:14
--- Irina Rempt wrote:

> In the nineteen-sixties, the fashion said that the > alveolar trill was the only acceptable /r/ and the > uvular trill was sub-standard. I had two years of > (unsuccessful) speech therapy in elementary school > to get rid of my natural [R]. About sixty per cent > of Dutch speakers have a natural [R].
It is true, that at least in the Netherlands the [r] speakers are outnumbered by the [R] speakers. In Belgium, however, the overwhelming majority of Flemish people pronounce it like [r]. No offense meant, but I think that the [R] is in many cases the result of a certain lazy carelessness, characteristic for the pronunciation among mostly younger Dutch people of their language.
> These days, indeed, both are acceptable, though the > current fashion is more like a soft velar glide, > almost [j] but more to the back.
This is a matter of both region and age. There are even a lot a people who pronounce it like the American "r". Jan ===== "You know, I used to think it was awful that life was so unfair. Then I thought, wouldn't it be much worse if life were fair, and all the terrible things that happen to us come because we actually deserve them? So, now I take great comfort in the general hostility and unfairness of the universe." --- J. Michael Straczynski __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Everything you'll ever need on one web page from News and Sport to Email and Music Charts http://uk.my.yahoo.com

Replies

Boudewijn Rempt <boud@...>
Danny Wier <dawier@...>