Re: Rs

From: "Chris Bates" <christopher.bates@...>
Subject: Rs


> Why does english not use any r sound after a vowel? I mean, r can only
> occur if it is followed by another vowel, "or", "ar" "er" "ur" etc
> normally represent long vowel sounds, and "ir" represents two vowel
> sounds if i'm not confused. It just seems strange... and its slightly
> irritating since I'm trying to learn spanish and I find myself utterly
> incapable of pronouncing a spanish trilled r, or of using an english one
> to replace it all the time (since spanish has rs occuring at the end of
> words and when not followed by a vowel).
I don't think I understand the question, but it puzzles me enough that I'm
looking for some clarification.  What do you mean by saying "ir" represents
two vowel sounds?  Are you talking about when the "i" is long, as in "fire"?
Long "i" does usually represent /ai/, two vowels in a row.  But that's true
whether there's an "r" or not.  And "r" can certainly appear without a vowel
after it, cf. "for", "far", "char", "chair", "oar", just to mention a few.
Do you have a microphone hooked up to your computer?  If so, I'd be glad to
listen to your Spanish pronunciation and see what help I could offer.

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