Re[2]: [tied] Stative/Perfect; Indo-European /r/

At 2:46:46 PM on Wednesday, March 2, 2005, Andrew Jarrette
wrote:

> Yes, there are widely diverging pronunciations of /r/ in
> many languages, and of course I know about the tap or
> trill pronunciations of English /r/ in certain dialects.

Not to mention uvular rhotics in Northumberland (Ladefoged &
Maddieson, 236).

> But do those variations of /r/ in other languages include
> an alveolar/retroflex approximant, as it is most commonly
> pronounced overall in English (including North American)?

For North America itself I'm not entirely sure that the
alveolar or post-alveolar approximant *is* the most common:
a rather large number of N. Americans have the so-called
'bunched r'.

Ladefoged & Maddieson say that many Australian languages
have an apical post-alveolar approximant rhotic; an example
from Arrernte shows one occurring intervocalically. Edo
apparently has a voiced alveolar approximant contrasting
with two other alveolar rhotics.

> Those labiodental /r/'s among some speakers of English
> I think is regarded as either substandard or a speech
> impediment, I dare say.

So far as I can tell, it's quite widespread, appearing as
far north as Newcastle, and it appears to be quite normal
among some groups.

Brian