[tied] Re: Franco-Provençal

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Rick McCallister <gabaroo6958@...> wrote:

>
>
>
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> --- On Thu, 2/19/09, Brian M. Scott <BMScott@...> wrote:
>
> > From: Brian M. Scott <BMScott@...>
> > Subject: Re[2]: [tied] Re: Franco-Provençal
> > To: "Rick McCallister" <cybalist@yahoogroups.com>
> > Date: Thursday, February 19, 2009, 5:34 PM
> > At 5:15:36 PM on Thursday, February 19, 2009, Rick
> > McCallister wrote:
> >
> > [...]
> >
> > > I associate a true retroflex /R/ more with Canadian
> > and
> > > Great Lakes English
> >
> > On what basis? I'd be skeptical of a claim that you
> > could
> > readily distinguish them by ear.
> >
> > Brian
>
> I don't know about being able to detect "bunch" vs. "retro" but

there is a difference between Canadian and Standard American /R/.
Canadian /R/ tends to sound a bit farther back in the mouth and sounds
more sustained.

>

As a Canadian (I lost my original Trinidadian accent completely in
early childhood), I will say that I have examined my own /r/'s and
found that although I do turn the tip of the tongue upward like a
retroflex /r/ (but not that far back), I believe I also arch the mid
or rear part of the tongue, like a bunched /r/. It's hard to say
though, the only thing I'm certain of is that I curl the tip upward.

I can't quite tell the difference between Canadian and Standard
American /r/, but I've noticed over my life that individuals in either
country often have their own variation of these two varieties of /r/,
or at least sound like they do. An example is Sarah Palin, whose
/r/'s sound very pronounced, lengthened, and, to me, apparently
retroflex (I may be wrong).

Andrew