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

> But all other Indo-European languages changed the
> sound /w/ in initial position. In this way, English is atypical.
> Perhaps I am using the wrong word, but I think I am not
> using "atypical" incorrectly here.
>
>
> >> ... and English is also atypical among
> > > Indo-European languages in preserving /w/ in initial
> > > position.
> >
> > If the inclusion of initial /w/ in the sound system of
> > the language in its earlier stages wasn't odd, then why
> > is its accidental retention atypical of a later stage?
> >

In those continental languages that have (dialectal) /w/, that sound
is the "low" variant of proper /v/. I suspect the French introduced
this fashion, which is why it was resisted in england.


Torsten