>spectrum of intermediate forms, from <newære> via <newâr ~
>niwâr ~ neuer ~ niwer ~ nuwer ~ nuer ~ neur ~ niur ~ nuor ~ ...
>> to <nûr>.
Actually, this old /nuer/ represents today's pan-German
pronunciation. Only in marginal dialects as well as in
artificially pronounced Hochdeutsch (emphatic or histrionic
acting on the stage) is the [r] in /nur/ uttered as such (esp.
within the Suebian-Alemanian dialectal group, esp. in
Switzerland and adjacent Southern Suebia). The most
common pronunciation is [nu&]. (As /moor, poor/ in British
English.)
George