Re: [tied] Pronunciation of "r" - again?

I am inclined to think that English is the conservative among german
languages regarding the promounciation of r, because there are traits
in other Germanic languages that can be interpreted as an earlier
retroflex r sound, among those Scandinavian languages.

Scandinavian dialects fall in two groups. In the one the r is
pronounced as an apical trill. At the same time the combination rs,
rt, rd an rl all has been asimilated to retroflex consonants of the
same type you find in Sanskrit and its descendants. You even have the
retroflex flap sound characteristic of Indian languages.

The existence of these retroflex assimilations, I think can best be
explained with an earlier retroflex r-sound.

In the other group, the r is an uvular sound, and rs, rt, rd or rl are
preserved as a combination of two fonemes.