Rhotacism
Encyclopedia
Rhotacism refers to several phenomena related to the usage of the consonant
r (whether as an alveolar tap
, alveolar trill
, or the rarer uvular trill
):
The term comes from the Greek letter
rho
, denoting "r".
, rhotacism is the inability or difficulty in pronouncing the sound r. In English, the most common occurrence of this type is a pronunciation perceived as closer to [w]. The Looney Tunes
character Elmer Fudd
is notorious for his exaggerated rhotacistic speech, as in, "Be vewwy quiet: I'm hunting wabbits." The cartoon character Homestar Runner
talks in much the same way. Another example is the depiction of Pontius Pilate
in Monty Python's Life of Brian. In popular culture, examples include Barry Kripke (from the Big Bang Theory), Roy Hodgson
(nicknamed "Woy"), Matt Bellamy, Jonathan Ross
, Frank Muir
, Sister Wendy Beckett, Terry Jones
, and the politician Roy Jenkins
. Other examples are interviewer Barbara Walters
and actress Kay Francis
.
Rhotacism is more common among speakers of languages that have a trilled R
, such as Swedish
(except in the landscapes of Skåne, Halland
, Blekinge
, Öland
and southern Småland
), Finnish
, Italian
, Polish
, and Spanish
. This sound is usually the last one a child masters. Some people never learn to produce it; they substitute other sounds, such as the velar approximant, the uvular approximant, and the uvular trill
(often called "French
R").
Many speech pathologists
call this problem de-rhotacization, because the sounds lose their rhotic quality rather than becoming rhotic.
, rhotacism or rhotacization is the conversion of a consonant (usually a voiced alveolar consonant
— /z/, /d/, /l/, or /n/) to a rhotic consonant
in a certain environment. The most common may be of /z/ to /r/.
, changed /n/ to /r/ while, for example, the Gheg dialects did not. Compare:
*l has changed into a tapped R
between vowels in Basque. This can be observed in words borrowed from Latin, for example.
and Manchester
) change intervocalic /t/ and /d/ to a flap
ping sound /ɾ/ in certain environments, especially stressed vowel – dental – unstressed vowel (e.g. "got a lot of" becoming "gorra lorra").
This reflects a highly regular change in pre-classical Latin. Intervocalic s in the oldest attested Latin documents
(assumed to have been pronounced /z/) invariably became r. Intervocalic s in Classical Latin suggests either borrowing (e.g. rōsa) or reduction of an earlier ss (e.g. pausa < paussa, vīsum < *vīssum < *weid-tom). Old s was preserved initially (septum), finally, and in consonant clusters.
The English word honour or honor is derived from Anglo-Norman
honour, which in turn was derived from Late Latin
honor, earlier honos, which became honor by analogy with the oblique stem of honoris (genitive).
The consonants d or l changed to r before another d or l, so that the same consonant would not appear twice in a row (dissimilation
).
This phenomenon was noted by the Romans themselves:
rhotacism is seen in a shift from the sound of "d" to an "r" sound:
(Italian vs Neapolitan)
and, to a lesser extent, from the sound of an "l" to an "r" sound:
, rhotacism occurred from the "l" sound to the "r" sound, as in the words obrigado "obliged" and praça "plaza". In contemporary Brazilian Portuguese, rhotacism of "l" in the syllable coda
is characteristic of the caipira
dialect.
consists of a shift from "l" to "r" when it is followed by a consonant.
Thus, Latin altus (tall) which in Italian
is alto in Romanesco becomes arto. In ancient Romanesco it also happened when "l" was preceded by a consonant, as in the word ingrese (English), but the modern way of speaking has lost this characteristic.
Another change related to r was the shortening of the geminated
rr. This is not rhotacism. So the words errore, guerra and marrone (error, war, brown) in Romanesco become erore, guera and marone.
rhotacism consists of a shift from intervocalic "l" to "r" and "n" to "r".
Thus, Latin caelum became Romanian cer and Latin fenestra becomes Romanian fereastră.
Some northern Romanian dialects and Istro-Romanian
also further transformed all intervocalic [n] into [ɾ]. This occurred only with words of Latin origin. For example, Latin bonus became Istro-Romanian bur, as compared to standard Daco-Romanian bun.
with a voiced consonant:
This is not a case of rhotacism proper, since r and s are simply allophones in those positions.
In the South Slavic languages (Slovene, Croatian, Bosnian, Serbian, Macedonian, Bulgarian) rhotacism consists of the change from a voiced palatal fricative [ʒ] to a dental/alveolar tap or trill [r], usually occurring between two mid-vowels, e.g.:
The beginning of the change is attested in the Freising manuscripts
, a written document from the 10th century AD, which shows both the archaism (ise 'which' < *jь-že) and the innovation (tere 'also' < *te-že). It progressed eastward and is still found in individual lexical items in Bulgarian dialects, e.g., dorde 'until' (< *do-že-dĕ). However, the results of the sound change have largely been reversed by lexical replacement in dialects spoken by speakers associated with Orthodoxy
, beginning in the fourteenth century. Speakers belonging to Catholic communities have not only preserved more of the lexical items with the change, but have extended grammatical markers in -r- from heterogeneous sources that formally merged with the rhotic forms that arose due to the sound change, e.g., Slovene dialect nocor 'tonight' (< *not'ь-sь-ǫ- + -r-) on the model of večer 'evening' (< *večerъ). The reversal of the change is evident in Orthodox speech, where the -r- formant is systematically removed, e.g., Serbian veče 'evening'.
Consonant
In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are , pronounced with the lips; , pronounced with the front of the tongue; , pronounced with the back of the tongue; , pronounced in the throat; and ,...
r (whether as an alveolar tap
Alveolar tap
The alveolar flap or tap is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents dental, alveolar, and postalveolar flaps is .-Definition:...
, alveolar trill
Alveolar trill
The alveolar trill is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents dental, alveolar, and postalveolar trills is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is r. It is commonly called the rolled R, rolling R, or trilled R...
, or the rarer uvular trill
Uvular trill
The uvular trill is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , a small capital R...
):
- the excessive or idiosyncratic use of the r;
- conversely, the inability to or difficulty in pronouncing r.
- the conversion of another consonant into r.
The term comes from the Greek letter
Greek alphabet
The Greek alphabet is the script that has been used to write the Greek language since at least 730 BC . The alphabet in its classical and modern form consists of 24 letters ordered in sequence from alpha to omega...
rho
Rho (letter)
Rho is the 17th letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 100. It is derived from Semitic resh "head"...
, denoting "r".
Orthoepy
In medicineMedicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
, rhotacism is the inability or difficulty in pronouncing the sound r. In English, the most common occurrence of this type is a pronunciation perceived as closer to [w]. The Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...
character Elmer Fudd
Elmer Fudd
Elmer J. Fudd/Egghead is a fictional cartoon character and one of the most famous Looney Tunes characters, and the de facto archenemy of Bugs Bunny. He has one of the more disputed origins in the Warner Bros. cartoon pantheon . His aim is to hunt Bugs, but he usually ends up seriously injuring...
is notorious for his exaggerated rhotacistic speech, as in, "Be vewwy quiet: I'm hunting wabbits." The cartoon character Homestar Runner
Homestar Runner
Homestar Runner is a Flash animated Internet cartoon. It mixes surreal humor with references to retro pop culture, notably video games, classic television, and popular music.The cartoons are nominally centered on the title character, Homestar Runner...
talks in much the same way. Another example is the depiction of Pontius Pilate
Pontius Pilate
Pontius Pilatus , known in the English-speaking world as Pontius Pilate , was the fifth Prefect of the Roman province of Judaea, from AD 26–36. He is best known as the judge at Jesus' trial and the man who authorized the crucifixion of Jesus...
in Monty Python's Life of Brian. In popular culture, examples include Barry Kripke (from the Big Bang Theory), Roy Hodgson
Roy Hodgson
Roy Hodgson is a former English footballer and current head coach of West Bromwich Albion.Hodgson, who has managed sixteen different teams in eight countries, guided the Switzerland national team to the last 16 of the 1994 World Cup and qualification for Euro 1996; Switzerland had not qualified...
(nicknamed "Woy"), Matt Bellamy, Jonathan Ross
Jonathan Ross
Jonathan Ross may refer to:* Jonathan Ross , English television and radio personality* Jonathan Ross , United States Senator, Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court* Jonathon Ross , former Australian rules footballer...
, Frank Muir
Frank Muir
Frank Herbert Muir was an English comedy writer, radio and television personality, and raconteur. His writing and performing partnership with Denis Norden endured for most of their careers. Together they wrote BBC radio's Take It From Here for over 10 years, and then appeared on BBC radio...
, Sister Wendy Beckett, Terry Jones
Terry Jones
Terence Graham Parry Jones is a Welsh comedian, screenwriter, actor, film director, children's author, popular historian, political commentator, and TV documentary host. He is best known as a member of the Monty Python comedy team....
, and the politician Roy Jenkins
Roy Jenkins
Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead OM, PC was a British politician.The son of a Welsh coal miner who later became a union official and Labour MP, Roy Jenkins served with distinction in World War II. Elected to Parliament as a Labour member in 1948, he served in several major posts in...
. Other examples are interviewer Barbara Walters
Barbara Walters
Barbara Jill Walters is an American broadcast journalist, author, and television personality. She has hosted morning television shows , the television newsmagazine , former co-anchor of the ABC Evening News, and current contributor to ABC News.Walters was first known as a popular TV morning news...
and actress Kay Francis
Kay Francis
Kay Francis was an American stage and film actress. After a brief period on Broadway in the late 1920s, she moved to film and achieved her greatest success between 1930 and 1936, when she was the number one female star at the Warner Brothers studio, and the highest paid American film actress...
.
Rhotacism is more common among speakers of languages that have a trilled R
Alveolar trill
The alveolar trill is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents dental, alveolar, and postalveolar trills is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is r. It is commonly called the rolled R, rolling R, or trilled R...
, such as Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
(except in the landscapes of Skåne, Halland
Halland
' is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden , on the western coast of Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Småland, Scania and the sea of Kattegat.-Administration:...
, Blekinge
Blekinge
' is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden , situated in the south of the country. It borders Småland, Scania and the Baltic Sea.The name "Blekinge" comes from the adjective bleke, which corresponds to the nautical term for "dead calm"....
, Öland
Öland
' is the second largest Swedish island and the smallest of the traditional provinces of Sweden. Öland has an area of 1,342 km² and is located in the Baltic Sea just off the coast of Småland. The island has 25,000 inhabitants, but during Swedish Midsummer it is visited by up to 500,000 people...
and southern Småland
Småland
' is a historical province in southern Sweden.Småland borders Blekinge, Scania or Skåne, Halland, Västergötland, Östergötland and the island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The name Småland literally means Small Lands. . The latinized form Smolandia has been used in other languages...
), Finnish
Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
, Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
, and Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
. This sound is usually the last one a child masters. Some people never learn to produce it; they substitute other sounds, such as the velar approximant, the uvular approximant, and the uvular trill
Uvular trill
The uvular trill is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , a small capital R...
(often called "French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
R").
Many speech pathologists
Speech and language pathology
Speech-Language Pathology specializes in communication disorders.The main components of speech production include: phonation, the process of sound production; resonance, opening and closing of the vocal folds; intonation, the variation of pitch; and voice, including aeromechanical components of...
call this problem de-rhotacization, because the sounds lose their rhotic quality rather than becoming rhotic.
Linguistics
In linguisticsLinguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
, rhotacism or rhotacization is the conversion of a consonant (usually a voiced alveolar consonant
Alveolar consonant
Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli of the superior teeth...
— /z/, /d/, /l/, or /n/) to a rhotic consonant
Rhotic consonant
In phonetics, rhotic consonants, also called tremulants or "R-like" sounds, are liquid consonants that are traditionally represented orthographically by symbols derived from the Greek letter rho, including "R, r" from the Roman alphabet and "Р, p" from the Cyrillic alphabet...
in a certain environment. The most common may be of /z/ to /r/.
Albanian
The southern, Tosk dialect, which contributed the most to modern standard AlbanianAlbanian language
Albanian is an Indo-European language spoken by approximately 7.6 million people, primarily in Albania and Kosovo but also in other areas of the Balkans in which there is an Albanian population, including western Macedonia, southern Montenegro, southern Serbia and northwestern Greece...
, changed /n/ to /r/ while, for example, the Gheg dialects did not. Compare:
- zëri vs. zâni ('the voice')
- gjuri vs. gjuni ('the knee')
- Shqiperi vs. Shqypni ('Albania')
Aramaic
In Aramaic, proto-Semitic n is often changed to r:- bar "son" as compared to Hebrew ben (from Proto-Semitic *bnu)
- trên and tartên "two" (masculine and feminine form respectively) as compared to Demotic Arabic tnēn and tintēn (from Proto-Semitic *ṯnaimi and *ṯnataimi). Cf. also Aramic tinyânâ "the second one", without the shift.
Basque
Ancient BasqueAquitanian language
The Aquitanian language was spoken in ancient Aquitaine before the Roman conquest and, probably much later, until the Early Middle Ages....
*l has changed into a tapped R
Flap consonant
In phonetics, a flap or tap is a type of consonantal sound, which is produced with a single contraction of the muscles so that one articulator is thrown against another.-Contrast with stops and trills:...
between vowels in Basque. This can be observed in words borrowed from Latin, for example.
Gaelic
In Irish Gaelic and Scottish Gaelic a prevocal /kn/ cluster developed into /kr/ often with nasalization of the following vowel as in cnoc [krɔ̃xk] ('hill').Germanic languages
All surviving Germanic languages, members of the North and West Germanic families, underwent a change of /z/ to /r/, implying a more approximant-like rhotic consonant in early Germanic. Some languages have regularized, giving all forms an r. Gothic retains s or z, since it did not undergo rhotacism.| Proto-Germanic Proto-Germanic language Proto-Germanic , or Common Germanic, as it is sometimes known, is the unattested, reconstructed proto-language of all the Germanic languages, such as modern English, Frisian, Dutch, Afrikaans, German, Luxembourgish, Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese, and Swedish.The Proto-Germanic language is... |
Gothic Gothic language Gothic is an extinct Germanic language that was spoken by the Goths. It is known primarily from the Codex Argenteus, a 6th-century copy of a 4th-century Bible translation, and is the only East Germanic language with a sizable Text corpus... |
Old Norse Old Norse Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300.... |
Old English Modern English Modern English Modern English is the form of the English language spoken since the Great Vowel Shift in England, completed in roughly 1550.Despite some differences in vocabulary, texts from the early 17th century, such as the works of William Shakespeare and the King James Bible, are considered to be in Modern... |
Old Frisian Old Frisian Old Frisian is a West Germanic language spoken between the 8th and 16th centuries in the area between the Rhine and Weser on the European North Sea coast. The Frisian settlers on the coast of South Jutland also spoke Old Frisian but no medieval texts of this area are known... |
Dutch Dutch language Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second... |
(Old High German Old High German The term Old High German refers to the earliest stage of the German language and it conventionally covers the period from around 500 to 1050. Coherent written texts do not appear until the second half of the 8th century, and some treat the period before 750 as 'prehistoric' and date the start of... ) Modern German New High German New High German is the term used for the most recent period in the history of the German language. It is a translation of the German Neuhochdeutsch... |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *was, *wēzun | was, wēsum |
var, vārum |
(wæs, wǽron) was, were |
was, wēren | was, waren |
(was, wārum) , waren |
| *fraleusanaN, *fraluzanaz | fraliusan, fralusans |
— |
(forléosan, forloren) forleese, forlorn |
urliāsa, urlāren | verliezen, verloren |
(farliosan, farloren) ver, verloren |
| *deuzaN, *deuzas | dius, diuzis |
dýr, dýrs |
(déor, déores) deer, deer's |
diār, diāres | dier, diers |
(tior, tiores) Tier, Tieres |
English
Many modern English dialects (including most American and Australian ones, as well as the British dialects of YorkshireYorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
and Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
) change intervocalic /t/ and /d/ to a flap
Flap consonant
In phonetics, a flap or tap is a type of consonantal sound, which is produced with a single contraction of the muscles so that one articulator is thrown against another.-Contrast with stops and trills:...
ping sound /ɾ/ in certain environments, especially stressed vowel – dental – unstressed vowel (e.g. "got a lot of" becoming "gorra lorra").
German
In Central German dialects, esp. Rhine-Franconian and Hessian, d is frequently realized as r in intervocalic position. This change also occurs in Mecklenburg dialects.- Borrem (Central Hessian) vs Boden (Standard German)
Latin
- flōs — flōrem (Old Latin flōsem)
- genus — generis (from *geneses, cf. Sanskrit janasas)
- rōbus, rōbustus — rōbur, corrōborāre (verb from *conrobosare)
- jūstus — de jūre (from de jouse)
- est — erō (from esō)
This reflects a highly regular change in pre-classical Latin. Intervocalic s in the oldest attested Latin documents
Old Latin
Old Latin refers to the Latin language in the period before the age of Classical Latin; that is, all Latin before 75 BC...
(assumed to have been pronounced /z/) invariably became r. Intervocalic s in Classical Latin suggests either borrowing (e.g. rōsa) or reduction of an earlier ss (e.g. pausa < paussa, vīsum < *vīssum < *weid-tom). Old s was preserved initially (septum), finally, and in consonant clusters.
The English word honour or honor is derived from Anglo-Norman
Anglo-Norman language
Anglo-Norman is the name traditionally given to the kind of Old Norman used in England and to some extent elsewhere in the British Isles during the Anglo-Norman period....
honour, which in turn was derived from Late Latin
Late Latin
Late Latin is the scholarly name for the written Latin of Late Antiquity. The English dictionary definition of Late Latin dates this period from the 3rd to the 6th centuries AD extending in Spain to the 7th. This somewhat ambiguously defined period fits between Classical Latin and Medieval Latin...
honor, earlier honos, which became honor by analogy with the oblique stem of honoris (genitive).
The consonants d or l changed to r before another d or l, so that the same consonant would not appear twice in a row (dissimilation
Dissimilation
In phonology, particularly within historical linguistics, dissimilation is a phenomenon whereby similar consonant or vowel sounds in a word become less similar...
).
- medius — merīdiēs (from *medi-diēs)
- caelum — caeruleus (from *cael-uleus)
This phenomenon was noted by the Romans themselves:
Neapolitan
In NeapolitanNeapolitan language
Neapolitan is the language of the city and region of Naples , and Campania. On October 14, 2008 a law by the Region of Campania stated that the Neapolitan language had to be protected....
rhotacism is seen in a shift from the sound of "d" to an "r" sound:
(Italian vs Neapolitan)
- medesimo vs meresemo
- diaspora vs riaspro
- madonna vs maronna
and, to a lesser extent, from the sound of an "l" to an "r" sound:
- albero vs arvero
- ultimo vs urdemo
Portuguese
In Old PortuguesePortuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
, rhotacism occurred from the "l" sound to the "r" sound, as in the words obrigado "obliged" and praça "plaza". In contemporary Brazilian Portuguese, rhotacism of "l" in the syllable coda
Syllable
A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds. For example, the word water is composed of two syllables: wa and ter. A syllable is typically made up of a syllable nucleus with optional initial and final margins .Syllables are often considered the phonological "building...
is characteristic of the caipira
Caipira
Caipira is a Brazilian Portuguese term used to designate inhabitants of rural, remote areas of some Brazilian states—it refers to the people of lesser schooling. It can be considered pejorative when used to describe others, but it can also be used as a self-identifier without negative connotations...
dialect.
Romanesco
Rhotacism in RomanescoRomanesco
Romanesco or Romanesque is a regional language or sociolect subsumed within the Italian language spoken in Rome. It is part of the Central Italian dialects and is thus genetically closer to the Tuscan dialect and Standard Italian....
consists of a shift from "l" to "r" when it is followed by a consonant.
Thus, Latin altus (tall) which in Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
is alto in Romanesco becomes arto. In ancient Romanesco it also happened when "l" was preceded by a consonant, as in the word ingrese (English), but the modern way of speaking has lost this characteristic.
Another change related to r was the shortening of the geminated
Gemination
In phonetics, gemination happens when a spoken consonant is pronounced for an audibly longer period of time than a short consonant. Gemination is distinct from stress and may appear independently of it....
rr. This is not rhotacism. So the words errore, guerra and marrone (error, war, brown) in Romanesco become erore, guera and marone.
Romanian
RomanianRomanian language
Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...
rhotacism consists of a shift from intervocalic "l" to "r" and "n" to "r".
Thus, Latin caelum became Romanian cer and Latin fenestra becomes Romanian fereastră.
Some northern Romanian dialects and Istro-Romanian
Istro-Romanian language
Istro-Romanian is an Eastern Romance language that is still spoken today in a few villages and hamlets in the peninsula of Istria, on the northern part of the Adriatic Sea, in what is now Croatia as well as in other countries around the world where the Istro-Romanian people settled after the two...
also further transformed all intervocalic [n] into [ɾ]. This occurred only with words of Latin origin. For example, Latin bonus became Istro-Romanian bur, as compared to standard Daco-Romanian bun.
Sanskrit
In Sanskrit, words ending in -s other than -as become -r in sandhiSandhi
Sandhi is a cover term for a wide variety of phonological processes that occur at morpheme or word boundaries . Examples include the fusion of sounds across word boundaries and the alteration of sounds due to neighboring sounds or due to the grammatical function of adjacent words...
with a voiced consonant:
- naus (before p/t/k) vs naur bharati
- agnis (before p/t/k) vs agnir mata
This is not a case of rhotacism proper, since r and s are simply allophones in those positions.
South Slavic languages
(This section relies on the treatment in Greenberg 1999)In the South Slavic languages (Slovene, Croatian, Bosnian, Serbian, Macedonian, Bulgarian) rhotacism consists of the change from a voiced palatal fricative [ʒ] to a dental/alveolar tap or trill [r], usually occurring between two mid-vowels, e.g.:
- moreš 'you can' from earlier možeši
- kdor from earlier kъto-že
The beginning of the change is attested in the Freising manuscripts
Freising manuscripts
The Freising Manuscripts are the first Latin-script continuous text in a Slavic language and the oldest document in Slovene.The monuments consisting of three texts in the oldest Slovene dialect were discovered bound into a Latin codex...
, a written document from the 10th century AD, which shows both the archaism (ise 'which' < *jь-že) and the innovation (tere 'also' < *te-že). It progressed eastward and is still found in individual lexical items in Bulgarian dialects, e.g., dorde 'until' (< *do-že-dĕ). However, the results of the sound change have largely been reversed by lexical replacement in dialects spoken by speakers associated with Orthodoxy
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
, beginning in the fourteenth century. Speakers belonging to Catholic communities have not only preserved more of the lexical items with the change, but have extended grammatical markers in -r- from heterogeneous sources that formally merged with the rhotic forms that arose due to the sound change, e.g., Slovene dialect nocor 'tonight' (< *not'ь-sь-ǫ- + -r-) on the model of večer 'evening' (< *večerъ). The reversal of the change is evident in Orthodox speech, where the -r- formant is systematically removed, e.g., Serbian veče 'evening'.