Re: retroflex consonants (r dept)

John Cowan wrote:

> Roger Mills scripsit:
> > 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.
>
> What do you mean by "exaggerated"?
>
Very much lengthened (compared to my own pronunciation at least, which might
be [Ar\] or even just retroflexed [A^] (is that right??)), also his [A]
seems closer to [Q], so maybe [Q:r\].  (Pardon my SAMPA)
To imitate it, I really have to work my jaw around, almost as if chewing a
tough piece of meat :-)

He's probably one of their regulars, but I don't know his name, nor have
ever noticed that accent elsewhere in their broadcasts.

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