Why does the english /r/ differ from other Indo-euro /r/?

Travis   Sat Mar 24, 2007 10:45 pm GMT
I for one just wonder how the dialect here in Milwaukee, WI ended up with the uvular approximant [R_o], in alternation with the laminal postalveolar approximant [r\_-] (for me only after coronals and (usually) labials, but some here do seem to have it in onsets without preceding consonants as well)... One could chalk the use of uvular approximants to German influence, but that's pure speculation...
Gabriel   Sun Mar 25, 2007 1:07 am GMT
<<I'm quite interested in Canepari's proposal, but I'm confused about his semi-approximant /r/. Do you by any chance have a recording of this sound that I could hear?>>

Sadly, I don't. He claims somewhere that CNN newsreaders speak like this, but I don't think he's right. Most CNN newsreaders have a fully rhotic accent with [r\] in all positions. If you find a recording, please share.
Josh Lalonde   Sun Mar 25, 2007 3:15 am GMT
Someone mentioned in the thread about Canepari's international accent that it is similar to Edith Skinner's "Speak With Distinction" accent, so I went and checked it out at the library. There's some interesting things there: 3-way distinction between TRAP-BATH-PALM, spa-spar and law-lore distinction despite being non-rhotic, no father-bother or cot-caught mergers, etc. I've been wondering if there are any actors who use this accent or movies in which it is used that I would be able to find.