"r sound" in British/American english

Ryan   Tue Jan 30, 2007 12:28 am GMT
I agree DX. If you curl your tongue, you will sound like a native Mandarin speaker. On the other hand, the sound is produced from the retroflex/alveolar area of the mouth despite what the tip of the tongue is doing, so it is still classified as that kind of R in IPA.
nader   Mon Oct 08, 2007 7:27 pm GMT
i want to see all sympols of english sounds blease
Gabriel   Mon Oct 08, 2007 8:18 pm GMT
<<http://venus.unive.it/canipa/pdf/EPs_26_English_R.pdf >>

I'd read that chapter before, and although the intention of the author is to be very accurate and realistic in his descriptions, I think he oversimplifies a lot. In my opinion, the two realizations he describes may actually exist, but are not so neatly distributed between speakers of British and American English.
His third realization, the "international" /r/ is even more confusing. I would love to hear a sample of a speech that uses the "international" /r/ and his "American" /r/ with the distribution he claims for his international accent, which is supposed to be used by CNN broadcasters.
Skippy   Mon Oct 08, 2007 9:25 pm GMT
I watch the "Young Ones" and Rik Mayall's accent in that show involves an "r" that sounds to me like a "v." What accent is that?
Uriel   Tue Oct 09, 2007 8:05 pm GMT
Rik Mayall? Wasn't he Drop Dead Fred??!!! I loved that movie when I was younger! Never could get into the Young Ones, although I vaguely remember them being on MTV. You know, back when MTV also played videos .... wow, am I dating myself or what!
Skippy   Tue Oct 09, 2007 9:34 pm GMT
Yeah he was the guy in Drop Dead Fred, but he didn't do the "weird" r in that movie.

Josh, you're right, it's the [v\], I remember him saying "biro" like "bivo."
Uriel   Tue Oct 09, 2007 11:49 pm GMT
So is the Young Ones any good, Skip? Can't rely on my impressions from when I was 12.... and what the hell's a "biro"?
Matty   Sun Nov 11, 2007 5:12 pm GMT
To my ear, Rik sounds more like an American child with a speech impediment. The "r" is so soft that it sounds like a "w". I've heard many Brits speak with this same tone, so obviously it's normal and not an impediment. When I heard an interview with Dr. Oliver Sacks, it made me cringe a bit.
Jon   Mon Nov 12, 2007 1:54 am GMT
In the PDF you linked to, DX, I pronounce my "r" as in the first image in the first column of fig 26.2. If I am trying to be very articulate (for some type of effect, for example), I will use the second image of the second column of that same figure. My tongue NEVER touches any parts of the upper oral cavity while making an "r" sound. (This is true of most American dialects.)

I'm an American from the Midwest. :-) Native speaker.




Jon
Skippy   Mon Nov 12, 2007 9:13 pm GMT
I think it's funny... It's basically just four people who hate each other living together.

A "biro" is a ballpoint pen. Biro was the guy that invented them... I only know that from watching the Young Ones though.

English R's are often replaced by W's when spoken in German... Germans actually say words like "sorry" in every day speech but they say it like, "sowy."