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Re: Spanish and Italian _r_ and _rr_ -- for my Romlang #3

From:caeruleancentaur <caeruleancentaur@...>
Date:Thursday, December 14, 2006, 13:04
>John Quijada <jq_ithkuil@...> wrote:
>Spanish: Word-initial _r_ is always /r/, pronounced [r]. _r_ is >also /r/ after /n/ and, in some dialects, after /l/. After all >other consonants, it is /4/. In word-final position, it is /4/ in >normal speech, but /r/ in emphatic or hyper-enunciated speech.
Two additional notes: 1) Word initial <r> /r/ is spelled <rr> when the word becomes a part of a compound word. "Guardarropa" (coat room) comes to mind immediately, formed from "guardar" (keep, guard, protect) and "ropa" (clothing). The <r> is doubled to indicate that the /r/ is retained, since it would be /4/ otherwise. Cf. "perro" and "pero." 2) When I lived in Honduras I was introduced to /r_0/, the voiceless alveolar trill. Allophonic, of course, it occurs when <r> is final. My American contacts often tell me they hear <sh> /S/. I'm told that this is part of a Caribbean regional accent. I have no experience with that. I own several CD's of Nana Mouskouri singing in Spanish. She can be heard using this allophone often. I understand that /r_0/ is phonemic in Welsh, spelled <rh> to distinguish it from <r> /r/. It is a phoneme in my conlang Senjecas. Charlie http://wiki.frath.net/senjecas

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Roger Mills <rfmilly@...>