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Re: |r|, |rr| and other Rs. :)

From:Roger Mills <rfmilly@...>
Date:Sunday, October 3, 2004, 22:26
Chris Bates wrote:

> What language is Samarra in?
Well, it's located in Iraq, so I'd assume it's Arabic, and probably trilled-- but whether it's spelled with a double r in Arabic I don't know. (There's a neat story associated with Samarra, from which John O'Hara drew the title of his novel "Appointment in Samarra" [or Samara?]) In addition to the well-known trills, and uvulars, "r" is also realized as a velar fricative (voiced or voiceless) in various languages. I've always been given to understand that the title *Weirdest and Rarest R in the World* goes to our American/English one; at least it's notoriously difficult for foreigners to acquire. Slightly off topic: I heard Mr. Allawi's speech the other day, and was struck by his pronunciation of _Saddam_, it seemed rather muffled and "swallowed" -- am I correct in suspecting that that "dd" represents an emphatic/velarized sound?

Replies

Andreas Johansson <andjo@...>
Steg Belsky <draqonfayir@...>