retroflex consonants (r dept)

Thoughtful of JF and PC to take the discussion offline.  But here are some
random thoughts:

If y'all have access to a spectrograph program, look at your r's--  /r/ and
indeed all rhotics are supposed to affect the 3d formant IIRC.  What affect
do other "real" retroflexes show?

The "bunched-up tongue" is apparently most common-- cf. drawings/X-ray
photos in most textbooks and maybe online.

I (and maybe you) get a definite retroflexed POA for /l/ in the sequence
/-rl/ (pearl vs. pull, Moll vs. marl), likewise for /-rld/ (world, furled
etc)-- whereas the affect is less noticeable with /-rt, -rd/.

Finally, there is an announcer on NPR (he comes on usually after the hourly
newscast, saying "Support for NPR comes from...." or "This is NPR")-- his
"R" is very exaggerated, though his accent is otherwise standard.

Reply