Harald Hammarström wrote:
>I remember rhotics were discussed a year or so ago. I seem to recall
that someone said the notorious Czech r^ sound was not unique to Czech
but occured in some other language as well. Did I dream taht up?
I encountered something very similar in provincial Argentina (Tucumán, in
fact)-- I was told I could change money at "Casa ['r^eZes]" (though at the
time it sounded more like [ZeZes])-- totally perplexed until the speaker
pointed down the street to "REYES". An knowledgeable Argentine friend later
claimed it was the same as the Czech r^, though in careless speech it can
merge with the [Z] pronunciation of "ll" and "y". It's somewhat
stigmatized; sophisticates and comedians in the cities made fun of it.
I've also heard it equated with Chinese "r" as in ren 'person', though I
believe that's just a retroflexed fricative, not a trill.