"y" and "r"

Raymond Brown wrote, about Uusisuom:

> We are told that "pronunciation of the letters is similar to English, with
> these exceptions:
> .....
> y = pronounced like 'oo' as in 'bOOt'."
>
> This unequivocably means that {y} = [u]; I assume {u} does not have the
> same sound and that "similar to English" must mean that {u} = [V], i.e. the
> 'u' in American & southern British 'but'.
Isn't [u] fronted in Scottish dialects of English, giving "boot" = [by:t]?  My
guess is that either the author of Uusisuom has Scottish in mind (unlikely), or
he is mistaken on how the "oo" in "boot" is pronounced in Standard English.


> I'm less familiar with Russian.  My understanding is that the apical trill
> was the norm, but that uvular /r/, now common in German as well as French,
> is becoming common among younger speakers - but I may be wrong.
I've never heard the Russian "r" pronounced as anything but a trill/flap.

Matt.

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