Re: rhotics (was Hellenish oddities)

Yoon-Ha Lee wrote:

>On Wed, 29 Nov 2000, Irina Rempt wrote:
>
>> On Tue, 28 Nov 2000, BP Jonsson wrote:
>>
>> > Try placing the tounge rather relaxed in position for [t] and then
force a
>> > stream of air through.  This will produce a voiceless trill.
>>
>> Nope. When I do that I get /s/ (voiceless alveolar fricative) or /l-/
>> (voiceless alveolar lateral fricative).
>
>I tried it as described and I ended up hissing or choking on my tongue.
>So far trying to prolong the Korean [r] or the repeated [d] that my
>friend suggested have gotten me closest.  It may well be that different
>methods work for different people...?>

OK, try this:  IF you pronounce _potter, fatter, butter_ in the usual
American way you're already making a flap, though it's not quite the same as
in Spanish.  Move the tongue tip just a little forward (to the ridged part
of the alveolus?/alveolum?); apply a little more tension and you might
produce a proper flapped /r/.  After that, work on multiple repetitions,
which admittedly is harder.   Another possible approach:  can you pronounce,
or have you heard, "three" with a flap? Many people do that.   Or again, try
imitating a British accent, and say "veddy" for "very", quite fast. That's
even closer than the flap in Potter, butter et al.