rr thingy

[SPX]

What kind of sound would you suggest adopting?

BTW, I have always wondered if anyone out there appreciates an American accent. I don't think I've ever heard anyone say that they do.

Also, how often is coche actually used? I used to use it instead of carro just to avoid the RR, but I had a native speaker once basically tell me that the word is rarely actually used in conversation.

[Rusty]

Coche is used all the time in Spain. In Latin America, use carro.

[Don José]

Originally Posted by SPX

I think it's interesting that you say the English R sounds better than the French R. Why is that?

I should have said it's a personal opinion. A French person saying a sentence with lots of RR would sound as gggg...ggg ...ggggg. I'd be under the impression that he/she can't breath properly. Nothing to see with the 'light, soft and sweet'' English R (that are the adjectives that come to me mind when comparing with the French R)

I want to make sure I am understood. I'd also prefer to not sound ridiculous. Would you suggest that I pronounce RR words--as well as words that begin with R--simply like a hard English R instead of attempting to roll it French-style?

You won't sound ridiculous and you'll be understood. I'd forgot about the French-style.

I remember talking once to a Guatemalan Spanish about the word "rey." I pronounced it simply like the English word "ray," which he seemed to find quite unacceptable, ha ha.

Some people find fault with everything.

I also am concerned about how to make the differentiation between words like caro/carro and pero/perro

Context. Bob Marley.

[Tyrn]

Anybody pointed out that trilling R is difficult enough to defeat a certain percentage of native speakers? It isn't all about accent.

[poli]

The r in Spanish is produced without the incorporation of the alveolar ridge. The r should always be in the front of the mouth. It doesn't necessarily roll, and in many cases, is more like a flap. A truly rolled r is regional, and can be heard in
Barranquilla as well a other places. By the way, rolled r's are frequently used in Great Britain.

[Tyrn]

The fidgety bairn

[poli]

Thanks! What a beautiful voice, and the English dialect sounds unique to me.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Some regional accents pronounce "r" sounds differently. For example, in Puerto Rico and some places in the Caribbean, many speakers tend to pronounce "l" instead of "r" [Puelto Lico, señol...].
Some Chileans and other South Americans pronounce it more like the American "r".
But most speakers tend to use "r" and "rr" in a mostly standard way.
I wouldn't say it's a matter of difficulty; it's probably more about the influence of local indigenous languages.

Originally Posted by Tyrn

The fidgety bairn

Oh, nice!

[wrholt]

Originally Posted by AngelicaDeAlquezar

Some regional accents pronounce "r" sounds differently. For example, in Puerto Rico and some places in the Caribbean, many speakers tend to pronounce "l" instead of "r" [Puelto Lico, señol...].
Some Chileans and other South Americans pronounce it more like the American "r".
But most speakers tend to use "r" and "rr" in a mostly standard way.
I wouldn't say it's a matter of difficulty; it's probably more about the influence of local indigenous languages.



Oh, nice!

Regarding how Puerto Ricans pronounce Puerto Rico, I mostly have heard /puel-to xi-ko/; "r" before a consonant pronounced like 'l', and 'rr' pronounced like French or Brazilian Portuguese 'r', English 'h', or Spanish 'j'.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Originally Posted by wrholt

Regarding how Puerto Ricans pronounce Puerto Rico, I mostly have heard /puel-to xi-ko/; "r" before a consonant pronounced like 'l', and 'rr' pronounced like French or Brazilian Portuguese 'r', English 'h', or Spanish 'j'.

You're right. I've also heard many speakers pronouncing "hard r" almost gutturally.

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by wrholt

Regarding how Puerto Ricans pronounce Puerto Rico, I mostly have heard /puel-to xi-ko/; "r" before a consonant pronounced like 'l', and 'rr' pronounced like French or Brazilian Portuguese 'r', English 'h', or Spanish 'j'.

Originally Posted by AngelicaDeAlquezar

You're right. I've also heard many speakers pronouncing "hard r" almost gutturally.

Just adding, in case it wasn't already said earlier, and as wrholt would know, the folks from Costa Rica say 'zhr' for 'rr'.

[wrholt]

Originally Posted by Rusty

Just adding, in case it wasn't already said earlier, and as wrholt would know, the folks from Costa Rica say 'zhr' for 'rr'.

Yup, I've heard that pronunciation a fair bit, too, and not only from Costa Ricans.

One of the textbooks for my university course in Spanish phonetics and phonology described a lot of regional variations in pronouncing "rr". The auther, John B. Dalbor, updated the book later: the third edition of his "Spanish Pronunciation: Theory and Practice" came out in 1996. In my course we used the first edition, from the late 1960s or early 1970s.

[poli]

Originally Posted by AngelicaDeAlquezar

Some regional accents pronounce "r" sounds differently. For example, in Puerto Rico and some places in the Caribbean, many speakers tend to pronounce "l" instead of "r" [Puelto Lico, señol...].
Some Chileans and other South Americans pronounce it more like the American "r".
But most speakers tend to use "r" and "rr" in a mostly standard way.
I wouldn't say it's a matter of difficulty; it's probably more about the influence of local indigenous languages.



Oh, nice!

To complicate matters, sometimes the l sound is replaced with r as in esparda instead of espalda.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

@Rusty: I didn't know that. I don't think I have ever listened to a Costa Rican speak; in any case, I'm confused with many regional accents in Central and South America. ;(

@Poli: True. I've heard that from some Andalusians.