Re: French r
| From: | Mark J. Reed <markjreed@...> |
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| Date: | Monday, September 1, 2003, 18:12 |
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On Mon, Sep 01, 2003 at 01:22:01PM -0400, Isidora Zamora wrote:
> I've read in a lot of places that it is a trill. I wonder why people keep
> writing that? Maybe they can't *hear* the difference between a fricative
> and a trill?
Well, uvular trills are often accompanied by a fricative just as a
consequence of articulatory timing. So if you've heard such a trill,
and heard it described as a trill, then a non-trilled uvular fricative
will sound like an attempt at a trill that the speaker just missed. :)
Anyway, I suspect that examination of the various dialects of French
would reveal allophones of /r/ that, while all uvular, range from
approximants through fricatives to trills.
-Mark
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