This Quiz Made Possible by the Letter "R"

15 Points Per Correct Answer - No time limit  

1. By what name do linguists call "R-sounds"? R-sounds Rhotics Rrrrrr... Rotifers

2. We start with the R-sound from Spanish, because it's the most common kind of R-sound in the world's languages. What does it sound like? A growling noise in the back of the throat. Just like a General American "R." English "R" plus a "J" sound. Trilling the tongue against the bony ridge behind the front teeth.

3. Linguists call the French and German growling-in-the-throat R-sound a "fricative"-- it's produced with the tongue close enough to some other part of your mouth that air flowing out of the mouth is turbulent and noisy. For the French and German "R," what part of your mouth (and tongue) is this? Middle of the tongue body against the hard palate. Back of the tongue body against the uvula. Tip of the tongue against the back of the teeth. The tip of the tongue is bent backwards against the hard palate.

4. The exotic "alveolar fricative trill" sounds roughly like "rrrrjjjjj," a trilled "R" followed by a "J" sound. It's the "r with a hacek over it" in the name of the famous Classical composer Dvorak. It's indigenous to which Slavic language? Russian Polish Bulgarian Czech

5. The "R-sound" found in most dialects of English is extremely complicated. What would you have to do with your tongue in order to produce it? Actually, you could use different combinations of these features and still get the same sound. Constrict the pharynx (back of the throat) with the tongue root. Curl the tip of the tongue back. Raise the tongue body near the boundary of the hard and soft palate.

6. At about what age do English-speaking children learn to say their R's? 10-12 months, when they start speaking their first words 1-4 months, when they begin cooing. After several years, but even school-age kids may not yet have it completely mastered. 5-10 months, when they begin babbling.

7. Now, the exceedingly sneaky question about an exceedingly sneaky letter. What IS the R-sound, anyway? Just a consonant. Neither a consonant nor a vowel. Sorry, try again! Just a vowel. Can be a consonant or a vowel.

8. No quiz "brought to you by the letter R" would be complete without a question about "R" the letter. So, here it is. Did the Greek alphabet ever have a "rho" that looked like the "R" in the Roman alphabet? (By implication, if you say "no," the Greek alphabet only ever had a rho which looks like the "P" in the Roman alphabet, and the extra diagonal stroke was a purely Roman invention.) Yes No

9. People in one particular region of the US are famous for dropping R's left and right. In which of these cities would you "paahk yah kaaah?" Chicago Los Angeles Houston Boston

10. It's fashionable to perform Shakespeare in a British accent, where R's are sometimes not pronounced. But-- would Shakespeare have pronounced his R's? Yes No