How many languages use the rolling of Rs like Spanish or German, as English does not?

Arpeggionist

There are several different kinds of roll as far as the Rs are concerned. There's the flipped R, which is heard in Italian and Spanish and even in some dialects of English. Then there's a slightly deerper rolled R in German and French. Hebrew uses a deep, guttural rolled R that many non speakers have a lot of trouble getting used to. There is one degree furher still, found in Arabic, of a combination of R, G, and a guttural stop, called a "Ghayin", which is found in names like Ghaza, Ghamorah, Baghdad and so forth. Mar 28 06, 1:09 AM

Flynn_17

The r in German is a funny thing, as it pronounced less like a hard R and more like an odd noise with your tongue dipped. Welsh uses trilled R's, though. Mar 28 06, 5:08 AM

loominitsa

There is a special R sound in Gaelic too.Close your eyes and listen : 'therrre was a time when I nearrly said something" In this sentence the consonant "R" is very sonorrrrous Mar 28 06, 1:30 PM

bloomsby

The question makes the mistaken assumption that there is one single r-sound per language. This simply isn't the case. In much of Germany (and most of German-speaking Switzerland) the majority of native speakers use a uvular /r/ which is incorrectly described in English-speaking countries as "gutteral". However, in Bavaria (including Franconia) and Austria a rolled /r/ is much more common. In the extreme north-west (to the west of Bremen) a rolled /r/ coexists with the more common uvular /r/. Note: The references to regions are only approximate. Obviously, it's not a matter of "all change" at the border of, say, Bavaria with Hesse. With a little effort and perseverance (and some gargling too, as that makes the uvular vibrate) the German uvular /r/ shouldn't be too hard for native speakers of English. Mar 28 06, 1:48 PM

smeogalla

My Scottish partner canonot pronounce Carl as one syllable it comes out something like Carrrill. Poor Carl got called Carol for a time after that by the rest of the non Scottish Aussies. Mar 28 06, 10:14 PM

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What word is spelt the same way in nine languages: English, French, Danish, Dutch, German, Swedish, Spanish, Norwegian, and Portuguese? I have been listening to some German music trying to read the lyrics along with it, is there a general rule for when you should roll the R's, or can it always be rolled, also how come German, Spanish, French, all have rolling of the R's, but English doesn't, it makes it much harder for English speakers to speak those other languages fluently? Why is the letter J pronounced differently in English, French, Spanish and German? What four letter word is spelled the same in English, Spanish and German?

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