Re: [tied] Re: Czech r^

> 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.

It is not all that different but it's definitely not the same. And r > z^
changes and all the possibilities in between (including Czech r^) are not
so uncommon in world languages.

Mate